Día de los Muertos is one of the most celebrated holiday in the Mexican culture. It’s a day where we celebrate the lives of our loved ones who we have lost. At first I thought it was just a sad and creepy day for everyone but when I actually got to watch a few videos and learned more information about the holiday I realized that it’s not a sad day. It’s a day where you’re surrounded by food, music, family, and flowers. We get to cherish all the little things that make a person the way they are and what we took for granted about the person when they were alive. I love all of the creativity and thought that goes into Día de los Muertos from the different foods to the different ideas people use to present their ofrendas and altars. I know what you're thinking what in the world is an ofrenda? Well an ofrenda is a decorative stand where it would hold pictures of the one that passed with all the things that the person liked and enjoyed the most during their time here.
I was glad that I got to get a feel for this holiday and the way another culture deal with the feeling of losing a loved one. In class I based my project off of my grandmother her name was Carol Washington she was the third oldest out of eight children but she was the oldest out of four girls. She was born February 10, 1956 and past April 19, 2008 she lived until the age 52. She was born in North Carolina but was raised in city of brotherly love Philadelphia. Married my grandfather Raymond Washington in May 1972 and had five children. She was into dental and health care for many years and decided to pursue a career in dental.
Me and my Grandmother weren’t as close as when she was live but doing this project it showed me that we were just alike in so many ways. As a younger child I did not always get to see the greatest parts of my grandmother due to my behavior and what they would call a “smart mouth” and as old fashioned woman I was disciplined for my actions. However after participating in my first Día de los Muertos I have gotten to refresh and preserve my memory of her taught me that she means a great deal to me. Making me wish that I had more time to spend with a person who was just like me in characteristics and personality.
I decided to create my sugar skull in the remembrance of my grandmother because one she is my grandmother. Also, because she was my mother’s mother and my mother loved her dearly. My mother means a lot to me so I wanted to do this project for her to remember her mother since she can’t reflect herself doing this project. So I believe that my sugar skull reflects my grandmother because the colors I used reflected my favorite memory of her which was during Easter. Which she let me decorate all the eggs and hide my cousins and my brothers easter baskets all around the house. So I decorated my skull and mask in what I believe are easter colors. I also added braces on my skulls teeth because that reflected her being a dentist and when I think of dentistry I think of braces.
Día de los Muertos open up my mind a lot for celebrating my loved ones because it let us do what our loved ones enjoyed. We can kind of get to walk into their shoes for the day by eating everything they loved and doing activities that they felt were stimulating and fun. I think that this is something that everyone could enjoy after they finished grieving or if they want to use this holiday as a grieving resolution. Because it lets you have a day where you get to talk about the person and get out all of your final cries till next year or their birthday. I feel as though this was a great exercise for the class it let us do exactly what the holiday encourage you to do. I would like to bring this holiday home with me because it let me get to know more about my grandmother even though I didn’t know her that well it gave me time to actually sit down with my mother and learn a lot more to my grandmother then what I knew previously.
Panegírico
Hola mi nombre es Lamira Jeffreys y yo hecho este panegírico para mi abuela. Yo tenía nueve años de edad cuando ella falleció.
Mi abuela Carol nació el diez de febrero de mil novecientos cincuenta y seis. Ella para realidad nació en North Carolina pero creció en Filadelfia.
Ella fue una dentista y involucrados con atención médica. Ella fue la tres vieja de ocho niños.
Mi abuela fue de marrón piel y muy alta y flaca. Ella también fue enérgica y cariñosa.
En el momento no era lo suficientemente mayor para saber lo que estaba pasando. Yo aún tengo amor para ella pero son no como sólida debido a mi edad. La sola cosa yo deseo yo podía tener con mi abuela es más tiempo. Más tiempo que yo podía usar a obtener a saber ella mejor.
En un sentido yo siento a la izquierda hacia fuera porque mi hermano y primos tienen mucho memorias de mi abuela pero yo no tengo muchos.
