The Funeral

 We arrived into the town where Josh's family lived we knew we only had little time to get ready for the funeral. We quickly dropped off our luggage and changed into black clothes for the funeral. Darwin dropped us off at Josh's Grandma's house where there were already many people there. 

As we walked into the house with a large black bow over the doorway we quickly noticed that the casket was in the front room. There were several large flower arrangements and a large crucifix at the head of it. Josh hugged his Grandma and quickly became acquainted with his dad's family. There were many that he knew already, and many that we met for the first time. It had been 10 years since Josh and Chris had been to Guatemala and everyone was so amazed to see how grown up these were. It was bitter sweet to see everyone so happy to see each other, and sad at the same time. I think all funerals have a way of doing that. It re-unites families in a strange way.

We quickly ate with the family and soon we started hearing loud sobbing from coming from the front room. It was time to move the casket. Slowly people started gathering out into the street in front of the home. To begin with the men carried the casket. A van led the way playing a sad song about saying goodbye. The casket followed. All of the family and friends walked in the street behind. At the end of the crowd there was a live band playing a song as well. We walked from the house to the church where the mass was held. After we walked from the church to the cemetery. Since there was a long way to walk the family would take turns carrying the casket alleviating the last from the weight and heat of the day. 

The most touching part for me was seeing my husband Josh and his brother Chris taking a turn carrying their Grandpa's casket. This was something not planned at all, but the Aunts and Uncles wanted all of the Grandchildren to participate too. I thought it was a very honorable thing for them to do and I couldn't help but get chocked up as I walked behind them. At that moment I wished that their dad was there to share this moment with them.

The cemetery in Guatemala consisted of mausoleums. It reminded much of what I had only seen in the movies in New Orleans. It was very different than the grassy cemetery's we have in the Utah where each headstone is carefully lined up. In Guatemala these mausoleums came in every shape, size, and color. 

When we finally arrived to the Aldana mausoleum they carefully put the casket inside the top slot. A prayer was said and then a man began to close up the hole where the casket had entered with cement and cinder block. As I stood there watching this get done I looked around at all of the sad faces. I could hardly believe that Josh's Grandpa had only passed away yesterday. It was surreal to think that all of this happened within 24 hours. Of course I know that the bodies are not preserved in Guatemala the way they are at home, therefore everything is done more quickly. It was hard for me to wrap my mind around the family having to say goodbye only after one day. This was just the first of  many differences I learned on this trip between our cultures.

Grandpa Efrain Aldana

Josh and Chris carrying the casket

Mausoleums in the cemetery

The man in yellow is sealing up where the casket is placed

Trip to Guatemala

The Adventure of the Arrival

It was a Monday morning when I got a call at work from Josh saying his Grandpa in Guatemala had passed away. It was a sad time for the Aldana family and I could relate to a loss of a loved one all too well. The next question was, would we be go for the funteral? What I didn't expect was to find out that the funeral would be held the next day. This was something very different than what I was used to here in the United States. We were very fortunate that our work allowed us to take the time off with the short notice. 

We got things together as quickly as we could to arrange for this trip. It was Josh's dad's wishes that both his sons make the trip. It would be Josh and I, and my brother in law Chris. We had less than one day to leave our affairs in order with co-workers and family. That afternoon I left work in the biggest hurry ever. I came home from work and literally was running around the house like a mad women throwing my things in a suitcase for this trip. Normally for any trip I would take days calculating what I would wear, and take with. I would check my lists....check them again...and check one more time. But in this case there was no time for that. Josh's parents arrived 20 minutes after I got home and were ready to take us to the airport. My biggest regret was not saying goodby to my dogs, which didn't even hit me until after I was gone. That's how not straight I was thinking.

Once we got to the airport the adrenalin started to die down a little. By the time we got to LAX it was past midnight and we were just exhausted.  We waited ticket counter where the screen displayed Guatemala City, but no one else was arriving. As we desperately checked our watches to see what time it was we didn't understand why there weren't more people waiting to board the plane. Just as panic started to kick in, we heard a voice over the intercom, "La Famila Aldana por favor vengan a la puerta 53A." Oh no! We jumped up so fast and ran to the ticket counter. As we arrived they immediately started yelling at us, first in Spanish then in English. Which made us feel even worse because we got it twice. "Where have you been? You are late! The plane has boarded and is ready to leave!" We couldn't believe it. We tried to explain that their screen at the other gate still had Guatemala City displayed on it. If the gate changed why did it still say that? It was no use, they didn't want to hear any of it. So there we were, running....again. Let me tell you, I have never felt so many awful stares at once. Yes, we were those annoying people late to board the plane.

All we could do was be grateful that they called our names at all. We almost missed our flight, which would mean we probably would have missed the funeral. With a big sigh relief all we could do sit back and try to get some sleep on the plane. 

As the plane descended to Guatemala City I looked outside...I wasn't quite sure what to think of it. It looked polluted and old. The first thought that came into my head was "What did I get myself into? I want to go back." You have to understand that up to this point this was the first time reality had really sank in. I had been running on pure adrenaline until now. I was now in Josh's family's country and I had no idea what to expect. And I just realized that I would be meeting a lot of in laws for the first time. 

A few month's ago Josh's cousin visited Utah. And now, here we were visiting Guatemala. Darwin was nice enough to pick us up from the airport. As we left the airport we pulled up to the first stop sign. I looked around and became aware of my surroundings. All I could do is put my seat belt on and pray we would make it safe. I must have had a look of terror on my face because the boys thought it was funny. Let's just say...traffic laws were non existent. Cars were speeding, people were honking, no one used signals, it was crazy. And we had a two hour drive ahead of us just to make it to the funeral. We knew we would be cutting it close, but we made it.