del monte

i dreamed that i was asleep on a train:
we got invited to a wedding reception for a young couple. after it became clear that non-bangwa attendants would not understand dialect, and the elders would not understand grammar english, the pidgin was established as the language of procedure, since the only one who would not understand would be my guest, mlle. xiaodang guitierrez. the evening's speeches.

the groom made a toast:

"i was one of 69 children to graduate from class seven [~sixth grade] in 1984, along with two others you will see here in the room. since then, twenty two of them have died, averaging one per year..."

next one of the principals made a toast:

"and my sister was married. the man was married to her for eight nears, and he only gave her one child. he made love with a woman from his work. he gave her seven children. this woman died. my sister took care of the children..."

the dry season is the time for funerals. pigs are raised so as to be mature around this time. so many people die throughout the year that once the rain stops, there is an endless successsion of death celebrations. if food and drink and dancing are supplied to the community with compliments from the dead person, the deceased's general likeability will make him or her less likely to come back and haunt or play tricks on people.