Campus

Humans of TU Delft: Guillermo Meza

Although ‘Day of the Dead’ might sound scary, Guillermo Meza says it can actually be a fun celebration. The industrial design master’s student and Media Manager for LATITUD explains the beauty around this annual Mexican tradition.

Guillermo Meza: “The idea we have in Mexico and most of the Americas is that death is not the end.” (Photo: Heather Montague)

Dia de Muertos or ‘Day of the Dead’ is a mixture of Hispanic and Christian rituals. In colonial times they sort of blended together. The idea we have in Mexico and most of the Americas is that death is not the end. We believe that after death people sort of stay with you and these days (31 October & 1 November) are our time to honour them and remember them.


It is a kind of religious, sacred moment but it can also be fun


We have different activities to not only gather with our families, but also we have this idea that spirits come to visit us but not in a spooky kind of way. It’s more familiar, like they are gone but they are also with us. We make an altar and put things on it that the person liked when they were alive, and we put their pictures just to remember them. One day is for kids and we put toys and things like that, and another day is for grownups so if they liked tequila or rum we put that or their favourite foods.


It is a kind of religious, sacred moment but it can also be fun. We normally go to the graveyards and put flowers and candles and it’s really beautiful. It’s funny how you’re in the graveyard, and in movies it’s kind of this spooky thing, but for us it’s more about being with our family members. We bring mariachis to sing for the dead so it’s joyful thinking they are still with us. We’re not scared of them, we’re really attached to them like they protect us.”


Heather Montague


Also read:

Humans of TU Delft: Julia Weiffenbach


Heather Montague / Freelance writer

Editor Redactie

Do you have a question or comment about this article?

delta@tudelft.nl

Comments are closed.