Así que cuándo de familia encantarse y hablar sobre ella yo no llegar a decir mucho
Hay mucho de cosa fui buscado preguntó sobre vida.Día De Las Muertos
The person I decided to focus on for this project was my older sister Jasmine Lewis. She was the second oldest out of my 5 siblings and honestly one of the most fun. Jasmine was the one I went to when I needed someone to talk to but didn’t really feel like anyone else would have the answers to what I needed help with. No matter what the situation was she would be there to help me out in it whether I was at fault or not. She was a full supporter. Unfortunately Jasmine was one of my sisters that had sickle cell. The trait of this disease runs through my family but not everyone was born with it. However, her case of sickle cell grew more severe as she went on with life. The older she got the more she ended up in the hospital due to pains from this disease. She always wanted to treat someone just because of the simple fact that she enjoyed making people happy. She has passed away on March 29, 2014 before her 27th birthday and it was one of the largest wake up calls that my family could have received because no one was expecting it and it seemed like we almost took our moments with her for granted. She was always a giver and would rarely expect something in return.
Jasmine meant a lot to me as do all of my older siblings. We seemed to have this connection of some sort where she would always understand my point of view or where my reasoning was coming from. She was also a very positive person almost all the time. She did have her moments where she may not have been the most positive if she was made angry but that’s just human. Jasmine was a huge source of knowledge for me. Whenever there was a time where I felt like almost everyone was against me in a situation, she was always there by my side. I always tried my hardest to do the same for her as often as I could. Jasmine and I were a team. I had most of my first time experiences with her such as visiting Penn's Landing, going to Love Park downtown, and visiting the Philadelphia art museum. She was a curious explorer when it came to certain things. If she heard about a place that she thought one of her siblings would like, she would eventually arrange plans to visit that place with them or even the rest of the family. She sometimes even was a connector for our family. There would be times where she would bring us back together if we had not spent time with each other in a while. For example there would be times where Jasmine would visit and encourage us to come together and eat dinner as a family to catch up on times that we missed and just to spend quality time with each other.
I honestly decided to create my sugar skull and mask in remembrance of her because she’s the closest family member that I have lost. She is on my mind almost every day and I know everyone misses her dearly and they are holding in a lot of emotions so I felt that it would be good to express some of those emotions in this skull and mask portion of the project. I felt that she was the most necessary to base this project on because she was a huge part of me and she was one of my largest sources of joy and happiness. I believe she was that way for just about everyone in the family. She spoke nothing but positive words and honored almost everyone she knew dead or alive so I felt that it was a great idea to honor her in this project.
In this project, my sugar skulls was painted a greenish blue. This greenish blue represents one of her favorite colors besides pink. This blue is painted on most of the skull because of that. There is also a red trip down the back of the head. This represents the hairstyle that Jasmine had which was a mohawk that was straightened and leaned toward the side that was dyed red. If you look at the front of the skull you’ll notice that mouth area of the skull is a different color from the rest. I decided to paint this part yellow because Jasmine was almost always speaking positive words. The yellow is supposed to point out that her words were always either bright and encouraging or brought some sort of happiness. There are also yellow highlights on the outline of the mohawk to represent the bright parts of her mindset and the way she thought about things in a positive way. The red strip borderlining the bottom of the skull is there to represent her strength from being able to deal with the pains of sickle cell almost all day, everyday and yet still remaining a positive person overall. There are also simple red designs on the side of the skull that represent the red glasses she had but the eye part is sparkling and defined. This represents the amazing way that she looked at different things and situations in life.
My mask for this project is also a reflection of my sister’s characteristics and tendencies. The blue highlights that go throughout the mask design are to represent her favorite color once again. I was sure to put the blue highlights in more than one place in the mask and also make it stand out in contrast with the red background. There are 2 bright blue stars on the design of the forehead of the mask that represent how she found a way to see things the positive way and how she liked to explore. The stars represent exploration because there are many stars and there is so much to explore in the universe. The reddish pink color of the background of the mask represents how bright of a person she was overall because even though she dealt with a severe illness, she always managed to bring joy and stay bright. The overall colors of the mask are meant to represent her bright the positive characteristics that Jasmine seemed to have almost all of the time.
