Comments on: Trick or Treating in Patzcuaro

By: P-3000

P-3000 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:11:38 +0000

truly beautiful post!

love the green jack-o-lanterns

By: cindylu

cindylu — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:36:22 +0000

I see a lot of homes decorated on the west side. I even saw one in Holmby Hills with a fog machine going outside. I have no idea what trick or treating is like since I don’t take kids out and none come to my apartment.

I’ve noticed that photos of my cousins’ Halloween parties in Guanajuato look much different than the Halloween parties I go to. For the most part, there are no slutty or sexy costumes for the women. The guys’ costumes aren’t incredibly juvenile. There’s more homemade and “traditional” costumes. Maybe Mexican Halloween will eventually catch up to current US Halloween customs.

As for the militants, the most militant ones are not in MEChA.

By: WALT!

WALT! — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:24:52 +0000

Wow, I hadn’t realized Halloween had become so established in Mexico.

Halloween is awesome. The good thing is Dia De Los Muertos and Halloween are technically on separate days. They also compliment each other very well.

The similarities between Day of The Dead and Halloween are fascinating. Two ancient cultures, the Aztecs and the Celts, separated by oceans, honoring the spirits of their dead in similar ways around the same time of the year.

I agree with alien, Eastside Halloweens are the best. Tons of kids, not as fancy, but totally authentic.

Love the green calabasas!

By: Julio

Julio — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:01:48 +0000

Oooooo…I’ma gonna link you to some MEChA websites y ¡SAS! you’re going to be overrun by inter-trolls!

But seriously, Chavo, you’re right: culture is always changing no matter how much some stalwarts want to keep things the same, forever. And not every absorption is a “take-over” but sometimes an awesome synthesis as shown in your post! And you’re right about Día de Los Muertos not being that really fun-filled for the kids, it’s much more adult-oriented. I mean, when you’re a kid you don’t want to think about the dead but candies you’re down with.

Also, were there any orange pumpkins in México at all? Could it be because our orange variety don’t grow in México? Or is it because our orange variety are really an anomaly and these green ones are legit?

And I think its awesome that the kids are milking Halloween for all its worth and making it 3 days long! Reminds of how the 4th of July in the Eastside is about 2 months long.

Culture is dynamic not static!

By: Victoria

Victoria — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:23:18 +0000

Yea—when I went to Patzcuaro—I was warned about the kids wanting “calaverita”—and I too loaded up with candy to give them. When I would drop candy into their pumpkin, they’d see it and give me a dirty look. Am I as mean as El Chavo?

By: alienation

alienation — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:01:30 +0000

Could someone write more about Halloween on the eastside? It’s very different from what’s happened in the rest of L.A. and America. Kids still trick or treat by the thousands. People give out a lot of candy. It’s safe. Parents are into it. Businesses are into it. Some people do haunted houses. Kids are running out until midnight.

That’s what Halloween is about.

South LA is kind of like this too, but way smaller. I didn’t see businesses handing out candies. Not as many kids, but, there are plenty. It’s still very much a kid’s holiday. Which is good – this is new to me.

South San Gabriel had a comeback. Not too many kids but, they did go out. Maybe it’ll really make a comeback one of these days.

I’m not so much into the adult Halloween party thing. It’s just not as much fun as creeping out kids and passing out candy. You get to see the neighbors, and if you’re really living there, you get to see kids growing up, becoming chaperones, and eventually stopping TOT.