death in mexico

Lately I've been wondering what happens when a foreigner dies in a foreign country. Say, for instance, I die in Mexico. I have a little more information now because, sadly, a very nice older gringo died here two nights ago.

A thing you would think we would all know is the Mexican equivalent of 9-1-1. Not so! (We know now; it's 0-6-6.) One of the trailer park residents figured it would be faster to drive over to the Red Cross/police station so that's what he did and they followed him back to the park.

I was told that everyone from the EMTs to the police were very nice, very gentle, very kind, and very robust which meant they had a difficult time fitting into the RV. Not only that, but they had a hard time getting the gurney in and out the camper door.

For about an hour the dead man lay on the floor, his wife and friends chatting over his body while the police et al filled out paperwork. Then the coroner arrived. In the coroner's wake were two people from competing mortuaries -coroner chasers I guess you could call them. Both gave the wife bids for their services. That might seem a little crass but it sure speeded up the process. She settled on cremation by Mortuary A which will run somewhere around $600.

The next day the wife went to the big city to fill out the paper work and her husband's ashes will be returned to the park in a day or two.

To my daughter: You better get your passport in case you need to make an emergency run to Mexico. My neighbor has your email address, phone number, and key to my trailer should I not appear for a few days. I'd like some of my ashes sprinkled here in the Sea of Cortez and some in southern Arizona. You can keep a few to glue onto a windchime or something if you'd like. Mix them with glitter. The hitch is in the bodega so you can tow the Airstream out. Or if you don't want it, see if my friend Edgar and his family want it.

Will that last paragraph work as a will? If not, I better get on that, too. I mean, not that I'm expecting to die soon but as a single person living alone, these are things I know I should take care of.