They still bury people in that cemetery.  I saw the
grave diggers taking dirt out of an existing burial so
that it could accommodate a coffin atop of the
existing one!  Some families are so poor that they
bury relatives atop of existing coffins/sites.  

Yes, when I was inside that old cemetery I felt that I
was among my past relatives.

Alberto.

--- Erlinda Castanon-Long <longsjourney@...>
wrote:

> 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:)
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > 
> 
> 
> 
> SPONSORED LINKS 
> Aguascalientes mexico Aguascalientes Zacatecas State
> code Jalisco Criminal offenses 
> 
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