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Las Posadas are the nine nights of gatherings held in Mexico from December 16 to 24. So what are las posadas, exactly? The word posada means lodging, and the tradition remembers Mary and Joseph going door to door asking for a place to stay. Today most posadas are...

How do you say Veterans Day in Spanish? It is Día de los Veteranos, and in Mexico November has its own national holiday: el Día de la Revolución, on November 20. If you live between the United States and Mexico, or just talk to people in both, these are the two...

An ofrenda is the altar families set up for Día de Muertos to welcome back the souls of their dead, and every item on it has a job. The meanings below come from Mexican government institutions: INPI, INAH and ISSSTE. Families and regions do it their own way, so not...

Día de Muertos and Halloween fall days apart and both use skulls, but they are different holidays, with a different origin and a different purpose. Halloween is October 31. Día de Muertos runs from October 27 to November 2, and its main day is November 2. Arturo, who...

Cempasúchil is the orange marigold you see everywhere during Día de Muertos, and it is there for a reason. According to Mexico's Secretaría de Agricultura, its color is believed to represent the light of the sun, which guides souls back to the world of the living, and...

October 27 is the day for pets. It is the first day of Día de Muertos. From October 27 to November 2, each day is set aside for a different group of the dead, and the season opens with the animals. Arturo, who teaches with us at Speak Better Spanish and lives in...