The School of Modern Languages on the Lincoln Park campus celebrated Dia de Los Muertos – Day of the Dead – Friday, providing students both an introduction to the culture of the Mexican festival and a showcase of DePaul’s Spanish program.

The small gathering, held in the upper floor of McGaw Hall, was attended by both faculty and students interested in Spanish language and Mexican culture – not to mention a buffet’s worth of Taquitos, Flautas and the traditional Pan de Muerto, or Bread of the Dead.

Though the name makes it sound morbid, the pastry, and the festival, is anything but. Originating in the Spanish conquest of Mexico and the Catholic Church’s attempts to “Catholicize” indigenous practices, Dia de Los Muertos is a celebration of deceased loved ones and the lives they once lived.

At DePaul, this celebration took the form of a modest altar, or ofrenda, decorated with candles, sweet breads, and fruits and vegetables, all under the watchful eye of Our Lady of Guadalupe. According to Professor Maria Beltran- Vocal, who helped organized the event, there are certain practices that are much more personal.

“Traditionally, pictures of the deceased person will be on the altar, and… a [sugar] skull, with the person’s name on it,” Beltran-Vocal said.

Dia de Los Muertos is not a single festival, like Halloween. Instead, it is two separate festivals that occur over two days.

“The first day is for children, Dia de Los Inocentes, and the second is for adults…that’s the actual Dia de Los Muertos,” Beltran-Vocal said.

The resulting length of the holiday makes it one of the biggest festivals in Mexico, and a great opportunity for the uninitiated, like DePaul students, to begin exploring the culture. It’s part of the reason the Spanish department has organized the party for the past fifteen years and counting.

For sophomore Nicole Harea, this is a beautiful thing.

“I think learning a new language is so beautiful,” Harea said. “It allows you to understand so many things you couldn’t see before.”

Harea, whose family is from Mexico and Guatemala, is no stranger to Day of the Dead. This festival, along with DePaul’s Spanish program, is her way of reconnecting with her heritage.

“I’ve celebrated Dia de Los Muertos forever,” said Beltran-Vocal. “In the state of Mexico I come from, Michoacán, [the celebrations] are very well known.”

Between the festive foods, colorful decorations and playful attitude towards death, it’s not hard to understand why. From central Mexico to the north side of Chicago, across five centuries of history, Day of the Dead is very much alive.