Calendar Home
Previous Day

August 7, 2003

Next Day
While walking about we met a man who invited us to attend his uncle's "death party." How can anyone refuse an invitation to a death party? We hitched a ride with him to a small village and a bizarre scene: an open tomb with enshrouded bodies lying outside.
Periodically (every 3 years or so), a family exhumes the bones of relatives and hosts a party to celebrate the memory of the deceased. People commune with the bodies, sometimes even carrying them for a dance.
At first we felt out of place, yet everyone smiled and invited us to take part in the festivities. A trumpet and clarinet band played loud, rhythmic music, people danced, sang, drank and ate. Vendors surrounded the tomb with their food stalls and created an open dance hall. The entire village attended the death party.