在近期举办的墨西哥亡灵节庆祝活动上，DB很高兴能采访到墨西哥驻广州总领事Carlos I. Giralt-Cabrales先生，并畅谈这个特殊节日背后的故事。
At the recent the Day of Dead Festival Celebration hosted by the Consulate General of Mexico in Guangzhou, Delta Bridges had the pleasure to interview Amb. Carlos I. Giralt-Cabrales, Consul General of Mexico in Guangzhou about the stories behind this special event.
Delta Bridges: 亡灵节是墨西哥全国非常重要的节日。你们在墨西哥通常会怎样庆祝这个节日？
The Day of Dead is a very important holiday celebrated throughout Mexico. How do you usually celebrate the holiday in Mexico?
我们会放一个祭坛在家里，然后把逝去的人的照片放在祭坛上，摆上吃的、喝的。总的来说，就是希望能铭记他们，并且表达我们对他们的爱。我们希望和逝去的人分享这个特别的时刻。人们也会去墓地，他们会在那里待上整个晚上，意味着和逝去的人一起用餐吃喝。现在，我们会有像今晚这样的节日派对，也有化妆游行。我们把死亡当作自然生命其中的一个过程，我们知道逝去的人并不是真正地离开，只是躯壳不在了而已。只要他们的家人朋友记得，他们就会永远都在。
We do altars in the houses, we put pictures of our beloved ones who have already gone. We put food and beverages there. The whole idea is to remember them and to put a lot of love in it. We invite them to share with us the special moment we enjoy together. People go to the physical graveyards. They spend the whole night there and they eat and drink with the beloved ones who have gone. In modern times, we also have festivals and parties. We also have parades in which we paint our faces. We celebrate that as a natural part of life, knowing that you are not really totally gone. It’s just that you are not physically here. As long as your family and friends re-member you, you are still here with us.
(这个传统与宗教相关吗？)
（Is it about religion?）
宗教是一部分，个人信仰是另一部分。我们相信只要我们把逝去的人存在记忆当中，他们就在我们的心中永存。
It is in part religious and it is in part a personal belief. There’s a belief that we don’t have to forget our beloved ones. If we keep them in our memories, somehow they are still alive inside of us.
DB: 庆祝亡灵节的方式这些年是否有发生变化？有没有作出简化或者改良？比如年轻人会不会有不同的庆祝方式？
Has the way of celebrating the holiday changed throughout these years? Has any simplification or modification taken place? For example, do young people celebrate in a different way?
是的，当然会。每一代人都会给这个节日注入新鲜元素。所有这些活动都会作为社会的一部分发生变化。这不是坏事，相反，这是件好事。这意味着我们的传统会不断随着时间的变化注入新鲜血液。但我会说，每个人都会失去自己爱的人，可能是家人，也可能是朋友。但我们不会忘记，我们会把这些人铭记于心。
Yes of course. Every generation add a few things. All this kind of social activity are alive and they are part of the society. It is not a bad thing and instead it’s good. It means this celebration is enriched by new ideas along with the pass of the time. I can tell you that everyone’s lost someone they loved, probably their family, their friends, etc. The whole idea is that we don’t forget. We remember.
DB: 亡灵节已经被联合国教科文组织列为非物质文化遗产，这是让人们了解墨西哥文化很好的窗口。您觉得现在亡灵节在华南地区的影响和传播情况怎么样？
The tradition was inscribed in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, which is a good window for people to get a better knowledge of Mexican culture. What do you think the influence of the Day of the Dead in South China?
很多知道这个节日的中国人都会对墨西哥人看待生死的观念感到好奇。他们对我们庆祝节日的方式知道得越多，他们就越想了解更多讯息。所以这正好也是我们介绍我们国家文化生活的绝佳机会。当然，今晚的活动不仅是向中国朋友传播我们的文化，也是聚集华南地区的墨西哥社群，和同胞一起庆祝这个墨西哥独有的节日。我们这个群体不是很大，但是都是很努力的人。他们为中墨之间的贸易做贡献，他们有各领域的专业人士。他们知道如何去平衡自己与中国的文化，也在这里生活得很开心。但是作为异国他乡的墨西哥人，对他们来说能与同胞一起庆祝节日是一件很棒的事情。
Many Chinese people that come across this festival and this idea are curious about the way the Mexicans see life and death. The more they know about our way of celebrating the festival, the more they want to know more. So, it’s a wonderful opportunity for us to provide them with some information they want to know about my country. Tonight’s activity is not only an activity we host to express our culture to Chinese people, but also a way to bring together the Mexicans community; to celebrate something that is particular from my country with my fellow Mexicans. We are not a big community, but we are very hard-working people. They are trading between China and Mexico, they are professionals, and they have learned how to appreciate the Chinese culture and to live here happily. But we are Mexicans, so it is good to spend holidays together among our community.
DB：在促进中墨两国文化交流上，墨西哥领事馆最近作出过什么努力？
To build a better mutual understanding in cultural, what kinds of efforts has consu-late General of Mexico in Guangzhou made recently?
我们九月份举办了独立日庆祝活动。我们也有介绍经济和墨西哥其他情况的讲座。我们希望能把墨西哥的温暖带给中国人民，也希望能唤起中国人来墨西哥的兴趣。我们现在有由南航执飞的从广州——温哥华——墨西哥城的往返航班，所以我相信两国之间的交流更加便利了。我们在地理上非常遥远，但是现在相对来说近了不少。我们期待有更多的中国人来到墨西哥，我也希望有越来越多的墨西哥人来中国看看。我们对彼此的了解越深入，我们就会成为越亲密的朋友。
Yes, we had our Independent Day celebration in September. We had seminars on economics and Mexico. We tried to bring our warmth to the Chinese people and also, we try to awaken Chinese people’s interest in visiting Mexico. Very important: we have a flight between Guangzhou and Mexico City, stopping over at Vancouver, operated by China Southern Airline. So I believe it is a very convenient form of communication between our two countries. It is true that we are geographically distance; but with this flight we are relatively close now. we are expecting to see more Chinese citizens visiting Mexico. And it is my hope that more Mexicans will also visit China. The better we know about each other, the better friends we will be.
DB： 墨西哥领事馆最近有没有什么文化活动？
Are there any cultural activities held by Consulate General of Mexico in the recent future?
明年九月我们会举办独立日庆祝，就像今年九月一样。我们正在努力筹划明年的文化活动，其中包括几场展览和美食活动。我们举办的部分活动获得了不同企业的赞助和支持，希望他们在未来的一年里还将继续和我们合作。我们相信，通过这些活动将加深中墨两国的交流。正如我之前提到的，两国人民交流越加频繁，我们两国人民的情谊也将变得越加深厚。
Next September, we will have again our Independence Day celebration, just as this year. Also, we will have some other exhibitions and perhaps one or two Mexican Culinary events. We are currently working in preparing our cultural program for the next year. Some activities that we organized are sponsored by different enterprises, so we will work hard to get their support again for 2019. We are convinced that our cultural programs help to a better understanding among China and Mexico. As I implied before, the more we talk about our two countries, the better we could build awareness between the great people of China and the great people of Mexico.
