I'm Jose, a local REALTOR®. Answer four quick questions to enter my free raffle. Right or wrong, every complete entry counts, and you'll learn something along the way.
Winner announced Mon., Nov. 2Twelve natural-flavor Mexican sodas: lime, mandarin, pineapple, fruit punch, tamarind, guava, mango and more. ¡Salud!
Your answers are marked above, with a quick explanation for each. I'll draw a winner at random and reach out Monday.
A quick look at one of Mexico's most beautiful traditions: a celebration of the people we love and remember.
For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples of Mexico, including the Aztecs (Mexica), honored their ancestors with harvest-season festivals, some dedicated to Mictecacihuatl, the Lady of the Dead. After the Spanish arrived, those traditions blended with the Catholic holidays of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, creating the celebration families keep today. In 2008 UNESCO recognized it as part of humanity's cultural heritage.
It isn't a sad day or a Mexican Halloween. Families believe the spirits of loved ones come home to visit. November 1 (Día de los Angelitos) welcomes children who have passed, and November 2 welcomes adults. Families clean and decorate graves, share meals, play music and tell stories about the people they miss.
At home, families build an altar with photos of their loved ones, candles to light the way, their favorite foods and drinks, water for the long trip, salt, pan de muerto and sugar skulls. Bright orange cempasúchil (marigolds) and their scent help guide the spirits home, and papel picado (cut paper flags) represents the wind and how fragile life is.
Smiling skulls (calaveras) remind us that death is part of life and can be met with humor. La Catrina, the elegant skeleton lady, began as a 1910s etching by artist José Guadalupe Posada poking fun at people who copied European high society. Muralist Diego Rivera later gave her the name and the fame she has today.
Chicago celebrates too: the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen hosts one of the country's largest Día de Muertos exhibits every year, and you'll find ofrendas in homes, churches and businesses from Pilsen and Little Village to the suburbs.
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No purchase or transaction necessary. One entry per person; must be 18 or older and live in Illinois. Entries close Sunday, November 1, 2026 at 11:59 pm CT. One winner will be chosen at random from all complete entries to receive one Jarritos Fiesta Pack (12 bottles), and contacted by phone or email on Monday, November 2, 2026. Answers do not need to be correct. Your information is used to run the raffle and, only if you check the box, to send occasional tips. Sponsored by Jose Eduardo Hernandez, Keller Williams Experience. Jarritos is a trademark of its owner, which does not sponsor or endorse this raffle.
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