The Day of the Dead has opened my mind up to the positive idea of the celebrating the passing of loved ones. Usually I would only think of death as a bad thing and I would really hate it if a family member passed away but the Day of the dead has opened my eyes and has encouraged me to think of the positive that could be in the situation. There are benefits especially for my sister such as the fact that now that she has passed away, she no longer has to deal with any pain or hurt that may have been caused by the sickle cell she had. She also does not have to deal with any drama or tragedies caused by humans in general. I know that my sister Jasmine Lewis has moved on to a better place and I and actually very glad that she did. I am still sad and angry to have lost her in the first place but I am now able to remind myself of the positive fact that she no longer has to suffer at all anymore. She has moved on into a better place and I am able to use that as another source of joy.
Panegírico
Hola, me llamo Jordan Lewis. Yo soy un estudiante de grado diez. Yo asisto ciencia y liderato en Beeber. Esta mi panegírico. Jasmine fue nacer la ocho de junio. Ella es de Filadelfia. Jasmine es mi grande hermana. Ella es el segundo mayor hermana en la familia. Ella es cómica y alta para una chica. Jasmine es muy inteligente. Ella disfrutó provocar gente feliz. Yo soy en a bueno condición. Yo sé ella está en un lugar mejor. Yo extraño mi hermana, ella era muy importante. Ella era a bueno hermana. Mi hermana Jasmine era a grande parte de mi familia. Yo soy feliz porque ella no sufre. Nosotros extrañamos ella pero nosotros somos feliz para Jasmine.
Spanish 2 Quarter 1_Benchmark_Día de los Muerto
Aaliyah Ellerbee
10.02.2015
The project was to write about someone who passed also celebrating Día de los muertos. We had to go in depth answering all questions with heart felt answers. We had to create sugar skulls and mask reflecting the person either looking like the person or with the favorite things. We were able to learn about the day of the dead or Día de los muertos. Also we learned new vocabulary and when day of the dead occurs. I did my project on my dad who recently passed it was't as bad as I thought.
I am dedicating my skull mask to my Step Father that passed recently.The person that passed away was my Step Dad (Abdul). This person was a positive father figure to
me. He showed me hard work and dedication pays off. Even if he didn’t do everything by the book he showed me how to become independent and don’t depend on anyone. My dad taught me do not allow anyone ever to walk over you have a voice at all times, “Closed mouths don’t get fed”. I decided to create my sugar skull for my Dad because he passed this September. He was a big impact in my life, he showed me that education gets you far in life. I say that he demonstrated that school and education will get you far because he only went to school until 6th grade. My father was a successful businessman. He did very well to only have elementary school education. My dad had many real estates companies everything wasn’t always legal or properly handled. but didn’t know how to alot of Always treat people how you want to be treated because Karma is real. The passing of my dad impacted my mom in negative way because she often misses him. My father's passing left a hole in my family even though he and my mom weren’t married he was still a father figure. It is a hole that my brother, my mom and I have will try to fill, in our own ways. For years I have coped with the loss of my father by dedicating very little time to thinking about it. Though this method may seem heartless, it works for me.
On September 28, 2015 I attended my dad’s funeral. This was one of the hardest day in my life, I would never in a million years expected to be burying my Dad. At my dad’s Janazah it was bittersweet. I was able to see him peacefully rest one last time. I was able to see how much of an impact my dad made in people's lives. I loved being my dad’s daughter he helped raised me. He was apart of my life for majority of my life. Most knew my dad by “Abdul Mateen”.
You will Never ever meet a greater man, a man who was lived by his values. My father was taught by experience . His method was simple. He always did favor even if no one returned the favor.I admired my dad because of the kind of father and man he was to my brother and I. Yes, he loved us very much. He also instilled in us a core value system that defined who we were. My dad was a man who kept promises.
Things that my dad taught me are savor and cherish every moment. Savor every moment you have together. Some day hanging out with my dad won’t be that interesting. Life happens pretty fast. cherish it while you can. It’s never too early to start teaching me about money. She will still probably suck you dry as a teenager. My dad means everything to me. Dad, words cannot express how much I adore and treasure you. You are one of the best things that ever happened to me, you were such a great father figure at a young age taught me how to be my own person. You were a good husband and father figure. You help raise me in the way of Allah beliefs, taught me how to believe in myself, you taught me the morals I need. You have been my source of joy and inspiration. My dad has seen me grow up from the age 4 on up.
