USC kickoffed its Dia de los Muertos celebrations this Tuesday morning. Pastries, drinks, and manual activities were available for students who participated into the remembrance of their lost loved ones.
Clemence Feniou has the story.
Walking in front of Leavey library this morning, dodging pedestrians, bikes and skateboards, and you will find yourself in front of friendly skeletons, with the sight of yummy food and the comforting smell of hot chocolate.
It is day one of Dia de los Muertos, a celebration known in Latin America to remember loved ones who passed away. Widely celebrated in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti and Mexico, this celebration remains open for everyone, as Christal Young, the acting head of Leavey library, explained.
Christal Young: Anyone can observe Dias de los Muertos, if you have a loved one that you would like to remember, to celebrate, then Dia de los Muertos takes place over the course of two days, so the first and the second of November is when we have our celebrations.
To celebrate that special day, food and activities were displayed for USC students on campus. Young pointed out the event had several traditional items.
Christal Young: So we have Pan de Muerto which is like a sweet bread as well as chocolate caliente which is a mexican hot chocolate as well as aguas frescas de jamaica which is like hibiscus water which is delicious. We also have books from our libraries, we have images that you can make your own button as well as Marigold, you can make your own puppet, you can take a selfie with an oversize skeleton.
USC libraries celebrates Dia de los Muertos for two days since 2016, Javier Garibay, a performing arts librarian, appreciate the event and the showcasing of culture it brings to the campus.
Javier Garibay: It means a lot for us to be able to hold this event, particularly in such a place that get a lot of attraction, because it brings visibility to different cultural expressions, celebrating those that have passed.
A two-day event for USC students who also required a lot of organization, said Garibay.
Javier Garibay: It took a lot for us to organize this event, we worked with SCIP, we worked with La Casa, with sororities and fraternities, we got a lot of people that collaborated with us to put this event.
An event that turned to be appreciated by many students as the line for drinks and pastries only got longer. If you missed the event today, you can still catch it tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. And if it’s still not enough, head north to DTLA, and take a stroll in Grand Park and Olvera Street, to admire the altar displays and the night procession.
For Annenberg Media, I’m Clemence Feniou.