Good Friday

I thought I might share another tidbit of cultural insight on this important day.

The first thing is that cemeteries don't have the same connotation here as they do in the US. I guess if you read our blog about the Day of the Dead you would remember that a cemetery can be much like a carnival ground. OK. So on our way home we must walk over or around this bowl of cement that you see in the picture to the right. It is where cement is mixed to build the vaults used to bury people.


These are some that are done just to the right of that cement bowl. We pass this area every time to go to school (or return home for that matter). The men usually make them in the early morning before it is hot and let them harden all day long in the sun. And if it is a rainy day, they build a sort of umbrella over them so they aren't ruined by the rain.

We pass through the cemetery to get home or we walk in the cemetery for exercise. (It's treated much like a park here) This house is built just on the other side of a wall that separates the wealthier part of the cemetery from the poorer. This house actually looks amazing compared to quite a few. Some of them are without sound walls and have taken vinyl signs and tied them on to keep out the rain. You can see the raised graves in the back but also the stacks of vaults with name plaques on them. These stacked ones are for people who can't afford to buy land to bury their dead.

Then of course come the Ritz Carlton of burial options. Those with lots of money choose to bury their dead in a house that is all their own. Inside this building are two bodies in raised vaults. These buildings are frequently with AC (although this one is not) They often have an eternal flame of some kind and most have several seats and lots even have a mattress if someone would like to spend the night with the departed.

On to why I wanted to share this today. In this country, people (generalization here) believe that Jesus dies again every year and is raised again on Sunday. This is a literal thing. The ramifications of that are that for 3 days every year (although in all reality it is less than 2) the people have no saviour and no mediator. That means that the entire country is shut down on Good Friday. The fear is that if someone dies while Christ is dead that the deceased will not be able to get to Heaven. So no one will risk going to work or leaving home for fear that something might happen. So basically there has been very little activity here. Even the kids aren't playing in the streets. You can hear that people are home because their TVs are on, but no one is willing to leave their homes. How this affects us? We wanted to order pizza and have a movie night with the kids (a fairly special deal for us) and Pizza Hut was closed?!?!?! What is this world coming to?? (And you thought we were roughing it didn't you)