Nicaraguan Diplomat (update)
Oct. 1st
So… a few weeks have passed now since the Nicaraguan´s mysterious death. Unfortunately I have not heard any additional information on the crime (such as who did it, why they did it, if it was affliated with anything, etc.) which most likely means that nothing new has been found in regards to the case. Back home (Nicaragua), the family´s mourning has gone on. The Thursday after the death, the body was brought back to Nicaragua and Friday was the formal funeral. A typical funeral in my opinion, similar to funerals in the USA. The big difference was that afterwards, practically the whole city (at least 500 ppl) followed the hearse to the cemetary on foot which was probably about 1.5 miles. As we walked, there was a band playing music; trompets, trombones, sousaphones, etc. I imagine that this funeral was a lot bigger than the typical funeral just because he was an important Nicaraguan figure and is from Masatepe. So, we walked all the way to the burial site and didn´t leave until he was well buried. This seemed strange to me since I felt that this should be a personal moment for the family, but maybe that´s my American culture coming out.
Then the following Sunday was the “9 day celebration” which I still don´t 100% understand. Basically, there was another church service in his honor and then about 50 ppl (maybe closer friends?) went to the family´s house directly afterwards. There we sat in lawn chairs outside the house for about 45 min. Everyone was faced in one direction, towards the house´s front door. Some people talked, others sat in silence. Then out of nowhere some people started singing, but not all people, then the silence again. About 1 hr in, the family came out with trays of food and drinks. They passed it out to everyone present, the people ate, and then everyone got up and left. More or less, ”dine and ditch.” I was beyond confused. Do peoploe really just come, eat, and leave? I guess so. My brother says it´s a tradition that they always do 9 days after a death. Those who were singing were actually praying with the family and those who sat quietly just came for support.
There will be another celebration after 6 months.
