Dia de los Muertos, San Pablo altars

Sand Painting, San Pablo courtyard
  

          We slept a little later this morning, after all the fun of the past 2 days and nights.  Today is Saturday, my normal marketing day.  I love the 5 Senores tianguis, a one-day market in a neighborhood about 18 blocks from our apartment. Fruit and vegetable vendors with reasonable prices, several pork, chicken and beef vendors, flowers, kitchen stuff, and a few comedors at the end of the block.   A nice walk over there on Saturday morning, and the bus picks us up at the corner, where the orange dude parks his truck, and returns us directly in front of our apartment.  Perfect way to haul home the heavy stuff, like 3 dozen oranges. 

After a bowl of fruit, we set out, planning to stop at the Casa de la Cultura, to see the exhibit on the way.  The streets are eerily quiet today, a holiday.  The Casa de la Cultura is closed for the holiday.  At the market, we sit down for a plate of tacos.  The market is almost silent, too, and we easily see that three fourths of the vendors are not there.  I found a few veggies for the week, the orange dude is not here.  I'm glad so many people are taking a day off!

Later in the day, I took these photos of altars set up in the courtyard of San Pablo museum, one of the prettiest renovations in the city.  The top photo is a sand painting, about 5 feet square.

I love the collection of food and flowers, the arrangements, and the ingenuity of the construction.






















Many altars include sugar skulls, these have a laugh on their, um, lips!


















Bread shaped into all kinds of figures is usually displayed on altars.  But, the bread is special in it's shape.










This arch made of citrus is especially beautiful.  Heavy, too, I suspect.























Inside one of the little capillas, or chapels, I found this elaborate altar, in memory of a musician of great accomplishment.  It is one of the most elegant ones I've seen this weekend!


We planned to go to San Felipe del Agua to see the tombs at the cemetery, but an unusual rain storm chased us home.  Actually,  I was OK with coming home for a quiet evening!  Tomorrow, Sta. Ana Zegache....