Nadur and Zebbug cemeteries

The last two days have been very productive. Hopefully that will remain the case this week as I've become determined to get my cemetery tour done. Yesterday I took the bus to Mgarr harbor and from there walked the 45 minutes up to Nadur. I say "up" because to get to Nadur you start down at the harbor at 0 meters and you take this winding road up through the farm communities to the city which, according to my map, sits at approximately 160 meters. It's only about a mile on the map but it doesn't include all of the back and forth of the winding road and the fact that you're going up hill the entire time. I was honestly quite proud of myself for doing it, though most of the locals would say "oh, Mgarr to Nadur? That is not a bad walk, eh?" And now that I think about it, I really hope it was more than a mile because 45 minutes for a mile?

Once in Nadur I picked my way through the streets to the town centre and asked directions to the cemetery, though I've found it's easier if i pronounce it in Maltese, "Chimeteriu." The man I asked was standing near a bench of men who were all chatting the afternoon away. It turned out he was in charge of opening/closing the Maritime Museum just down the street. He said he opens from 10 - 3 every day and as it was 3 by then he said he'd go close up and show me where to head. He took the museum sign which had been wrapped with twine around one of the two cannons at the front entrance of Nadur's church and said, "follow me. I show you."

After being pointed the right direction I was able to walk this promenade on the cliff of Nadur looking back down at Mgarr Harbor, across to Ghjansiliem and out to Xewkija. It was, as usual, breathtaking. Just down the promenade I found the cemetery and I thought, man - if that was the view I had for eternity, I'd be alright with it! As soon as I entered the cemetery I was grateful I'd made the trek. I'd remembered Kilena talking about how Nadur has a different cemetery in that church lets those that are buried int he communal graves put up markers ont he walls despite not having the private tombs. The walls of the cemetery therefore look as if they are the walls of a crematorium though there are no actual bones or bodies buried within the walls because they remain in the communal tomb.

I decided to try accomplishing a seriation of the cemetery and took a random sample of 2 tombs/markers from each row within and getting a sample size of 70. I took photos of each of the tombs to accomplish this, as I don't have any "forms" with me to record my data. I figured this way I could refer to the photos and put everything directly into a spreadsheet back at home. I made sure to take a few angles of tombs where the names/dates were not easy to read. I was pleased with the result and while taking the photos I managed to capture an image of a man who was there to commemorate a tomb.

Realizing the sun would be setting in about 45 minutes I decided I'd better start walking. I don't mind walking in the dark in areas I'm familiar with but never having walked from Nadur I figured I'd better make the best of the light that was available. I had planned to walk back down to Mgarr to catch the bus back but once I was up there and I realized I was already in line with Ghjansiliem which I could see across from me, I figured I might as well keep walking and give it a shot. I didn't get very far before finding a bit of a tower that Frank (the taxi driver) told me used to be part of a radio station. It's a more modern structure with glass at the top almost like it's an airport tower. It and the grounds have since been converted into a botanical garden so before I walked back I meandered through the gardens a little bit. From this point of Nadur I was treated to a view of the other side of the island, looking down at Ramla and Marsalforn and then off across to Victoria. As I predicted, the walk from Nadur back down to Xewkija was about an hour and as I arrived up the back street I caught sight of the Xewkija and Rabat cemeteries in the sunset. I stopped there to take a few photos before continuing on the rest of the way, another 45 minutes back to Victoria.

When I got back I went straight for the confectionary story and bought - beer. It had been a really hot afternoon and I had worn jeans because it was cooler in the morning. As soon as I started walking up to Nadur I regretted the choice. A nice cold beer just sounded like heaven and I realized I hadn't had one since my friend Chris was visiting me a month ago. I spent the evening contentedly working on the cemetery seriation and resolve to do more today.

This morning I woke early to take one of the buses to San Lawrenz to check out their little cemetery there. The bus was filled with women from the nearby villages who'd come to Victoria bright and early for shopping. You could see their bags loaded with vegetables and canned goods. While we waited for the driver there were about 6 of them that talked to each other, though they weren't sitting next to each other in their seats. Like the men at the cafes who sit in a line and don't turn to look at each other, these women were the same, not really turning in their seats but still chatting it up. The bus finally took off and as we made our way from the us terminus to Independence Square the bus driver called out to my buddy Tony, the old man who hangs out there, and Tony returned the call by running to the bus and jumping inside! For the next 10 minutes the entire bus was treated to Tony's wild gestures and talking as he stood at the front of the bus talking with the driver.

