Death-Saipan Style

The first time I saw the obituary section of the Saipan Tribune, I was shocked. The pictures of those who died were in the notices. It was eerie!

Tita Lee (a Fil-Am who's been in the island for some time) invited me to a rosary one Tuesday evening after office. She usually calls me Bunso (because I was the youngest among us 4 Pinoys in the office).

"Bunso, samahan mo ako sa rosary ng isang customer natin."

Rosary is equivalent to the Pinoy "padasal". It usually lasts for 9 days and ends on the day of the funeral.

The rosary was in Chamorro. An old lady was leading it. It was similar to what we have in the province. An old lady who prays really fast would lead the rosary and would utter all this Latin-sounding words which I think nobody understands anyway.

Although I don't understand Chamorro, the intonation and the way the rosary was done was very similar to the way we do it in the Philippines.

After the rosary, everybody went out in the church and lined-up for dinner in the social hall. As usual, food was abundant or say over-flowing. It was enough to feed the whole island of Saipan for the next 2 days.

I was asking Tita Lee, "Nasaan po yung patay?"

She said, "Nasa freezer ng hospital."

Unlike in the Philippines, the 9-day wake is not practiced here. They say the rosary for the soul of the dead, eat and go home. That is why, there is no sense of grief in the air.

Tita Lee greeted one of the daughters of the dead person and offered her condolences. The daughter said "Thank You" and after listening to few kind words for the dead, she went to other tables to mingle and talk to the other guests.

There were a lot of people and everybody ate to their heart's content. The usual fare of java rice, bread fruit, barbeque, fried chicken, menudo, kaldereta, breaded veggies deep fried in oil, cakes, fruits, sushi, salad and lechon were laid in 5 long tables.

The usual style here in Saipan is to take home food. You line up, get at least 3 paper plates and fill the plate till it overflows. Eat what you can then use the other extra plates to cover the food you will take home. Another way to do it is to get the food you will eat, go to your table, then line up to the buffet table once again and get the food you will take home. This is the reason why Chamorros usually prepare a lot of food during parties and other gatherings.

I remember when I was just new here, one Filipino said, "Alam mo, kung makapal lang ang hiya mo, pwede kang mabuhay dito ng libre. Wala kang gagastusin sa pagkain."

"Paano?"

"Magbasa ka lang ng diyaryo araw-araw. Abangan mo kung sino ang namatay at dun ka makikain."

It would be in bad taste really, but Pinoys can have the most cunning ideas sometimes.

After the 9-day padasal is the viewing period. The funeral services or the embalmer takes out the cadaver from the morgue, prepares the body and the viewing usually takes place in the church before the mass for the dead. (I wonder how a frozen and thawing dead person would look like but I feel too uncomfortable looking at dead people.)

After the Mass is the funeral. Then, another padasal or rosary would take place. The next 9-day padasal would be exclusively for family members and immediate relatives.

My accountant's brain couldn't help but compute the cost of feeding the whole island for 9 straight days. It's like celebrating Fiesta (Feast Day) for 9 days. $1,000 per night would translate to a whopping $9,000 in total. No wonder Chamorros would often take a loan and the purpose would be, funeral expenses.

Attending a rosary made me realize the many similarities between Filipino and Chamorro culture particularly the rosary and the food. The only difference is you would not see the dead person until the viewing time. There are no funeral parlors here wherein the wake takes place. Grief among the people who attend the rosary do not show as much because you can not see the dead anyway.

In the Philippines many dramatic moments (wailing relatives - Bakit mo ako iniwan?") are evoked by a coffin being watched over by relatives. Many family secrets are exposed (dalawa pala ang asawa or may anak pala sa labas) during the wake.

The Chamorro wake or lamay is not overly dramatic. Grief is kept personal and repressed. Maybe it's from their American influences.