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Connor Greenwall:
Welcome back to the podcast! I’m Connor Greenwall.
Today, we have a featured conversation between two reporters from the State Press about the Mexican holiday of Dia de los Muertos. Both Podcaster Joahan Lopez and Photographer Allesandra Salazar Loman celebrate the holiday, but in their own unique ways. From the history of the dia festivo to what it means to celebrate, learn all about it on this episode… of State Press Play.
Joahan Lopez:
I'm Joahan Lopez. I'm Alessandra Salazar Lohman, and we are going to be talking about dia de los Muertos, since it's going to start in this upcoming weekend. And Alessandra, you were born and raised in Mexico City, what does die de los Muertos mean to you?
Alessandra Salazar Loman:
Personally, my favorite holiday, November 2, means everything for me, not just for where I was born, but also the family I belong to. It has always been a huge part of November itself. Since October, we start building, building the ofrenda. We start printing pictures. We start thinking about, like, Oh, what did they like? What would they like to eat? How? And it's a day in which we, some somehow mourn them, but at the same time, we remember them in the funnest way possible. We sing their songs that they liked. We talk about funny memories. We we do everything we can to remember them.
Joahan Lopez:
Would you say in Mexico City, do a lot more, like bigger, compared to us?
Alessandra Salazar Loman:
Oh, in Mexico City, it's huge. And it's not just because of the tradition itself. We have a parade that incorporated very recently to the culture, actually. And that's because of a James Bond movie,
Joahan Lopez:
Specter, I'm pretty sure,
Alessandra Salazar Loman:
But they were the first ones to introduce the Dia de los Muertos parade. And after that, we actually started doing it every year. I found that really funny. But yeah, no, it's the whole city I can only talk from Mexico City turns orange, like marigold is orange. And we can see that from movies, from the culture itself. the marigold is the flower that it's supposed to bring them back to the earth. Yeah? So we put them everywhere, everywhere the petals go everywhere for them to be able to visit anywhere they want. but even the places they like to go to.
To hear more from Joahan and Alessandra, please tune in to State Press Play.
Connor Greenwall:
And that’s all for this week’s State Press Play. I’m Connor Greenwall
State Press Play is produced by our podcast desk editor, Connor Greenwall, and our vidpod editor Grace Johnson. Our original music is by Ellie Willard and Jake LaRoux.
Special thanks to our managing team, Matthew Marengo and Ava Peguese
You can check out all these stories and more on statepress.com. See you next time.
Joahan Lopez is in his final semester at Cronkite, majoring in Sports Journalism, his second semester as a podcast reporter!
