All Saint's Day

Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I suppose since I'm always coming out of my candy coma, or sleeping late from a party I've never really thought about All Saint's Day. This year our school actually gave us the day off, so after going to school on Monday, we had Tuesday off. You've heard me complain that there is not much to do here normally, so having a holiday off was a scary thought.

I decided that since NOTHING would be open today, I would head to a cemetery that I haven't visited yet. The weather today was gorgeous. The smoke has cleared up (hopefully for good) and the sun was shining in a clear blue sky. Of course the city center was empty, but the cemetery was packed. Packed with families gathering to visit with their loved ones. They arrive with gifts of flowers, food, favorite items, and place the items on alters in or around the tombs. There are no grassy grave areas here, just cement walls of tombs, or huge mausoleums of rich families. I love the peacefulness even a packed cemetery brings. I find it fascinating to observe how people deal with death and burials. In another life I would like to study ancient burial rituals. I love the tradition of going together with your extended family to visit relatives.

What captured my attention today were the huge, beautiful trees in a cement filled cemetery.

Day 34: eff this lesson, vamos a el cementerio!

The sun was out this morning, which has been a rare event for Quito, so instead of being cooped up in a concrete classroom we (my teacher, Gustavo, and I) decided to go on a little field trip. There is a large cemetery near the Old Town that I've wanted to check out and the rumor is that it's not safe to walk there, so this worked out perfectly. We hailed a taxi and headed for Cementerio de San Diego. Keeping with the traditional South American style there were lots of creepy tombs...

It's rare to see headstones in the grass, I forgot how much I like that part of a cemetery.

Walls and walls...

Apparently this woman was a famous mobster in Quito! She has a giant bust of herself inside that tomb!