I grew up in Canada and I always enjoyed celebrating Halloween. I have fond memories of dressing up in costumes, carving pumpkins, and trick-or-treating. When I chose Mexico as my country over a decade ago, my associations with this time of year underwent a radical shift. I fell in love with Day of the Dead, and it’s a tradition I’ve embraced wholeheartedly, and I enjoy sharing it with my children very much.

Halloween is a fun holiday, but Day of the Dead celebrations have a much deeper significance. Dia de los Muertos is about celebrating connections with family and friends, and it honors those who have passed on before us in a very special way. Add to that fun activities, delicious foods and time spent visiting with family and you have all you could ever want in a holiday. My two children were born and have lived in Oaxaca their whole lives. For them, Day of the Dead is an integral part of our yearly calendar of celebrations, just as important as Christmas or Easter.

In Oaxaca, children are involved in all aspects of Day of the Dead, from putting together the home altar to cleaning and decorating the graves of family members and keeping vigil in the cemetery. Those are somewhat solemn aspects of Day of the Dead, but there are also playful aspects of this holiday. In schools in Oaxaca there are friendly competitions for the best altar and also costume contests, as well as comparsas, carnival-like processions of people in costume.

My children participate in our family observances of Day of the Dead by accompanying me to the market to purchase the items we will place on our altar. We assemble our altar together as a family, and while we do so we talk about the loved ones to whom our altar is dedicated. We remember them as we place the things that they enjoyed in life on the altar for them. We go to my father-in-law’s grave and decorate it also, and we often visit other cemeteries, because they’re decorated so beautifully at this time of year.

I’ve found that the task of explaining death to my children is easier in light of Day of the Dead. I think it’s extremely valuable to teach children about death before they have to deal with it personally, so that they have a concept of death and what it means before it touches their lives. Day of the Dead offers a socially prescribed way to deal with loss, not just when it happens, but every year at a specific time.

My father-in-law passed away when my daughter was four, and that year she went through a period of a lot of questioning about death. Framing our discussions of death within a context of Day of the Dead made it a lot easier to explain. In the years following his death, Dia de los Muertos became a special time in which we could remember him, bring out photos, and talk about our memories of him.

The scent of marigolds mingled with copal incense, the taste of pan de muerto dunked in hot chocolate, and the sight of cemeteries festooned with flowers and lit up with candles, are some of the memories I hope my children will carry with them. Celebrating Day of the Dead adds depth and meaning to our lives; it offers us a moment to remember those who are no longer with us and reminds us to enjoy our time together because we’re aware it won’t be forever.

Learn more about Day of the Dead in Oaxaca.

Suzanne Barbezat grew up in Montreal, Canada, but made her home in Oaxaca, Mexico, where she lives with her Mexican husband and their two children. She shares her love of Mexico on About.com’s Mexico Travel site (gomexico.about.com), and she is a Mexico Today contributor.

Monte Alban, Oaxaca

If one thing makes México special (and pointing out just one doesn´t ever make it justice), it is the vast amount of ruins from various ancient–and very advanced–civilizations that exist throughout the country.  Every single one of these archaeological sites, be it Mayan, Aztec, Olmec, Zapotec or other, uncover mysteries that give us just tiny clues to understand the way these people lived, celebrated, adored, communicated, calculated and sustained themselves.

During my recent travel as a Mexico Today ambassador to the magical city of Oaxaca, I visited the ancient ruins of Monte Albán, just a 10 minute trip from the city.  This was not my first visit here, it was my fifth.  That´s just how much I love Monte Albán.

What made it even a more special visit this time is that the Mexico Today group had two very special guides to share with us what little is actually known about these mystical Zapotec ruins.  Little is known because by the time the colonizers arrived, the place had already been abandoned for centuries.

White flowering tree that grows on the mountains of Oaxaca

What we do know is that the name Monte Albán literally means “White Mountain” because when colonizers arrived the valley was covered by a tree that produces white flowers, covering it all in a blanket of pure whiteness.

We also know that the Zapotecs had a very advanced knowledge of astronomy because of the observatory that still exists.

Los Danzantes

One of the most interesting discoveries in Monte Alban was that of Los Danzantes.  These large engraved rocks with figures of people in different poses were falsely believed to be representations of individuals dancing.  Now it is known that these “pictures” are actually medical documents depicting people with medical conditions such as a breeched birth, a humpback and dwarfism, among others.

This depicts a woman having a breeched baby. Notice the drawing of fallopian tubes, a baby´s head in the uterus and feet coming out first.

Zapotecs also had a numbering system which is visible throughout the site.

What is most impressive, and mind-boggling, is how they managed to level flat a mountaintop which is many, many hours walking distance from the nearest water source and sits 1400 ft from the valley floor, to build massive structures and temples for this, the Zapotec main civic-ceremonial center.  This is the grandest mystery of all and one of the reasons why this place imbues magic and mysticism all around.

I encourage you to teach your children about the ancient cultures that make México a unique place.  You can start by watching together this video I recorded where the brothers Ulises and Apolo Bonilla Martínez  from Turismo El Convento de Oaxaca give us an insider’s tour of their Monte Albán.

Have you been to Oaxaca and to Monte Albán?  Which ruins have you visited?

Disclosure:  I am being compensated for my work in creating and managing content as a Community Manager for the México Today Program.  I am also being invited to an all-expenses paid trip to Oaxaca as part of my role.  All stories, opinions and passion for all things México shared here are completely my own.