Students celebrate Day of the Dead

Halloween is a fun celebration but for many it is much more than that. It represents All Souls Eve, which is the start of Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) which depending upon your tradition lasts from the day after Halloween to three days.

“I am honoring friends who have recently passed away,” said Rosie Castro, sociology who a member of PCC M.E.Ch.A. (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan), which translated means Student Movement Organization of Aztlan .

M.E.Ch.A. held a celebration on Nov. 1. “We’re here in memory and to remember the good times we had with our loved ones,” she said.

“M.E.Ch.A. holds many events and rallies to advocate higher education at PCC and Dia De Los Muertos is a tradition,” said Castro.

The Cross Central Center is also holding a celebration today in the WiFi Lounge from noon to 1p.m.

The event will have a traditional altar for the loved ones, filled with sugar skulls, flowers and candles.

“Everything from the white tablecloth, which symbolizes peace, to sugar skulls and flowers representing the remembrance of the loved ones they are said to bring back for one night,” said Patricia Garcia, political science and student intern with the cultural affairs department said.

All are a strong part of the tradition, which is to bring back the dead. “They are said to travel a long journey and they will be tired and thirsty, so water and their favorite foods are there for them, “said Garcia.

She like many will come to remember those who have gone before her. “This is my second year at PCC and I will be there to honor my grandfather,” Garcia said. She has been carrying on this tradition at home since he died in 2008.

Sugar skulls will surround the altar. “The idea of them being there is that death is not the end, death is sweet,” said Carrie Afuso, former Cross Cultural Center coordinator and current Flea Market coordinator.

The celebration is open to all nationalities. “On the altar, you put something that the person remembers and likes,” Afuso said.

Those who are attending are asked to bring photographs of those they love.

These will put on the altar in celebration. Attendees can also decorate paper flowers and paper skulls with colored markers and glitter.