On Death and Dying...

If you have time, one of the very interesting things to do when you visit an other country is to visit a

Cemetery in Penonomé

cemetery. This is not a morbid thing but is actually a way of gaining an insight into the mentality of the people you are visiting. In Ireland, for example, hearses always have glass sides so that we can see the coffin; in France, the coffin is transported in a van where it is not visible at all. As I'm on the subject, here in Panama, they seem to go for a sort of in-between measure - the coffin is transported in a vehicle with darkened windows.

Another interesting thing here is the way funerals are celebrated. Firstly, due to the heat, funerals have to be celebrated quickly - any delay means that the body will start decomposing. Here in Panama City embalming is available but I'm not sure if every corpse is embalmed; I remember when I worked in Ecuador it was necessary for the body to be buried within 8 hours of death - this meant that most people didn't have an actual funeral mass; there just wasn't time to hold it.

Niches (Bovedas) with flowers

This meant that the period after the funeral (a period of nine days) was very important. This was when the formal, and public, mourning took place. This involved nine nights when people would gather for prayers in the house of the deceased; the host family would be expected to feed all of those present during the nine nights which meant that it could be a particularly difficult time for poor families - ie most families. Here in Panama they also have the nine nights but, as far as I can gather, there is not the same obligation to feed those who come to the house.

Another interesting thing that I have noticed here is that it is not unusual, again due to the extreme heat, for the funeral to be held without the deceased being present - something that, I suspect, Irish people would find very strange. At least here it gives the family, relatives and friends the chance to be together for this moment of formal mourning.

Quite a few people here are cremated but the traditional way of being buried is for the remains to be

The grave in tehe right foreground is of one of Panama's national heroes

resposed in an overground "niche" known as a "boveda). This is normally made of blocks and plastered with cement; then it is kept painted, normally white. I learned last year that on the Caribbean island of Aruba, when a family repaints its house it always paints the grave (also a niche) the same colour so that the deceased person won't feel left out - I thought that was a nice gesture that shows how close they feel to their faithful departed.

In Panama there are many, however, who can't afford a niche, no matter what colour it is. These people are buried in the ground, the same as we do in Ireland. However, while this is considered normal is Ireland, it is very much a sign of poverty in Panama; it is also a source of some shame for the family of the deceased.

Pauper's graves also exist but, from what I have heard, this is really a case of burying the dead, with very little ceremony. My sense is that people here fear this sort of burial very much.

That's enough about death - tomorrow I'll try to have a more uplifting topic