Some of you may know that I have a strange curiosity surrounding graveyards and cemeteries. I like to wonder through them and look at the tombstones. They can tell you so much about a person (or at least what those surviving the deceased thought about the person). I have explored old plantation cemeteries with big ornate markers for the land owners and just a pile of rocks for the laborers. I have wondered through the majestic Oakland cemetery in Atlanta and seen graves of civil war soldiers and the prominent Atlanta families at the turn of the century. I think my attraction is more than morbid curiosity. I really do think it tells you a lot about a society and how they perceive the great equalizer in life, death.
This leads me to the amazing cemetery in Granada and some other observations about death and the afterlife in Nicaragua. First lets start with the cemetery in Granada. It is huge and a historical treasure. It is still in use today.
Granada is one of the original colonial cities in Nicaragua. It has been one of the two major cities throughout Nica's political history. It was a prosperous business community on the shores of Lake Nicaragua. Accordingly, the cemetery is filled with political leaders and business leaders through the ages. There are countless ornate graves to reflect the power of the individuals buried there.
I am always intrigued by the symbology on graves. Obviously, Nica is an overwhelmingly catholic country so there is a lot of church symbology on the tombs. However there are a lot of other symbols that are similar to imagery used in the US.
Of course not all of the graves are so grand. Some do their best to show the love of the surviving family while others did their best just to list the pertinent facts.
Another great tradition is the funeral procession. They are similar to New Orleans processions. The casket is carried by horse drawn carriage to the cemetery.
The procession follows. They do this on any street needed to get to the cemetery. This means this long procession is often on busy roads and the traffic just has to deal with it. There is no New Orleans jazz band. In Nica the funeral procession is usually a little more somber but not without an aire of excitement.
As I think about it, death is much closer to home to the average Nicaragua. Life is harder in Nicaragua and death just seems a more natural part of life. We in the US tend to isolate the whole process and compartmentalize it. Not so here. It is not morbid and of course people are sad to lose a loved one but the death process is just like any other part of living.
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