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Day of the Dead festivities bring cultures together

Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Festival to honor dead, and traditions (10-30-2009)

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It was like a wedding reception where the families of the bride and groom only spoke snippets of each other’s language.

In the biggest single-day event in the Springs Preserve’s two-year history, thousands of Las Vegas Valley Hispanics and others rubbed shoulders, stood in lines together and otherwise swarmed the site’s 180 acres Nov. 1, drawn by a Mexican tradition known as the Day of the Dead.

Organizer Angelica Quiroz said more than 5,000 tickets were sold for the event, but that didn’t include the many children under 4, who got in free.

Most of the attendees were Mexican, most of whom had never stepped foot in the place. There were many “gueros,” aka “americanos,” as well, she said.

The event was significant because it gathered large numbers of two groups immersing themselves in the customs of one of the two, on neutral terrain. That made it different from similar events that draw diverse crowds for culture, like, say, the Chinese New Year celebration in Chinatown.

And so it may have been a bellwether of sorts, a sign of what could happen more often as greater numbers of people of different backgrounds increasingly blend, mixing in neighborhoods, in workplaces and in public.

Poly Arcos was one of the thousands there. She’s a local publicist who two years ago founded the group Adventures in Dining. Blonde and light-skinned, she was raised in Los Angeles by Mexican parents. She went to the event intrigued by a mainstream location opening its doors to the traditions of her parents’ culture.

Once she overcame the scarcity of parking and the length of the lines, she couldn’t help but observe the contrasts in the crowds around the day’s elaborate altars honoring the dead, for example. “There were Latinos crying, praying at altars, while others would stand there, looking,” she said.

Quiroz saw several Dora the Explorer moments around the same altars, with non-Hispanics using their children to translate questions to artists into Spanish, and the artists using theirs to translate replies back into English.

She laughed when she recounted the days leading up to the event. Quiroz grew up in Ciudad Juárez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, but she had only associated the Day of the Dead with putting flowers on the graves of her grandparents. So she had to immerse herself in the day’s history and traditions.

Part of the tradition is drinking the corn-based, usually heated, atole. She took her cleaning lady, Anita, who is from Torreon, Mexico, and makes a mean atole, to the kitchen at the Cafe by Wolfgang Puck. Anita taught them how to mix the brew. At the last minute, the cafe couldn’t put its newly acquired culinary expertise to use, and Quiroz found a red-blooded Mexican to make the drink.

Speaking of food, Arcos also couldn’t help but observe more differences when it came to a crucial problem arising from the event’s success. She stood in line for about 30 minutes waiting for tamales, while her boyfriend waited in another line for tacos.

During that time, limits dropped from two tamales per person to one, and then to none. The same thing happened with the tacos.

“The funny thing was, Latinos shrugged their shoulders and moved on, while some of the Caucasians were indignant. They couldn’t believe they paid for an event only to find that the food had run out,” Arcos said.

So in a twist, the americanos wanted their tamales and tacos more than the Mexicans. Quiroz said she told a few Hispanic families that the cafe had salads and cheeseburgers. Their reply: “Thanks, but we don’t want any guero food.”

Still, she thought “the whole thing was an incredible integration.”

And next year? She’s “going to make sure there’s more food.”

Discussion: 9 comments so far…

By mikegino

11/7/09 at 7:24 a.m.

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Where was the Migra?
By Narcissa

11/7/09 at 12:02 p.m.

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I love how The Sun always manages to put a cutesy spin on stories like this. If day to day circumstances were different, I would heartily agree with the tone of the story and, frankly, applaud the introduction of this cultural event as enriching to our country.

Unfortunately, I ran out of applause about seven years ago. It seems that we, as Americans, members of the melting pot that made this country so great, are forced to deal with those who are averse to assimilating with American culture. I am not trying to bash a particular people, but I am astounded and angered by what I can only describe as a determined refusal to assimilate by some.

EVERYWHERE one goes, one is faced with Spanish language billboards. Shop CVS? Spanish signs and Spanish announcer. Buy a greeting card at Smith's? Be prepared to rifle through Spanish cards, too. Same for magazines. Anyone who has had the misfortune of being on line at a bank or using a drive-thru knows its like being in a foreign country.

