Death is not the end

Some photos from the Quetzaltenago (Xela) cemetery.  It is in the style of the New Orleans cemeteries, with aboveground tombs...

It is large

...among trees

...surrounded by hills and volcanoes

!And full of color!

Because death is not the end...                                                                                ...It is a celebration

 

of life.

A friend described a Guatemalan funeral to me.  Keep in mind that, for the most part, everyone here is a catholic or evangelical.  She described an endeavor in which family and friends stay with each other throughout the night in the funeral hall or home following a eulogy.  There are two rooms for anyone to be in - a room for mournful sadness, and a room for laughter.  Yes, laughter!  In all the sadness of losing a loved one, especially when it comes to soon, we know it is inevitable, and we know the past was great, so let's have a smile.  Having a room like this is a great relief from the sadness, and you can have a rest here when the greif becomes overwhelming.  There are more American-style funerals here as well, ones without the laugh-room.  Though for me, I wouldn't like to grieve without the full balance of life.

One more note on the cemetery, it appears that economic segregation persists in the burial grounds:

Wealthy

Middle-class (can see the wealthy section in the back)



And the poor (these tombs line the cemetery perimeter)

The poorest of the poor probably are not here at all, burying their dead diectly into the ground, or cremated.  This is more reasonable anyway, rather than covering the land with concrete, and attempting to preserve ourselves in separation from the natural world.

Feed yourself back to the land that fed you!

Rest in peace,

Romjom