The invitation said to bring one guest, but he or she couldn't be alive.
Posters from the Mexican embassy were hung, crepe paper marigolds were made, and guests ate pan de muerto adorned with skulls and bones.
Australians hardly had an idea of what the celebration would be, but once alumna Barbara Witemeyer and her husband Hugh explained honoring the dead was not a horrific idea, people started to ease into the D°a de los Muertos theme party.
The couple was a little unsure whether people in Australia would get into the spirit of something they said represents a New Mexican tradition.
"People just loved it - they'd never seen anything like it," Hugh Witemeyer said. "Even though it was new to them, it had a traditional feel."
The tradition emerged from Spanish and Mexican-Indian celebrations and made its way into New Mexican culture.
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Since the 1980s, Albuquerque residents, particularly in the South Valley, have celebrated D°a de los Muertos, or day of the dead, to honor their ancestors.
"According to our ancestors, this is the time when you meet people," said Chuy Mart°nez, associate curator of education in the Cultural Services Department of the Albuquerque Museum. "You should be kind to everybody who is a complete stranger, because they may bring a message from your ancestors."
Each year, two events highlight the tradition. The first is a velaci¢n, which is similar to a wake. It is a private ritual involving prayer, singing and specific types of incense and flowers. Many times the ritual honors angelitos, or young children, who have died.
But some churches and fundamentalists take offense to it and consider it a pagan ritual, Mart°nez said. It is a by-invitation-only ritual, performed as it has been for thousands of years.
And then there's the celebration, which can be done whenever people have time. It is believed the dead return to receive offerings from the living today and Tuesday.
In Mexico, especially the Lake Patzcuaro region, people inhabit cemeteries for a couple of nights to spend time with their loved ones. They bring food, music, pictures, toys - anything that helps them remember.
Mart°nez said it might seem a little odd that death is celebrated.
"For a lot of people, this would be very painful," Mart°nez said. "But once we accept it (death), then we can be closer to them."
He said the more traditional people don't ever forget about their loved ones, but try to do certain things in their name.
Altars are built on the day, but many people keep smaller tables in their homes, UNM graduate student Zibonele Valdez said.
Although the day is close to Halloween, Valdez said the difference is people do not parade around in masks for D°a de los Muertos. Halloween is a frightening and scary thing, he said, and today is spiritual and happy.
"It's a joyous way of remembering the departed," Hugh Witemeyer said. "The Anglo culture doesn't have anything quite like it. I love the kind of sense of familiarity with death that D°a de los Muertos involves."
