The Peruvian Funeral

Today we had the unfortunate task of attending the funeral of one of our worker's granddaughters. She was just a baby. It started at about eleven, when our nurse, Camilla, asked if Juanito could come and dig the grave for the granddaughter of David. So for the next four hours, Juanito dug a grave that was about 3 feet by 4 feet and 5 feet deep. The baby was going to be buried at the local cemetery in Santo Tomas. We were told the funeral was supposed to start at two, since the baby had just died this morning and they don't have to capabilities of embalming here. At 2:15, we left to walk to the cemetery (which is about a ten minute walk). When we got there, no one was there. Just a giant hole, waiting for a casket. An hour later, a truck showed up with about fifty people in it and a small white casket. All of the family began walking down the road, with one of the men carrying the casket on his head (it's customary here for people to carry their luggage on their heads, especially if it is heavy). The casket was placed on the ground next to the grave and everyone gathered around to open the tiny window in the top of the casket. They all wanted to see the baby one last time.

Considering I don't like funerals to begin with, I stayed away from the viewing of the baby that had died twelve hours before. When the casket was set on the ground, everyone realized there was not a shovel to refill the grave. Everyone started freaking out, shouting commands and complaints and nobody really knew what to do. Finally, Johan called Juanito and asked him if he could bring the shovel back to the cemetery. Ten minutes later, Juanito came racing down the road on the motorcycle, with his shovel in hand, ready to save the day. He was beaming. (1. because he saved the day and 2. because he'd just learned how to drive the motorcycle the day before). Then the funeral could begin. A man stood up and talked for about ten minutes and then Juanito and Johan placed ropes underneath the casket and lowered it into the grave. And that was it. Everyone started to walk back to the truck. There were no tears, no hugs, no words of reassurance. Juanito and Mamma T refilled the grave and we left. David told a joke every now and then and there was some laughter but that was about the only type of emotion there was. Maybe they knew this was for the better.