What Commemorate means to me is honoring and showing respect to someone who has passed. What the Definition of commemorate means to my mom is to honor a person memory and treasure the moments you share. How do you or your family commemorate the passing of a loved one? This could be the wake, funeral and/or anniversary of their passing. In the passing of my father we had janazah which is relatively similar to a funeral but much shorter in time. In the Islam religion you are not to mourn over the death of someone near in public you are not suppose to have candle lights. So for our family we prayed and said the Shahadah. My mask reflects my dad because it has the components of his life. My dad owned many businesses such as clubs, construction company, real estate and car dealerships. My father was all about his business.
How does your sugar skull reflect this person? I believe that my sugar skull reflects my dad because he was very flashy person. I used the glitter to show his flashiness also the color green because he was “ about his business”. I think that the sugar skull represented him
because I wrote in Arabic “Family” which he cared deeply about. Family is all you have at the end of the day. Another way the skull is a representation of him is because I have the Islam symbol which is a crescent and star. To show his religion and love for Allah. My dad was a proud Muslim. Islam is the right religion and he was on the right path. Now you are with Allah everything belongs to allah 'To Allah we belong and to Him is our return (Inna lillaahi wa inna ilayhi Raaji'oon).
I think my video reflects my dad because, I have pictures edited to look as if he was all over the world. I did this because he did like to travel so this depicts that. I also added many pictures of his religion which is Islam. My dad loved and enjoyed his religion even though sometimes he didn’t do everything correctly he still has a strong Muslim man. In my slideshow of pictures I have a video of my dad showing off his new car saying “You can’t rent these”. My dad was a very flashy guy. He worked for his success, but he did cheat people and did many of his clients wrong.
How has “Día de Los Muertos” opened your mind up to celebrating the passing of loved ones?Día de Los Muertos has helped me think all of the positive things my father has done and the impact he had in my life. This day brings to my mind that my dad who passed away and left a mark in my heart. This is my first time actually celebrating Día de Los Muertos but, Dia de Los Muertos for me now is a time when I stop and reflect on my dad . I reflect on his love, and friendship and how it helped me to get where I am and become the person I am. I will try to always honor his life and cherish our memories and making my dad proud I know he is watching over me.
Eulogy
Yo soy Aaliyah Ellerbee. Yo estoy quince años de edad. Estoy hablando de mi papa
El , señor Abdul Mateen , mi padrastro .
Él estuvo un empresario
Mi Papá fue muy cómico y absurdo
Mi Papa tuvo bastante hijos
El amor de la familia
Mi papa disfrutar dinero
Él siempre mirar molesto
Mi papi abdul estuvo de Filadelfia
Él disfrutado de ir de compras
Él fue estricto
Mi papá disfrutar a viajar
Mi papá era un gran trabajador
Yo estoy en Filadelfia
Yo soy en mentalidad positiva
Yo respeto mi papá y amor le
Esta proyecto mi hacer triste
Ayúdame pensar de bien tiempo
Yo estoy al corriente a valor mi vida.
Él está con Allah.
Yo creo que Acerca de mi papa
Su ejemplo mi inspira
Eres el mejor papá del mundo
Gracias por estar siempre ahí cuando te necesito
Gracias por todo
Porque siempre estás ahí.
Por ser modelo en mi vida.
Amor Tú Por siempre creer en mí.
A Dios gracias por ser mi padre.
Papá Eres lo mejor!
Yo honor mi papa
El fin
MASK AND SUGAR SKULL
For this project we had to an essay on a deceased loved one, then we had to write a spanish eulogy on it and make of video of us reading it out loud. Doing this project was fun and emotional at the same time because he had to think about the good things the person had done for us and also unforgettable memories we had together.
