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In Santafe de Bogota the capital city of Colombia, near from the presidency there is Instituto de Medicina Legal (The Institute of Legal Medicine) surrounded by funeral houses, and that place is called 'El Cartucho' (explosive magazine). It is illegal zone where the public order is worst even in Bogota. Drugs, prostitution of little girls, firearms, and satanism. This is the den of all vices and the ghetto of the jonki(junkies), sin techo(homeless people), gamines(street children). Here it's not unusual to see people die everyday. The police doesn't even research murder cases enough and keeps carrying corpses as rubbish. Corpses are carried to only one quadra(block) ahead to Instituto De Medicina Legal. After the autopsy they're carried to funeral houses in front of Instituto de Medicina Legal. So that means they are moved in less than 100 meters from the place where they're murdered. What the hell is this functionality? Froilan Orozco is the oldest with career of 40 years as an embalmer in this most busy funeral house town. Before he became an embalmer he was an policeman. Orozco is from Tolima. When he was 18 years old, 250,000 peasants in Tolima armed uprising. He joined the army to subdue them, however, Tolima was fallen by the peasants. After dismissal from the army, as an policeman Orozco resolved to revenge against the peasants and members of Liberal Party. At the age of 27 he suddenly became an embalmer. Single-mindedly he has embalmed much more bodies than he killed. Whether this means he mourns for people he killed or not, almost everyday he keeps embalming 100 bodies in a month. He is the tough man who can handle any corpse of giant person by himself. The deep wrinkle in his face shows the pain of "La Violencia (age of violence)" in Colombia. Orozco is the embalmer who provides minimum services at low cost for the low-income person. He does almost general things as Japanese morticians do like washing the body of the corpse, stuffing the cottons in nose and mouth, putting the clothes on, and doing make-up in the face. Froilan Orozco boldly cuts up a whole stomach, separates viscera from the body, washes cavity.After that puts viscera back into the body, cuts apart their bowel applying the formalin solution on it roughly, puts tatters in it and then, sews to close with kite string. It doesn't have to be the medical instruments that Orozco uses. Usually they are not because the medical ones are expensive. Sometimes he cuts with scalpel (surgical knife), sometimes with butcher knife. When you think of which one is betther, butcher knife is more suitable and convinient. Sometimes the way Orozco works seems kind of brutal, bu it is way based on his skillful career and there is no wasted motion. It's as elegant and beautiful as ceremony. Although the way Orozco with rugged face puts stocking on the legs of female body deftly and does delicate make-up seems even humorous, we can't help feeling the pride and the passion for what he does as an embalmer. And now, as an old embalmer who is conscious of his death nearby, what he processes his work embalming bodies seems like almost "the priest", and reveals the prayer for the reality of bloody Colombia. Where and what the place will be like for the man who has embalmed and mourned for 50,000 bodies ever? |
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Copyright (C) 2005 Tsurisaki
Kiyotaka All Rights Reserved. |
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