Ensenada, Mexico Adventures

Welcome to  Mexico

Peggy working on our Blog

Peggy's post: Our adventures in Ensenada included:

* Clearing customs, immigration, import paperwork for the boat and dinghy and getting fishing licenses – a four hour ordeal.

* Finding a Mexican bank that would exchange money – there were none close to our marina and when we did find one we found we needed our passport which was back on the boat!

* Getting our cell phone to work properly in Mexico (TEXT MESSAGES ONLY please).

* Sampling squid, octopus, mussels, etc (fish tacos and churros are the best!)

* Finding our way round town while riding the city buses.

* Going to local tourist attractions and museums.

Hotel Riviera Del Pacifico & Museum

* Being in Mexico during Halloween and participating in Dia de Muertos.

* Finding diesel – there were no Pemex stations close to our marina, but we met a wonderful local family who gave us a ride because they felt sorry for us having to carry heavy jerry cans back to the marina!

* Enjoying church meetings in Spanish and we were so warmly welcomed.

* Part of our continuing adventure is learning how to obtain weather forecasts as we travel down the coast where the towns near our anchorages are few and far between.

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Jay's post: This week we find ourselves in Mexico in time for Halloween, except here the Mexican people do not celebrate Halloween, they celebrate Dia de Muertos: “Day of the Dead”. Day of the Dead focuses on remembering and celebrating family members and friends who have passed on. Celebrants believe the gates of heaven open at midnight on October 31^st and the spirits of departed children are allowed to join their families for 24 hours. Then, the following night, November 1^st, the spirits of deceased adults reunite with their families. The belief of an afterlife is said to have originated with the Mayan, Aztecs and Olmecs. For them, people did not cease to exist with death, but their spirits continued to exist in an after life. Death, they believed, was merely a continuation of a pre-mortal life and this mortal life. After the Spanish invasion of 1521, the Catholic Church tried, but was unable to banish these beliefs among the natives. The Aztecs, for example, believed the goddess Mictecacihuatl, or queen of the underworld, ruled with her husband over the bones of the dead. Her role was to watch over these bones and preside over the ancient Aztec festivals honoring the dead. These festivals evolved over time from the Aztec traditions into the modern day celebration Day of the Dead. Mictecacihuatl was originally depicted with a defleshed body and an agaped jaw.

La Catrina

 Today she is similarly portrayed, except she is depicted as a female skeleton dressed in a large hat and long elegant gown befitting the upper class of 16^th century Europe, and she is known as “La Calvera Catrina”.  As such, La Catrina is the icon for Dia de Muertos. The skeleton motif goes very well with the holiday and it is common to see women and young girls dressed to look like her this time of year.

Altar honoring a loved one

Another common symbol of the Day of the Dead is the calavers – the sugar skulls. These skulls are placed upon alters or grave sites, and are exchanged as gifts with loved ones during the holiday. Another custom of the holiday are altars constructed in homes and elsewhere to honor deceased loved ones. On the evening of November 2 ^nd the celebration moves to the graves of these loved ones. Here the graves are cleaned, the markers are polished, and the site is decorated with flowers, photos, food and candles. Family members spend the entire night socializing and sharing favorite stories about the deceased. On this night, it is said that the dead return to life to briefly join their loved ones. So, from Mexico, here is wishing you a happy Dia de Muertos – hooohaaa!