Mariachi Funeral HUGE!!!! Pse watch the video

This deserves a special post. As we later found out, we witnessed Mexican cultural history. I was so moved and I think Robin was also. Pure dumb luck at 2 gringos wandering into a Cathedral at just the right time. Our trip is truly blessed.

Today we went to Guadalajara. I'll post on that shortly.

We went into the massive Cathedral and realized there was a huge funeral winding up.

 The place was packed. The Priest was saying the blessing and dismissal. As he finished a Mariachi band of probably 10+ musicians broke into a moving song as the casket was wheeled out. It must be popular because some of the congregants were singing it lowly too, I assume they played during other parts of the service.

Please take the 3 minutes to watch and listen to the video that I put on You Tube because it is too big for Blogger LINK. You won't regret it.

Outside I heard a gentleman ask one of the Mariachis: (in Spanish): who passed away? The answer caused a wide eyed expression and he crossed himself. He obviously recognized the name. All I heard was "Pepe" Martinez. We saw something in the Cathedral that may have said "Jose".

• Juan...we'd love some insight into all this including the meaning of the beautiful song. Por favor? 

OMG!!! We just Googled! This man is a legend! He's in the Mariachi Hall of Fame!!! LINK 

Check these other links: One Link; ANOTHER;

His obituary LINK. His Facebook: Link

And here is a TV news clip showing his wake with the band playing. Fascinating! NEWS LINK and ANOTHER ONE and ONE MORE and another

Now we know why the gent got so wide eyed. Ok Gringos, imagine Johnny Cash, Merle, Doc Watson....

Some pictures, including some of the Mariachis that played. Suggest clicking on them to see a big version.

We later learned that this is the uniform for the deceased's band. 

PS: we did not interfere with the sanctity of the service. We stayed back with other Mexican spectator/tourists until the Priest said the dismissal. There were hundreds of people in the Cathedral, including a lot of tourist spectators. We never heard a word of English. In retrospect, our fellow observers knew who this man was and came to honor him.