hola e viva Mehiko!

Meksicani. Mexicans. Mehicanos.

After quite a few personal encounters (one of those VERY personal, If you catch my drift;) I have come to know them as polite, friendly, crazy, out-going, extrovertial (in general more than, say, north and Scandinavic Europeans;) and lovely people that, once they get to know you, would give their arm and leg for you, should It prove necessary and useful (they're quite sharp, mind you).
A random thought, when I saw the photograph of Nancy (from the World Scout Jamboree), was that how peculiar it is the notion and perception of life and death ... across the globe.

Slovenia-ns largely, whilst being predominantly morbid and thus catholic (or is it vice-versa?;), believe and practise the solemn, grim-reaper-is-on-my-back...-or-will-be-if-I-don't-honour-my-cousins'-great-grandmother's death-anniversary sort of "worship". You can get a better idea of what I'm talking about by google-ing France Prešeren - acknowledged by many to be Slov. biggest (em. greatest as well:) poet ... WE CELEBRATE THE DAY OF HIS DEATH! Um .. why?

Mexicans and few others (nuba, aborigini, mayas, ....) celebrate death as a point in the lifes of the living and as a conclusion of one circle of the life of the deceased. They have the holiday of the dead, dia de los muertos, upon which they give each-other chocolate skulls, they dress up and, in all, celebrate the lives the deceased had been living and thus honouring them. I believe they, at the same time, cherish and praise the life as such and the fact that they are still part of the living + to drive death or better, The Grim Reapers away from the ones they care about.

Now ... where would you rather live? Or better - which philosophy would you choose to govern your own life?
I've chosen, via my dad, the latter philosophy ... which somehow doesn't tie in well with all the mourning (and moaning) and melting-the-rock-and-steel-church-at-the-cemetary-down-with-the-blaze-of-as-many-candles-one-could-still-afford.