My host sisters in front of their grandfather's grave.November 2nd this year was El Dia de Los Muertos and unlike last year when I was headed to Cajamarca to say good-bye to another volunteer from Peru-9, I attended and really appreciated the beautiful sentiment that comes with a day like this.
A private moment for Mama Antu. Now we have Memorial Day in the United States, and the month before I came here I made my first trek to the family grave site with my ailing granny and family (including my older sister) to put flowers on our family's gravesites. But really, here in Peru (and maybe most of Latin America) this is a special day set aside to remember those that they have lost. I went with my host sisters Yuli and Yoshina and we met up with my host grandmother, aunts, and uncle in the cementary. We started at the gravesite of my host mom's brother Javier and I watched as my host Aunt Gloria carefully decorated and sprinkled water on the headstone. This took at least 30 minutes. Then we went to my host mom's grandma's site and the same commenced.
My Tia Rosa in front of Javier's grave.
I wish we took things like this more seriously. I really think that this is a celebration of life and way of remembering those that have passed. I think I'll start to take Memorial Day more seriously. I know it's supposed to be about our troops, but I think we should remember all life and what our ancestors have given to us, plus the lessons we have learned thanks to them.
1 comment:
I treasure the time we took to put flowers on the grave site at the cemetaries in FP, especially since we went with Mom,Dad, and Granny. Family history and paying my respects have become very important to me as well. I'm glad you got to experience the same kind of sentiment in Peru.
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