The end of the cemetery tour

12/6

It’s become increasingly difficult to work since returning from my trip to Belgium/Denmark. I thought the pressure of a deadline would make it sink in – the reality that I’m leaving so soon. But apparently not. I DID get work done today…motivated by the fact that it was my last opportunity to hit the remaining cemeteries on the island and be assured they’d be open as it was the first Sunday of the month. I paid penance for not waking up in time to take the bus to San Lawrenz by walking there. It took a full hour and 5 minutes. The sun was out, warming me as I walked and I think it was the first time I’d felt truly warm since I left 2 wks ago. Now that the weather is cooling here I’ve experienced first hand the cool damp of limestone living. Sitting in one spot here in the apartment it almost feels cooler than it does outside. And with no heater…needless to say the 60 – 65 degree temps are fine for during the day but at night when the sun is down I become very aware that I don’t keep my apartment that cool back home. Of course, people still gather at the cafes outside despite the cooler temps, adding layers to their look and sitting behind screens of plastic where possible. I can’t decide if I’ll be relieved to return to the winter cold of Milwaukee where I’ll have all of my winter clothes at my disposal, not to mention a proper heating system or if I’ll be bummed to leave the warmer daytime weather and gorgeous sunny days. Hmmm…tough call. Too bad I couldn’t have all of my winter gear shipped out here.

On the walk to San Lawrenz it struck me once more how hindered my work has been because of lack of funds. I kept seeing cars whiz past me and couldn’t help thinking that had I the money to afford a rental, my own work would’ve taken on a completely different quality. I could’ve gone to all of the cemeteries in one day rather than one or 2 at a time due to the poor bus schedules and the amount of walking. Not to mention, I would’ve probably spent more time in each town in general were I able to get there in a quick 5 minute ride. Perhaps it would’ve been easier to include information from all of the churches that way. Or perhaps I would’ve spent a day in Malta at the Adoraloratu cemetery where I able to drive there myself (via ferry of course) rather than paying for taxis. I also would’ve spent more time at the Azure window and gone other places of interest at times when the bus doesn’t run – sunset in particular.

In any case, I did walk to San Lawrenz and I did go to the cemetery. But before I could get there, I had to pass through the Square in SL where they were having some sort of holiday raffle. They were playing Christmas music (English) through the speakers and there was a man spinning a wheel and calling out numbers to win chocolates and other prizes. There was also a large castle style jump house for the little ones. The area where the raffle was taking place had about 150 people surrounding it but as there were no other rides, food or other enticements anyone else wandering into the area didn’t stay very long.

Getting to the cemetery, the first thing I noticed was that it was the first cemetery to be sort of “in ground” in the sense that it’s built into the downside of the hill rather than perched on a top or at level with the rest of the street. It therefore has these tall outer limestone walls that act almost as retaining walls. Those are then lined with tall green trees and shrubs and then inside of that there is an inner wall row that is made up of smaller rocks – they are probably limestone but not that typical block style. The whole area looks more “green” than any of the others I’d been too with more plants, trees, and palm trees (because in my mind palm trees are totally different from just “trees”) surrounding the area than any others. The entrance looks out to Drewjra. There were no visitors while I was there at first, though just as I sat down to write up some notes before leaving a family of 4 showed up. They stayed a total of 3 minutes. On their way out, I asked the man if the cemetery was only for ppl of San Lawrenz. He said it used to be but now anyone can buy a plot there if they wish. I asked if they knew if Gharb and Ghasri had their own and they said yes. One thing that was different here than any of the other cemeteries – it was the first place I saw people had left stones on the graves. There were a few where it was clear they were being used to weight something down but there were 2 where it looks like the stones were put there purposefully. There were color pics instead of etchings and that was a feature I’d only seen in one or 2 other places. I also noticed an etching I had not yet seen before – the arch angel Michael defeating Satan.

I stayed for about a half hour and then decided to start heading toward Gharb. On my way, a car of tourists stopped me for directions. Guess I’m starting to look either less like a tourist or at the least, like I know where I’m going. I was glad I headed for Gharb rather than the one I knew to exist in Ghasri because the cemetery in Gharb was larger than the one in San Lawrenz with space for 300 tombs. The one in San Lawrenz could hold 185 roughly. I almost missed it too. I was heading down the road to the left of their church, following the signs that led to some chapel or another. There was a fork in the road and I was going to continue to the right, thinking I could make out the funeral walls in the distance. Thankfully I took a look to the left as well because that’s when I noticed the unmistakable walls of a cemetery as well as the front entrance to a chapel with the light bulbs and everything. I was a little worried it wouldn’t be open, or that only part of it would be, as it looked as if it was sectioned into 2 parts with one being accessible from the chapel entrance and the other behind a closed gate. Thankfully you could get to the second section once inside the first. The first section was smaller, holding maybe 50 tombs and located directly in front of the chapel. Going up a few stairs there was a large area for the common burial section though I wondered if they were still in use as there were no commemoration items on the top of them despite the fact that they looked quite old. In fact, there were even markers indicating some of the tomb areas must’ve been for babies because they were so much smaller than adult sized tombs and Loretu, the caretaker in Ghjansiliem had said this was something cemeteries used to do. The rest of the cemetery spread out to the left and looked more rectangular and average in nature. While I was there, there was only one younger man (late 20’s) there and he said hello to me as he passed to get his car. As I exited, 2 cars pulled up separately, each holding an elderly woman and a middle aged woman and all got out with flowers and candles to leave behind.

On the way back to Victoria I abandoned the Ghasri cemetery. For one, it was getting close to 5 pm and the cemeteries aren’t open past that time anyway. For two, I have actually “seen” the cemetery before on my way to the one in Zebbug. It’s probably big enough to hold 50 plots and is certainly the smallest of them all. Not that this makes it insignificant but walking a half hour out of the way in the dark knowing full well it wouldn’t be open certainly was a large part of making up my mind about it. Triple checking the map, this means that I’ve gone to every cemetery on the island…with the exception of actually going inside the one in Ghasri. It’s a blemish on the record to be sure but at this point, unless there’s a funeral in Ghasri in the next couple of days or I could track down the undertaker I wouldn’t be able to get in either way.

On my way to Arcadia last night I ran into one of the gentlemen who sits outside the Aurora theatre all the time and now says hello to me when he sees me. He said he’d been at a football match at Gozo Stadium from noon until 4 and was very tired and going home. He asked how long I was staying for and I told him just until the end of the week. I told him I’d been at the funeral yesterday and tried to ask him about people wearing brown clothes instead of black. Unfortunately, his English isn’t the best and so he kept thinking I was trying to tell him that the baby was brown or black. Ha. He apologized for not understanding and I apologized for asking and said I’d just ask someone else. He said “Bon voyage and safe travels!”