Hadja Diallo
Día de los Muertos
As long as I could remember, my uncle have always been a father figure to me. When I was 2 years old, my father left Guinea for the pursuit of a better life for him and also for the future of his children. He chose to come to america, the land of opportunities, where he had a vision of a better future. He left me and my siblings in the care of my Uncle, who raised and cared for us during our childhood. He was there by our sides through thick and thin and was fair to us as a biological father. My father trusted him with everything, even the people that were deared to him the most. It isn’t until later in my youth that I realized that my uncle was not a biological brother of my father; I was explained that he was just a relative from the same hometown as my father’s. The story behind their acquaintance is that my uncle happened to move into the city for a job and met my father, who gave him a place to stay and opened up his home and family to him. Since day one they treated each other like brothers, I believe it is the main reason to why we did not know their differences. As the youngest, of course my uncle treated me like a little princess, I had everything that I wanted in terms of gifts, celebrating birthdays and spending most of his free time with me. It is indeed the best childhood that any kid could ask for. Sometimes, when I start acting up, my mother will blame my uncle for spoiling me so much.
Another reflection that will never be erased out of my conscience is the emotional care that was provided by him. Back in Guinea, I used to get sick a lot, and whenever it was the case, he will stick by my side with all that I needed. He will make sure that I was getting my treatments from the best doctors. Without a car, and the hassle of transportation, it was very difficult to get around places. On days that I am sick and have to go to the hospital, we always will take a taxi. I remember once, it took us a while to stop a vacant taxi, and he had me on his back, walking for a couple of miles before finding one. Imagine yourself with a sick child that needs immediate assistance from a doctor and cannot find a reliable source of transportation? He was an incredible man for his hard work and patience. I remember this particular moment as if it happened yesterday, when I was severely ill and threw up on his back. I apologized later for doing so, but he did not seem to care, and told me that I needed to relax and get some rest. I had an issue with my appendix and had to get surgery done, and without him I can surely say that there was a very slight chance that I could be here today. He was the only one that we had for such services and he did not fail to go beyond his best each time. My father sent money for him to assist with the spendings and also my medicines.
We went through a lot in Guinea including presidential elections and all the strikes. When it started becoming hectic, my father decided to find his ways to bring us to live with him and pursue a better education. It was really hard for me to think about moving to a different country, where another language is spoken, but mostly having to leave the people that I grew up loving and caring for especially my uncle. Again, he was the one that helped out with all of our immigration papers, appointments, interviews etc... The last time I saw him was at the airport, before we boarded for the US. After we all got on the plane, I kept asking myself, “Would this be the last time I see my uncle or will I get a chance to see him again someday”. The thoughts were really stressing me out.
After we settled down, I used to recharge my mother’s phone to call long distance for an amount of five dollars every weekend, so that I can talk to my uncle. I will go over things with him such as school related, the differences between the two countries and so on. This one weekend, I called him and he told me that he was sick, but he did not tell me how bad his conditions were. I still kept calling every weekend to check up on him, until he passed. On May 16th 2013, a day that is unforgettable to me is the day they announced me that he passed away. I was in school and I had an early dismissal; my brother picked me up and told me that we had to go buy some new things for living room without knowing what was going on, I got very excited since I love shopping. My brother said that first we had to go home and get the money from my parents. When we got home, as we opened the door, I saw my mom bursting out in tears and surrounded me with her arms. As she kept crying, I knew that it was definitely something serious that had happened but didn’t know exactly what it was. Then my dad set me aside and said “Hadja your uncle Yaya passed away” from that instant, it was the first and last thing I remembered hearing for a whole week. With the shock, people and words were just mute to me, as I sat and reminisced on the past and the unforgettable things that he had done for me and my siblings. I cried every single day for days, and I am still mourning his death as I write this paper. I know that my uncle is in a good place for his great personality and his good deeds and that he still watches over his little princess.
I decided to make the sugar skull, because of how important my uncle is to me and how he made a great impact in my life. I chose the colors red, yellow, and green because that represent him in so many ways. Red, Yellow, and green are the color of the Guinean flag; that represent my uncle, because he was born in guinea, started a family in guinea and he also died in Guinea. “Días de los muertos” has opened my eyes to celebrate the past of loved ones, because it made me remember the great things my uncle did for me and others during his lifetime. It’s just a great way to remember and be thankful to God for sometimes having such amazing people in our lives. I always wish that he did not have to leave us so early, so that I can repay him for all that he has done for myself and also my siblings.
