Guerrero governor Evelyn Salgado said this morning that 58 people are still missing after Hurricane Otis battered her state last week. The official death toll now stands at 46.
Twenty-three of the 26 earthquake sensors along the coast of Guerrero that were damaged in the hurricane have now been fixed. The sensors are part of Mexico’s advanced early warning system for seismic activity, which can give people in Oaxaca, Mexico City, and other parts of the country a few extra vital seconds to get to safety before a quake that originates in another part of the country reaches us.
As of Monday, CFE had restored electricity to 65 percent of homes and buildings in Acapulco, the New York Times reported.
Two Oaxacan aerial gymnasts brought home silver medals from the World Pole and Aerial Sports Championship in Brazil: Karina Donnet Romero Gómez won silver medals in two categories — individual artistic cloth and individual artistic ring — while Greta Sofía Jerónimo Ortiz took home a silver medal in individual professional artistic ring.
There’s a lot going on in town for Día de Muertos! Here are just a few of the highlights:
At Plaza de la Danza: The festival of hot chocolate and day of the dead bread starts at 5pm. At 6pm, there’s a costume contest:
Followed at 7pm by a Día de Muertos-themed show put on by the Oaxaca folk dance company:
Followed at 7:30pm by a concert by Oaxacan singer and multimedia artist Karen Daneida:
There will be another costume contest this evening at 5pm at Casa de Barro:
At 8:00 tonight there will be a procession (basically a kind of parade) through the streets of Jalatlaco:
At 6pm tomorrow there’s a comparsa — a comparsa is a kind of a pageant or parade — starting at the fountain of the 8 regions and wending its way along Calzada de Porfirio Díaz.
Also today, tomorrow, and Thursday at 6:00pm: “Sound expressions of the original peoples,” a musical series by groups from different towns, at the Zócalo.
Tonight from 8:00 to 9:30pm: video projections on the cathedral. On Thursday night from 8:00 to 9:30pm, video projections on Santo Domingo.
At 8:00 tomorrow night it’s the twelfth annual comparsa of the Chinas Oaxaqueñas (map link to where that starts):
On Wednesday and Thursday there will be a Día de Muertos-themed lotería game at Plaza de la Danza at 7pm. Lotería is kind of like a traditional Mexican version of bingo played with pictures and cards.
If you’re looking to get a glimpse of something more traditional, you might consider visiting any of the local cemeteries, such as the old cemetery in Xoxo (that’s Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán) tomorrow night or the cemetery in Jalatlaco anytime on Thursday… or really any local cemetery in the area. If you do go to the cemeteries, though, please keep in mind that for many Oaxacan families, the visit to the cemetery is an intensely personal experience and an opportunity to spend time with their deceased loved ones, and not a tourist attraction.
Also: House-to-house trick-or-treating isn’t really a thing here in Oaxaca, but wherever you go over the next few days, you might be approached by little kids carrying those orange plastic pumpkins asking you to give them something for their calaverita, so if you want to make those kids happy, it’s a good idea to keep a supply of candy with you.