Hampden-Sydney College Celebrates the Day of the Dead
By Sohale Vu '07
 On Wednesday, November 1, 2006, the Spanish Club in association with the new International House threw Hampden-Sydney College’s first and very successful celebration of Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. This holiday is traditionally celebrated on November 1st and the Spanish Club members transformed the International House to show the festivity and liveliness of the Día de los Muertos with delicious food and exotic decorations.
Día de los Muertos is a holiday that is traditionally celebrated in Mexico and Puerto Rico. This day is reserved to honor and remember loved ones who have passed away. To celebrate their memory a shrine is constructed to reflect on things in their life that they enjoyed and connecting those things with the four earthly elements. Candles are used to decorate around a picture of the person who has died and the candles would represent the element of fire. A very unique decoration called papel picado, which is delicate tissue paper cut in designs to
represent skeletons celebrating, is hung around the shrine and round the building flow with the coming breezes and to represent the element of wind. Mums are a special, bright yellow flower that is used to decorate around the shrine and represent the earth element. Finally, water, liquid, or a drink is placed around the shrine to represent the element of water. Special food is also prepared along with the decorations. Many sweets and candies are made to resemble skulls or skeletons to give to the children or are used to decorate. Sweetbread called pan de muerte is made with insignias of crosses or skulls specially made for the holiday.
 Preparation of the decorations and most of the foods was entirely done by the students and faculty involved with the club. Spanish club members constructed a shrine to commemorate the lives and artworks of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Papel picado was elegantly hung from the ceiling and doorways to welcome the guests to the festivities. The foods that were prepared for the special occasion were:
Spanish Carnita
Hand-made corn tortillas
Quesadillas
Flautas
Mole con carne
Chips and salsa
Ochata
Latin American Hot Chocolate
Spanish Carnita is pork that has been slowly boiled in a broth of various spices and herbs and then baked to be both crispy and moist. The meat is eaten with corn tortillas and dipped in salsa. Flautas are a special type of Mexican dish which is a deep-fried tortilla filled with chicken or pork. Mole con carne is a very unique Latin American dish that has meat covered in a special sauce made from chocolate, black beans, and chiles. Ochata is a rich drink made from rice and sugar. Latin American hot chocolate is different from the hot chocolate that most Americans are used to because Latin American hot chocolate is made with a richer chocolate and uses a special wooden tool to produce foam out of the drink.
Many students from all levels came down to the International House to enjoy this rich and highly cultural experience. They had the chance to interact with both the Spanish Club members who helped to orchestrate the occasion and many faculty members on the significance of Día de los Muertos. The interest and participation that this occasion had attracted is surely a sign that there will be more events to come to expand Hampden-Sydney students’ perspective of the world and other cultures.
November 15, 2006
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