Guatemalan graveyards seem a lot more festive than ours.

The graveyards in Guatemala were distinctive.  Colorful and conspicuous, they were full of above-ground mausoleums decorated with pastel and bright-colored plastic, crepe paper, and plastic flowers.  Obviously it’s part of their culture to decorate graves in a festive way.

The prevailing religion in Guatemala is Catholic — imported to the region 500 years ago by the Spanish — but in the Northern “Peten” region there were a lot of Assembly of God (“… de Dios”) churches.  And one local (my guide, Henry) insisted that lots of people of Mayan ancestry practice some form of Mayan religion — usually mixed in with Catholic practices.