One cannot scan the radio or tv without having to jump through at least four Spanish speaking stations. At Anna's Linen's last week on Maryland, I was the ONLY person speaking English; that's right-both cashier's and the other customer decided to engage in a conversation in Spanish, as if it was no big deal that its a little rude for store representatives to be conversing in such a fashion, such that the American customer spending American money in an American store has no idea what is going on. All three people were able to speak English, as well, by the way, but apparently couldn't be bothered.

This is the second time that has happened at that store-in different locales. I won't lodge a complaint, but I'll never shop there again, either.

Why must WE, AMERICANS, be the ones to do the accomodating? Since these people are the visitors to OUR country, shouldn't it be the other way around? I think it is very disrespectful to be so blatantly resistant to assimilation. If anything, one would think they would be grateful to be here, and demonstrate their gratitude by NOT demanding that everything be in their language.

Surely other cultures at the turn of the last century managed to assimilate-I don't hear operators speaking in German, Italian or Yiddish. Can anyone can offer an explanation as to why these other people don't?

I certainly understand wanting to maintain elements of one's culture, but it is so dangerous and detrimental for ANY country to engage in balkanization-and it is plain for anyone to see that this is exactly what is happening in America.

I am not trying to bash anyone, although, unfortunately, I am sure others will infer otherwise. Rather, I feel I am stating the obvious and I believe our English speaking country deserves respect from those that garner so much from it. I don't think assimilation is asking too much.
By Mexican_American

11/7/09 at 1:41 p.m.

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Why is it that whenever there is a story that involves another culture all these LOSERS are quick to jump on our backs ? You want to stereo type and rant on about how your losing your jobs and your freedoms ? you really need to get a life and whine to someone who cares, because your going to get a rebuttle thats gonna be in your face and then you are going to spend hours trying to justify your ignorance in a public forum !! Ha !

How can you call yourself American ? You want to single out a certain race or color ? you want to talk about a great melting pot ? but you don't want any beans with that stew ? Ha !! YOU DONT KNOW WHAT AMERICAN IS !! GO LIVE IN A CAVE JACK !!, and while your there you can whine about it to the wall !!!

You have to remember that Las Vegas is a spanish word jack !! California and all the cities there are Spanish words !!, We were here first !! and if you can't accept that then LEAVE !!!

If you go EAST and further SOUTH you'll find a home there, and people like you, but if you'll notice your quickly becoming the minority and you will be able to get the benefits of minorities. Then you can hear us complain about how your sponging off of welfare and the government.
By kenodave

11/7/09 at 2:13 p.m.

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Mexican-American....your reference to names of California cities being in Spanish. It's because the Spaniards named them. It is my understanding the Spaniards have no use for Mexicans either.
By macy

11/7/09 at 3:17 p.m.

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Narcissa, what exactly is your definition of "AMERICAN"? Will you submit the same rant during St. Patrick's day celebrations? Or is that considered a perfectly "AMERICAN" holiday to you?
By Mexican_American

11/7/09 at 3:42 p.m.

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Kenodave: Your ignorance mistakens you. And you May need to educate yourself more on who we are before commenting again. Oh yea and Mexicans are of Spanish as well as Indian descent. While Mexican Anericans ARE AMERICAN !!
By info4you2see

11/7/09 at 3:43 p.m.

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Spanish or Castilian (espanol or castellano) is a Romance language that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula. It was taken most notably to the Americas as well as to Africa and Asia Pacific with the expansion of the Spanish Empire between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries.

SPANISH LANGUAGE ORIGINATED IN EUROPE:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_lan...

Read and learn history........thank you. : )
By kenodave

11/8/09 at 4:13 p.m.

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That's right info4you2see. Spaniards consider Mexicans subserviant to them. A Lower class citizen, much the same as their status here in America.
By codiggler

11/8/09 at 8:05 p.m.

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Narcissa: The reason is because they are Lazy, Uneducated and too unintelligent to learn english. We don't see that slum they call Mexico catering to the English language do we? Why do anything when you can pop out kids all day long and have the Gov take care of you, legal or not.

Mexican American: Your right, whites will be the minority because all you people do is bang without thinking about how to take care of your 12 kids. Kids=welfare= unsupervised punks who go out to rob,steal and kill the innocent. You obviously read the news. Whose faces show up in the crime section day after day? And your people sure know how to turn a nice neighborhood into a toilet. If thats not an obvious fact, look out your window.

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