Question for campesinos

Golfer

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Apr 7, 2002
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The death of a family member is a big production in el campo. I recently talked to someone that told me it requires 9 days confined to the house with intense mourning with the whole family participating. The funeral takes place the day following the death. I'm sure there are other customs but I did not inquire. Do these practices vary from campo to campo or are there some hard and fast rules which apply to the death of a loved one throughout the DR? This appears to raise grieving to a new level. Quite a bit different here in the states where the funeral takes place three or four days later and involves only an hour long service. Usually only a few people show up for the actual burial, and that's when there's not an ever increasingly popular creamation. I guess we're too busy.
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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campo or no campo:
there is no 9 days confinement. there is a mass every day for nine days after the death.
mourning will depend on the victim, if old it will not be so severe ("he/she is in a better place now").
funeral indeed is normally the next day.
funeral clothes ar mostly white or black. can be brown, dark green, dark blue.
 

Vacara

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May 5, 2009
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The death of a family member is a big production in el campo. I recently talked to someone that told me it requires 9 days confined to the house with intense mourning with the whole family participating. The funeral takes place the day following the death. I'm sure there are other customs but I did not inquire. Do these practices vary from campo to campo or are there some hard and fast rules which apply to the death of a loved one throughout the DR? This appears to raise grieving to a new level. Quite a bit different here in the states where the funeral takes place three or four days later and involves only an hour long service. Usually only a few people show up for the actual burial, and that's when there's not an ever increasingly popular creamation. I guess we're too busy.

I think the death of a family member is a big deal even in "Proxima Centauri". No 9 days confinement, since there's no embalming -only a block of ice underneath the coffin- burial has to be the following day. After that is 9 days of mass, usually accompanied with meal and coffee (remember there're people that come from afar.) Depending on the economic status the grieving family might kill a cow(s) or pig(s). Then they will gather every year on the death anniversary to have a mass, again accompanied with meals and coffee.
 

vi6six

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Feb 7, 2009
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most latin countries have the nine days do mourning. that's just not the DR.
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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In the campo, there is an important social/mourning event called the "vela" where at 9 days the family goes all out ( even going so far as to borrow money) and throws a shindig for the neighborhood and all relatives far and near. This is the highlight of the mourning period. It is also called "los nueve dias" ...attendance is important as it means you have paid your respects.
During the 9 days of Masses, the family usually distributes small momentos of the deceased, recalling the face, name and DOD. Attendance here also means you have "fulfilled" or "cumplido" with the family.

Thereafter, depending on finances, there are Masses said every month and then every year.

HB--much too familiar with this sh..............
 

Golfer

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Apr 7, 2002
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Thankx Guys

For all of the thoughtfull responses. This was a 23 year old guy from the campo who was in the military stationed in Santo Domingo. Shot in the head in a barrio argument. Had four kids still living with his wife in el campo. Really tragic. The scale and depth and length of the ceremonies and mourning was hard for an extranero to fathom. You can't accuse them of letting the memory of the deceased just fade away.
 

AlterEgo

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Jan 9, 2009
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Yes, burial is normally the next day because they generally don't embalm there. When my father-in-law died a few years ago he was embalmed to give the 4 of us in NJ time to get down there, so it can be done. Odd [to me] closed coffin with glass window over the upper third of his body. There are the daily Masses, and then a Mass each year on the anniversary of the death. The Masses notices are often placed in the local newspaper.

This was in SD, but my suegro was born and raised in Navarrette and Los Almacigos. Even after many years in SD, I'd say he was very much a campesino and lived a simple life. A lovely man.

My suegra is a whole 'nother story :)