Day of the Dead, Cancun Style

After several days of using Cancun as a base for travel along the Ruta Maya and to the glorious ruins of Chichen Itza, I spent a late October afternoon lounging on the beaches of Cancun and lazily exploring the town.

One does not tire easily of handsome cabana boys fetching you margaritas as you bask in the warm sand. The beating of the afternoon sun, however, eventually convinced me to pack up the towel and find cooler climes, so I began to stroll along the streets of Cancun.

I came upon a mall, Plaza Caracol, only one letter of the Spanish alphabet and mere footsteps away from the beach. Perhaps I could find a souvenir here, something deliciously tacky, and small enough to fit into my backpack, without requiring me to fold everything just so.

The mall was like an average American mall, with different levels and escalators and department stores and these little jewelry boutiques where teenage girls spend their allowances buying earrings at 3 for $10. I wandered without purpose, becoming more and more unimpressed with each tourist and Gap store I saw. I started to feel that panicky "GET ME OUT OF HERE" feeling that all shopping malls inspire after about half an hour or so.

Then a curious sight stopped my in my tracks. A shrine of sorts. What struck me was the food just sitting out. Not just whole fruits, but sweets, tortillas, and prepared food, like when you throw a bunch of different ingredients in a skillet.

The shrine was decorated, with a picture occupying the central area, and the food and other items filling the space around on the little walls and the small table below the picture. There was a name below the picture and some writing that I didn't bother trying to translate. It appeared to be a poem.

It was curious, and creepy, and yet benign, all at once.

I moved on, continuing my search for an exit, and passed another shrine. Suddenly I realized that the pictures were of dead people and these were Day of the Dead shrines. I saw another shrine, and then another.

I read a little of what was written, and thought I translated wrong. It looked like these Day of the Dead exhibits were created by various civic groups and school classrooms.

When the next day I opened the newspaper, Novedades Quintana Roo, and saw the article describing the competition and photos of the winning entries, I knew it was true...Day of the Dead, Cancun style.

Learn more about this author, Barbara Armstrong.
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