While most of campus was occupied with Halloween festivities last week, Spanish classes celebrated the Latin holiday Días de los Muertos.

The actual Days of the Dead were November 1 and 2, which coincided with All Saints Day and All Souls Day.

“Day of the Dead is when you honor and respect your past ancestors,” said Spanish student Spencer Tagg. He, along with classmates in Lola Danielli’s class made piñatas. “We had a festival day on October 31, and we broke open a piñata and ate candy,” Tagg said.

Meanwhile, Spanish 3 students like junior Victoria Targett watched a movie about the holiday’s role in Spanish culture. “It’s about celebrating your loved ones,” said Targett. She also said that special bread, candy, and skulls are all symbolic of the holiday.

In addition to the campus celebrations, Spanish classes will participate in a field trip.  Spanish teacher Concha Martinez said, “We are going to the Oakland Museum to an exhibition in a few weeks.”  Known as “Forgotten Stories, Remarkable Lives: Días de los Muertos 2012,”  the exhibit is open from October 10 to December 9.