Funeral, Anyone?

Don't ask me why but, for some reason, Dominicans (at least in my community) have a tendency to invite people to wakes and funerals. I definitely love being invited to do things, but I think that these activities might be a bit of a stretch. The first time I went with Pilar's family, I didn't find the invitation tooooo strange because it was really more of a memorial than a funeral. It is something like every seven years after someone dies, his family/friends get together on the day of his death and have a small mass and eat lots of food. On this particular occasion, we went to the campo, ate lots of fruit, had a delicious moro with chicken, and spent time with their relatives.
More recently, however, they invited me to the funeral of the childrens' uncle, a famous judge who lived in the capital. Though there were many people in attendance, I felt very uncomfortable. I did not have the opportunity to even meet the man and, although I adore Pilar and her family, did not particularly enjoy being surrounded by such mourning. His children and siblings were beside themselves with grief and, Gracias a Dios, I have been fortunate enough in my life to have experienced very little of it. All in all, I am touched that Pilar considers me part of her family, but I think I will stick to birthday parties...