The whole idea of death in the District of Jerez is
different than here stateside. I wanted to visit
all the cemeteries I'd found in the research
records. Our host could not understand my desire to
go to cemeteries, he said the past was the past! He
did take us to the cemetery in Los Aros/Los Haros, I
found all the names I have been researching clear
back to the 1750's. One could almost feel the
ancestors... I also went to the cemetery in El
Durazno. They absolutely refused to take me to
Panteon de los Dolores in Jerez, they said enough
was enough...
I did notice in Jerez that coffins are sold in
shops that display them in the window, that was
kinda shocking to me. They said when someone dies
they have to be buried within 24 hours since they
don't embalm. In El Durazno they have the "viewing"
in the home then go to the church for the service
and then carry the coffin on their
shoulders,complete with Mariachi's if they can
afford them, and walk the 1/2 mile to the cemetery
in a procession. I found lots of huge marble
monuments but all cemeteries were badly neglected
because they don't like to go their unless it's to
bury someone.. they do not go to visit and pay
respects. Everyone in El Durazno paid for the land
for a cemetery 20 years ago and when a family member
dies they are "prepaid" for burial.
The burial practices were different in the old days
too. They would put up to 5 people in each grave,
removing the bones to the foot of the grave and then
putting the new 'box' as it was described to me... I
was standing over a neglected Alcala grave and
noticed something round so I bent over to pick it
up, turned out to be a leg bone much to my
surprise.. After getting over the shock I moved some
dirt, reburied the bone and said a prayer for the
ancestors and me!
I would highly recommend visiting an ancestral
homesite if it's ever possible, it's very humbling
and highly emotional to walk the ground your
ancestors lived on.
Linda
zendean <usa20@...> wrote:
Margarita;
My great grandfather and ggmother were from
Jerez, Zacatecas. I wonder,
is it a big town ? Francisco Macias and his wife
Leonarda Ramirez are and
have always been a mystery to me. My Aunt told me
that they visited them in
Zacatecas when they were little and that the
Macias's lived on a farm there.
I wonder if you know some one that is there now
that I can correspond
with to ask about them.
Jose Macias
usa20@...
----- Original Message -----
From: "Margarita Vallazza" <TeaCozyGran@...>
To: <ranchos@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 26, 2005 8:51 AM
Subject: Re: [ranchos] FOOD:Mole/Pipian/Genealogy
My dad's mother was from Jerez, Zacatecas, and she
died just before my
sixth birthday so I don't have a lot of memories
of her but here's one
or two:
I remember her fixing something called atole,
which I didn't like, but
remembering it from a fog of some years' distance,
I would say it's a
healthy drink. She also had prunes in her
oatmeal, so when I'd pop in
to visit her in the morning and she had some, I'd
be served a dish of
it and enjoy it. I liked it better than my
mother's porridge (which I
realize now was a true Scots dish). At special
times, don't know what
they were, Abuelita would have capirotada, which I
didn't like too
well. Remember, I was just a kid!:)
I'll have to think about some more food...some of
it was just the food
from northern Mexico that my grandfather liked--he
was from Chihuahua
city.
I wish I had had the blessing of more time with my
grandmother, maybe I
would have learned things about her family in
Zacatecas. I believe
even she didn't know a lot about her family
history and I say that
because my Tias, dad's sisters, don't know much
about their mother's
life in Zacatecas. I'm the one who told my Tia
Carmen that my abuelita
had a full sister named Paula, a full brother
named Jose (who died in
1919) and 2 half-sisters and a
half-brother...they never knew! People
in the old country NEVER discussed anything
private. Marge:)
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