Hadja Diallo
11-11-15
Spanish Eulogy.
Yo soy Khadija, Soy una persona muy encantadora. Yo soy el más joven de cuatro niños, tengo dos hermano y una hermana. Sólo el estado en América por tres años, nació en África y hablar cinco idiomas..Yo no soy americano africano, soy sólo un africano que vive en América. Me encanta viajar a lugares diferentes y estoy esperando para ir a paris este verano.
Yaya era mi tío quien me crió.. él era un hombre alto con ojos muy grandes, que caminan rápido. Fue muy divertido y corazón amante. Antes de morir, dejó a dos niños hermoso y su esposa también estaba embarazada.
-Link to the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr5uYWCjFzA
For this project, you have to make a sugar skull and mask that represents a loved one that passed. You then had to write a short reflection in English. After you did the reflection, you had to do a eulogy in Spanish about your loved one. I believe that this project was meaningful because I was able to think about good memories about my grandmother Arlene.
Reflection
The person who had passed away was a woman named Arlene “Apple” Seidle. The connection I had with her was special. I always loved going to visit her on weekdays and weekends and I would have probably visited her more than I visit my best friend now. But of course that is different now since she is gone.
This woman, Arlene “Apple” Seidle, is my grandmother, but I always called her my MomMom. She was my Father’s mother and she was seventy years old when she had passed. She had passed away on July 4th surprisingly and I was completely devastated when I had gotten the news from my father after his last visit with her. My MomMom was so special to me and she meant so much to me, especially after all the time we spent together. So the feelings that I had experienced that day were completely indescribable. For the first time in my life, I had felt true heartbreak and I knew that it was something that I can’t simply do over. It had taken me a few weeks to register that I will never be able to visit her no more and get to see her smile. She meant so much to me and it’s funny how fast happiness can be snatched away.
The reason why I had made my sugar skull in remembrance of my MomMom is unforgettable. Once she enters your life, it is so difficult to forget her wise words and kind smile. She had a lot of friends and had many family members who she cared for, even when they did stupid and hurtful things. Her door was always open for people in need and she always tried to help everyone the best she can. It’s funny how she called me her angel, but she more angelic than me. But now I wanna strive to become more like her and I always try think like her or do something just like her, so I can never forget. So making this sugar skull in remembrance of her is just another way for me to remember her and I’m thankful for that.
The mask and the sugar skull both symbolizes who my MomMom as a person. The red that I have on both the sugar skull and the mask represents her favorite color. Oh, how much she loved the color red. Her house was always filled with it, including her clothes and some of the makeup she wore. However, the color red fitted her so well and always believed that the color red was meant for her. An angel who loves the color red she was. The purple that you see on the mask and sugar skull symbolizes her creativity, her wisdom, her peace, and her independence. She tries to not be a “burden”, but she never was. She also knew the right things to say to cheer us up and she always had such a creative mind and a creative taste for clothes the older she gotten, but we all loved her the same. On the sugar skull and mask, I had colored the teeth gold because she had once in a lifetime golden smile. I’m completely serious when I say that her smile literally brighten up someone's day, making them have a better day than the one the begin with. Her four children, including my father has her smile and that was passed down to me as well because every time I see a relative, they say that I have “ a smile the reminds them of Apples.” At first, I didn’t think my smile was special, but the older I get, the more of a resemblance I see. The brown that’s outlined around the mask is a certain shade of brown that I use only to represent her skin color. Last but not least, the gold that’s in certain places on the mask and that’s on majority of the sugar skull represents her overall aura, which I believe is golden.
Día de los Muertos had really opened of my mind even more than it already was for the loved ones that had passed away in my life. The reason why I said is because it just another helpful reminder that I should never forget my deceased loved one because sometimes that person is unforgettable and personally for me, if I ever forgotten who Arlene “Apple” Seidle, then I would never be able to forgive myself.
FIN
The ser and estar project was for me and my partner to show how to use ser and estar. For this project we had to make a powerpoint/slides. This presentation did not only consist of a powerpoint, but also had to include a video demonstrating how to use ser and estar in different ways. For example: time and date, identification, location, etc.
