An interior view of a mostly-vacant tomb at the gigantic cemetery in Havana. Both of the tombstones say “rogao a dios” – I pray to God.

Here’s the thing I’m wondering about: why do you suppose the tombstones are in Spanish, except for the “R.I.P.” on each of them? Because that’s an English term that translates into Spanish as “que descanse en paz.” Has “R.I.P.” transcended its English words and become a commonly understood shorthand?

Necrópolis Cristóbal Colón
Havana, Cuba
photographed 11.11.2022