Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)

Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is being celebrated with a week of lectures, music, exhibits, and more at Instituto Espanol (116, 186, 31). When you arrive at the landing point, you will see the sign, a small altar, and a trail of orange flowers. Go west, turn the corner, and descend the steps to find the Exhibit Hall. Along the way you can pick up a festive t-shirt to wear to the exhibit, too.

Traditionally this holiday is celebrated by constructing altars to remember and honor deceased loved ones. Malu Zhao constructed a beautiful altar in the middle of the exhibit. It features candles, food, and photographs of loved ones. On both sides of the altar are paintings and other works of art depicting Dia de los Muertos. The traditional symbols of this holiday are skulls, skeletons, and Catrinas, a female figure made famous by artist José Guadalupe Posada.

Ms. Zhao also explains the history and modern celebrations of this Mexican holiday on notecards that you can find near the altar. She writes, “The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. ... Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts.”

The Instituto Espanol teaches Spanish to SL residents in Basic, Intermediate and Advanced Groups. For Día de los Muertos the three groups are competing to see who can decorate the best altar. Visitors can vote, and the winner will be announced at the closing ceremony. The Basic Group was ahead in the competition when I visited, but that may change.

All of the altars are festive and fun, with lots of dancing skeletons and Mexican food to sample. I lingered a while at the altar of the Intermediate group, who gave out drinks of Bombay Sapphire along with samples of comal con tortillas and pizza margherita.

Eugenia Calderon, one of the Spanish teachers, has prepared a presentation and lecture on the traditions and meanings associated with the holiday. Her presentation, which is also on display at the Exhibit, is in Spanish but includes lots of pictures.

The Celebration will continue through November 2, ending with a fiesta at 8 p.m. SL time. A full schedule is found near the entrance to the exhibit.

Grey Lupindo

A Few Scenes at The Birthday in SL8B

In the “Important Dates” mentioned in the official SL8B blog, June 23 was listed as “The Birthday.” I heard there was going to be something going on around Noon SL time. Getting a chance to log in earlier than usual, I headed to the Cake stage. I had been exploring a couple steampunk areas with friends earlier (more on that later), so was wearing a Victorian outfit. As it turned out, I didn’t have to change. Getting to the Cake, it was one big party.

On the stage were the DJ of the hour, Xilion Iceberg, and Michael Linden. Michael was in a tiny avatar, that of a mole, dancing on stage. In the crowd were a mix of avatars in a variety of dress. News blogger Daniel Voyager was also there, though without the anthro snow leopard I’ve known him to wear lately.

Michael Linden wasn’t the only mole about. One resident, TheDoctor Footman, showed up in the same tiny av, accessorized by a mining cap and pickaxe. Seeing Michael, he went up on stage for a few moments, the two looking like they were twins. TheDoctor later made a screenshot of the scene his new profile picture.

There were a couple mishaps at the event. Just after I arrived, my avatar was suddenly knocked away several feet, and one of the sims connecting to the Cake stage vanished, taking away with it a slice of cake. At least it seemed to vanish. Michael Linden and Daniel Voyager were nowhere to be seen, but we could still read their chat. Someone suggested this was the work of griefers, but there were no signs of particles. The missing sim soon came back.

The second mishap was one of the choice of songs. The sim was a PG one, and at one point after the music change I heard a few people making a bit of commotion, “can you do this in a PG area?” I then recognized the tune as, “I Want to **** You Like an Animal.” Not the best choices of tunes in a “family friendly” place, especially with a Linden around, but all he did was cover his ears. DJ Xilion chuckled halfway through the song, then apologized, “Sorry Michael.” Someone decided to “sneak off” at that point rather than being caught on “that blog.” But most didn’t seem to mind, someone joking, “Aawwww, he’s playing for his lady.”

This wasn’t all that happened that day. I heard about Rodvik Linden dropping in earlier with a spaceship avatar. I wasn’t around to see it, though Daniel Voyager was. He wrote of Rodvik as funning around, “Mesh? I hear it is coming. The end of times is upon us! I always wondered what that red button near my desk did.” Rodvik gave no speech this year.

After DJ Xilion and Michael Linden had left, I decided to look around some. One place I came across was the exhibit for the Instituto Español, which Grey Lupindo attends. Wilson Voight and one of the teachers Eugenia Calderon, were there. Eugenia did most of the talking while Wilson was occupied with something. She described Grey as doing well, becoming an advanced student. This was their second appearance at a Second Life anniversary event, “Last year with we were able to let the virtual community know about our education project that we have had for the last 4 years. Also, we were able to show all the artistic and cultural activities that take place throughout the year. Besides our Spanish Language classes, we try to give a fully immersive program for our students in regards to the customs, culture, and art of Mexico and Latin American countries.”

The Spanish Institute has it's exhibit at SL8B Spectacular (216, 105, 22), and has it’s own website.

Looking around some more, one place I heard some chatter at was the 1920’s Berlin Roleplay exhibit. Stepping into a cafe, “Welkome, Herr Shuftan” they greeted me. They talked a little about the sim, as well as continuing to chat among each other about the SL8B. There was also a little music and dancing, one guy getting on stage at one point. In the middle of this, a German chef walked in sporting a sausage wrapped in a newspaper, which could be taken for free in a booth outside the cafe. Also nearby was a small movie theater. I never did stop in to see what was playing.

The 1920’s Berlin place is at SL8B Dazzle, (75, 230, 21).

Well, all for now. Sorry about this post being a day late, but there’s been lots to see.

Bixyl Shuftan