3 Things I Learned About Death from Dia de Los Muertos in Mexico

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We could learn a lot from Mexico, about food and about living slower, about art and about beauty, but maybe the greatest lesson they have to teach the rest of the world is about death.

Here are a few things I learned about death, while visiting Mexico for Dia de Los Muertos:

1. Be Nice to Dogs

When you die, you’re transported to the underworld. You wake up on the shores of this river and to continue your journey into the afterlife, you need to cross with the help of a few dogs. If you were mean to dogs in life, they won’t help you cross the river. So, be nice to dogs or spend eternity in purgatory.

It’s customary to take care of street dogs here. So customary, in fact, that many of the dogs on the street are absolute chonkers, like this guy I met…

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2. How You Relate to Death Is Everything

I step out onto the street, after exchanging dollars for pesos, and find myself in a sea of people and music. I’m shoulder-to-shoulder with high-school kids, masks down under their chins, many of them drinking beer, some…