When we got to Ta Pinu I realized I might be on the wrong bus. It turned out that rather than getting on the bus that goes to San Lawrenz, I mistakenly took the bus that goes to Ta Pinu (a very touristy spot with a gorgeous church and a mad hike up a huge hill to follow the 10 commandments) and through Ghasri to Zebbug and back to Victoria. D'oh. I haven't been to Zebbug yet though so I got off there, where of course Tony greeted me with a kiss on the cheek as I got off the bus. I walked about 10 minutes in the wrong direction before finding someone to ask about the cemetery. I had assumed that like Nadur it would be on the edge of town with a Cliff view. Unfortunately I was wrong and the cemetery was actually back the way the bus came into town but down a different fork int eh road. It wasn't far, maybe a 15 minute walk down from Zebbug. It still had a view back toward Marsalforn but not from the spectacular height of the cliffs above.

I was immediately grateful for the transportation mixup as the cemetery had something I have not seen in the others - the chapel in the center has the same red domed top as the churches in Gozo. There are also 2 private crypts inside that stand tall to either side of the chapel and are topped wiht the red domes. It's smaller than Nadur but just as interesting and so I roamed around taking photos and sort of taking it all in.

While I was there, a man and a woman came in separately to re-light some candles and say some prayers. The woman noticed me taking photos and asked if I was a tourist. She said it with a smile on her face so I knew she didn't mean anything bad even if I was. I told her I was a student and why I was there. She said I could take photos of her parents tomb and pointed them out to me. Once again I was grateful for the openness of the Gozitans. She told me the prayer she prays when she's at the cemetery (and she said, that most Gozitans pray) is "May they rest in peace. Amen." She says this 10 times and then says the Glory Be prayer. She said if she was with someone they would do it as a call and response (like I've seen) where the second person says the Amen. She said some people say a different prayer, like "Jesus, Mary and Joseph pray for them." She does not prefer this prayer as she doesn't feel it's a prayer for the dead.

I asked after the tomb. Her choice in color - she picked a marble gray because her mom didn't want black and it was too expensive. Her choice in statue - it's this gold version of the Madonna holding Jesus after the crucifixion and she said she has to spray paint it so it looks fresh every year. She was the one to make the choices and arrangements because she is the oldest of 2 sisters and 2 brothers and it's in her nature to take care of things. She goes to the cemetery everyday in November and whenever it is opened (the first Sunday of each month, Mother's Day and Father's Day). I noticed she was wearing black and she said it was because her mother died in March. She said "nowadays Gozitans wear black for maybe three months but my sisters and I have decided - 1 year."

She told me she is a retired nurse, having worked on the "male ward" for 15 years and then for 15 years in the "operating theatre" before retiring 6 years ago. We talked about the (lack of) choices she had back in the 70's, how she was the only person from Zebbug to go to secondary school at the time and so she walked to Victoria for it everyday. How she had to spend a week at a time in Malta when she was in nursing school because they didn't have the daily ferry like they do now...

She is single and said her life is filled with her siblings families and when she was younger, traveling. She's been to Austria, Germany, Israel, Jerusalem - she said it was her passion. She always wanted to go to Russi and the US as well but now that her mother has died she said she doesn't even feel like leaving the village half the time so she doesn't think she will fulfill that wish. Instead she spends her money helping her family - she pays for her sister to come to visit from Australia, helps with down payments for homes for her nieces and nephews...she said "I am generous. I will hunger and thirst so others can have things." She even leaned in to tell me some of her sisters marital problems...it just amazes me how open people are here.

I was so delighted to talk to her. She kept poking me as we talked and once asked me if I had the time for talking. (ha! I've got nothing but time!) She asked if she could give me a lift somewhere but I politely declined. She told me her name is Louisa and when I told her mine she almost shrieked with delight, grabbing my hand and patting it saying "like in the movie East of Eden! It was one of my favorites and one of the reasons I wanted to go to America!" I was so elated with our discussion that I decided to walk back to Victoria to replay it in my mind. It's only about 25 minutes walk back from Zebbug and I would say it was definitely a morning well spent.