Dia de los muertos

Dia de los muertos (day of the dead) is celebrated on November 2nd and although a primarily Mexican tradition it is celebrated in Hispanic communities all over the world. For more background info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_DeadIn lima the holiday is celebrated most by the lower class so we joined thousands of people at the cemetery where all the poor are buried. We were dropped off in a combi and had to walk a few blocks up to the cemetery; along the way the streets were filled with vendors selling candles, crosses, flowers, food, alcohol and more. Upon entering the gates there is a huge mausoleum that has recently been built and families were climbing ladders to clean, paint, and decorate the front cement square of their loved ones. Once passing the mausoleum I saw hillsides as far as I could see covered in graves. This is not a cemetery similar to any I have seen in my life and is almost impossible for me to explain but I’ll try my best. Traditionally Andean culture prefers to be buried under ground and going back into Incan tradition doesn't like to be cremated. The Incan's believed that you needed your body in tact after death to have your soul be able to continue living. The last Incan "king", Atahualpa, converted to Catholicism immediately before being killed by conquistadores so that he would be beheaded instead of burned. Initially the bodies are buried and the coffins are covered with rocks and a cross is places on the head of the grave with the Name, date of birth and date of death painted on the cross. The day of the dead is a day where families come to clean the graves, repaint the crosses, decorate and bring gifts for the dead. As families move up in social standing more elaborate altars and even building are built on top of the grave sites. The graves are painted pastel colors and looking into the distance the cemetery looks like a city for the dead. The day is not a day of so much mourning but rather a day of celebration. Families stay at the graves often times all day and play music, sing songs, dance and drink. The Peruvians welcomed us to party with then and we shared a lot of beer and stories with them, they really appreciated that we would come celebrate the day and their deceased loved ones with them. It was amazing that basically every single grave had been cared for and only a small percentage out of thousands of graves were not visited on this day. I bought a pack of candles and found what I believe was the grave of a baby (due to the size) that had not been visited and I rebuilt the rock structure on top of it, cleaned away the weeds and burned a candle there. What I found written on one grave that really touched me was " I am not dead I am only sleeping and I will not die until the day you stop visiting me" (in Spanish of course). The cemetery was so spectacular and unbelievable because it just continued up and down the hillsides for what seemed like forever. The cemetery is by far the biggest in lima and is thought to be one of the biggest in the world. Like so many things here in Peru this is just so hard to define in words and I feel like what I have written doesn't even begin to explain this experience.