Qaba

We then paused at the village cemetery. Dave explained to us what happens when someone dies. A funeral and burial is very expensive, so to allow the family time to organise the finances, the deceased is taken to a mortuary where he or she is kept for 30 days. After this time, the body is brought home. This only happens on a Friday. Over the weekend, a cow and a sheep are slaughtered, and everyone in the village feasts. A grave is dug, and the men known to the deceased, accompanied by the village chief and a priest, perform a ceremony before the burial. The following day, any women related to the dead person attend the grave. If a widow survives her husband, she dresses in black for a period of six months from the day she visits the grave. When the six month period is over, another cow and another sheep are killed, and the period of mourning is officially over. This is the custom for all those who die, apart from children who die in infancy.

At the end of the walk, we should have visited the local handicraft centre, but it was closed. However, after we had returned to the lodge, and I had gone for a shower, Bob came to tell me that the guy with the key had been found and we could go and have a look at the crafts. So we did. I bought a couple of pot stands made from covered bottle tops, similar to the one I bought in the Gambia, and later copied for Sharon in Tobago. They are really nice and didn’t cost much money. I also bought some multi-purpose cream made locally from blue agave plants and some lemongrass-scented soap. It’s nice to be able to support local enterprise, albeit in a very small way.

Later, the choir came to sing for us again. We were still the only guests staying at the lodge, so at first, we didn’t go to listen to the performance, but then we felt guilty and went anyway! It was very cold, so they didn’t sing for long. The band didn’t turn up tonight, so we tipped the choir and went indoors to the fire!
Ivan had cooked roast beef tonight. He served it with roast potatoes, vegetables, and spicy chakkalakka. We certainly don’t go hungry on this trip!

After dinner, Timo and Kristina went to the bar with Ivan to watch the Man United/Chelsea game (Ivan is a huge Chelsea fan!). We stayed in the dining room until the fire had died down and then went back to our room to listen to a couple of podcasts before bed.Read more