A time back, a neighbor of ours died (not sure who it was, as I never spoke to them). We all were as respectful as we could think of being, but a few cultural differences began to creep up that were a bit annoying to us.The first thing was not such a big deal, they basically sang songs and rang bells several times a night... for over a week. This was a bit distracting after the 3rd or 4th night, and especially when we were trying to sleep or eat... but seeing how a family member had obviously died, we couldn't exactly tell them to stop. And besides, if that was their way of mourning, then we figured it would be best to respect the culture and maybe even learn something.
The thing that was quite annoying was the constant burning of papers for the whole week. It started small, but before long, a portable burning pit was brought in and the smoke was everywhere!
Making matters worse, we were on the second floor, and they were on the first. The wind always took the black/gray smoke from their daily fires and brought it right through our sliding glass doors and into our apartment.
It was bad... I'm not sure what they were burning (I guess the fake money they use?) but whatever it was, it was not simple paper, and the smoke was thick and choking, and had a way of catching in the back of your throat and making you cough a bit...
Bleack...
What started as a funny scent in the air...
... turned into an overpowering stench of smoke!
And the smoke lasted for a loooooong time. (She caught me taking that last picture, didn't she?) Note the bell sitting next to her...
