11/02/2025
Feliz Día de Mu***os🌸🌼
My name is Mary Andreina Spanish teacher and tutor and I’m from Venezuela. My husband, Seth, is from California. Our son, Andrei, was born in Durham in 2021, and since then he has grown up surrounded by the incredible diversity that makes up what we call “Hispanic” or “Latinx” in the U.S.
Growing up, Andrei has been embraced with so much love from his Mexican friends, and that has also become part of his Latinx culture enjoying tacos dorados, paletas, beans with rice, and especially the Día de Mu***os celebration.
Since his first year of life, this holiday has captured his heart. Even though I’m Venezuelan and we don’t share this exact tradition, I love celebrating it with him, as it connects him to his friends and to the beautiful symbolism and imagination of what it means to be a Latino child born and raised in the United States.
That’s why, since 2023, I’ve been inviting my Spanish students, friends, and the group of mothers from the Durham community to join and share in creating an ofrenda—an offering to honor our ancestors—and to spend a night where Death becomes the queen of the celebration. It’s a Mexican tradition with deep Indigenous roots and a rich blend of cultures that beautifully represent the connection between Mexico and the U.S. borderlands.
I feel so happy seeing how every year Andrei looks forward to this celebration and enjoys it to the fullest, embracing it as part of his Latinx culture.
Happy Día de los Mu***os!
