Dia de los Muertos

Tuesday was a holiday here called Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), which is observed in most of Latin America. I was disappointed when I learned that it isn’t considered a big celebration here like it is in Mexico, but nonetheless, it is a sacred time when people remember and pay respects to their loved ones who have passed on. In Nicaragua, this usually consists of going to the cemetery to put flowers on, clean and sometimes paint their families’ graves, and say a prayer. I was in Granada in the morning, a city which happens to have a beautiful cemetery, so I went to check out what the traditions were all about.

If most cemeteries are deserted and lonesome most of the time, this one was the opposite. Outside, dozens of vendors sold flowers, decorations, and brooms necessary for accomplishing the days’ tasks. Once I managed to squeeze past hoardes of people through the front gates, I beheld the sight of some of the largest and most well-kept tombs- all above ground- that I had ever seen. Inside was a flurry of activity as entire families dispersed throughout the area. I quickly realized that the most visible tombs belonged to the very richest families of Nicaragua- many ex-presidents are buried there- so I set out to find the graves that might have come from more humble circumstances. They were hard to find, but eventually I found a few dirt mounds with simple hand-constructed and painted crosses marking the name of the person who lay there. The scene at the cemetery was an interesting contrast: rich and poor, dead and alive, old and new. While I wouldn’t describe it as a celebratory mood, it wasn’t somber either. There was something about having the entire community out there, in the cemetery together, under a sunny sky, which gave it a special meaning not seen on other days of the year or in other places.

Because of Dia de los Muertos I had a long weekend, and used it to the fullest. Just outside of Granada there is a new treehouse hostel being built in the forest which isn’t open for business yet but is accepting volunteers to come and help out in exchange for a free place to stay for a few days. I happily took the chance to check it out. Besides helping build a “banana circle” (an organic system for dealing with waste water- I hadn’t heard of it either), I slept in a treehouse, watched and listened to howler monkeys, walked across a suspension bridge, kicked back in the hammock, ate great food, and chatted it up with backpackers from all over the place. Oh, and the property covered a whole mountainside, with trails all the way to the top, where the view was stupendous. It was fun meeting other travelers, hearing their stories, and seeing another beautiful side of Nicaragua. Apparently all around the world there are hostels which will let you work for a few hours in exchange for a free place to stay. If you’re interested, I recommend checking out Help Exchange (Google it!) to see what’s out there. It was quite the adventurous, cheap vacation.