text and photos by Laura McNamara.

I can’t count the number of times my mother chastised me for slouching throughout my childhood. A few times she even succeeded in convincing me to practice walking with a book on my head so that I might “improve my posture.” Many times, she threatened to send me to “charm school.” Perhaps she should have just considered a nice family getaway to La Antigua Guatemala instead. The Mayan women and the colorful, traditional dress unfailingly catch the “Western eye.” I’m certain as a child I would have been just as mesmerized by their indigenous beauty as I am now. And to think, if my little eyes had spied these women walking around with their wide, brimming baskets of fruits and goods balanced atop of their heads… I imagine my mother would not have been able to keep me from practicing such “poise” when I arrived back at home. I probably would have passed it on to the neighborhood kids as a fun, childhood game – one that would have come with a cultural lesson. So that settles it: when the time comes for me to teach my daughter “posture and poise,” I’m bringing her to observe La Antigua’s Mayan women.

Guest Contributor: Laura McNamara.

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text and photos by Laura McNamara.

During these last few days I’ve spied two different mimes performing on the Calle del Arco. The only way I can really tell the difference between the painted faces is the height of the two characters: one is tall and the other is quite short. Both seem to be a hit with onlookers: adults and kids alike. The two seem to have similar tricks as well, which include shaping colorful animals from tubular balloons, asking someone from the audience to slingshot what seems to be a giant yoyo, and teeter-tottering on a small unicycle. In all honesty, the acts aren’t overly impressive – especially when you’ve encountered them on a number of occasions. Nonetheless, each time I see one in action, I stop to watch. I’m not just watching “Coqueto y Cortito”, as I have fondly named them. I’m also watching the people. Whether it’s Coqueto o Cortito, each invariably bring smiles to the faces of passersby and that’s something I’ll never tire of appreciating. Try as I might to engage these two in conversation, I can never get a peep out of them. Not to say that I’m surprised a mime won’t talk…

Guest Contributor: Laura McNamara.

text and photo by Laura McNamara.

Observing indigenous Mayan people is one of the many charms of La Antigua that has captured me. One of the things that strikes me most about this intriguing culture is the maturity I see in the young Mayan children. This little girl, who looks to be no more than five-years-old, is calmly sitting by herself watching the daily activity and buzz on the cobbled street before her. Her hands are folded neatly in her lap and her feet are held together “ladylike.” She appears perfectly grown-up in her behavior. At the time I took this photo, there was a mime performing in the street entertaining me and many other tourists. Other non-Mayan children were actively engaged with the mime, falling prey to his silly tricks, giggling all the while. Yet, this little Mayan girl simply watched on from her curbside perch – interested, but not engaged. This is certainly not the first time I’ve witnessed such adult-like behavior from Mayan children at such a young age. Of course, I’ve seen plenty at play as well, but through my observations, I find that Mayan children possess a maturity level that is often well beyond their years. Even now, I must admit, I wouldn’t possess as much grace as this little girl while sitting on a curb. The maturity must come from their culture of working early and young. While hawking their handmade goods, many Mayan children display expert sales skills that could rival that of any high-pressure salesmen in the States. Often, I see five-year-old children caring for newborns. For them, it’s normal. For me, they’re little grown ups.

About Guest Contributor: Laura McNamara is a Web-savvy new media journalist well-versed in all facets of reporting and coverage. She has blogged her way through more than 20 countries across the globe. Yet, it’s La Antigua Guatemala that has captured her heart. Currently, she’s setting up “base camp” from the charming, colonial town surrounded by fuming volcanoes. You can look for her work around town as she begins writing for The Revue as a freelance contributor. She is also hunting for venues to sell her photography.

Today is theme day for the City Daily Photo community around the world. You may not know it, but La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo is part of a huge family of web sites that publish a daily photo from hundreds of cities around the globe. The theme for July 1st is empty.

Very recently our Betta fish ceased to exist. The fish tank is now empty of life and joy. Bruno, our Siamese fighting fish, was a strong survivor of deep blue colors. Without Bruno, the fish tank seems so empty even though everything else is still in there. I wonder is this how Earth is going to look like once we have managed to bring all forms of life to extinction. What do you think?

Thanks for visiting and please, if you can do pay a visit to the other participating cities around the planet. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

AntiguaDailyPhoto.Com News Aside: Tomorrow we will be presenting the first guest collaborations. Please, make sure you let the guest contributors know your thoughts and opinions. Don’t forget to contact me if you would like to send your guest contributions.

Mañana martes es día del ejército. No sé que nuevo nombre tiene ahora esta “celebración” luego de los acuerdos de Paz. Como les cambiaron a los existentes tanto e intrujeron otra docena de días festivos, seguramente es algo así como “Día del martirologio contra el sistema asesino”, o a lo mejor se puede conocer dentro de los círculos internos castrenses como “Día en que celebramos la moronguiza que les dimos a los guerrilleros”. O para los escépticos como yo “Día de feriado oficial tan importante como el día del lápiz”. Descansen, marchen o lloren. Lo que les haga feliz. (Ya, ya… se celebra el 30 de junio día en que J.R. Barrios entra triunfante a Guate luego de ganarle a Cerna la guerra.) —Juan Pablo Dardón / Continue reading… at Fe de Rata.

I am having trouble deciding whether it was serendipity, synchronicity, destiny or simply chaos that brought the chance encounter with Juan Pablo Dardón a few weeks after coming back to Guatemala years ago. Whatever the label, I am glad it happened because I gained a distant friendly voice which often times echoes exactly how I feel. The very same day, Juan Pablo Dardón also introduced me to Javier Payeras another brilliant and crystal-clear voice of our generation; the post-war generation. From there it was only a matter of time until I met all The Loud Voices of the Guatemalan Writers of the Post-War. Lucky me!

So, today is observed the Día del Ejército (Army Day holiday) in Guatemala, and tomorrow’s the Día del empleado bancario (Guatemalan Banker’s holiday); which really all it amounts to is that the banks will be closed for two days (as reported through a twitpic a few days ago).

AntiguaDailyPhoto.Com News Aside: Tomorrow is Theme day again for the City Daily Photo Community. AntiguaDailyPhoto.Com will be participating once again in Theme day, which is “Empty” for July 2009.

Also, starting in from July 2nd, AntiguaDailyPhoto.Com will be presenting the first guest collaborations. I am sure all of us will benefit from the new voices and perspectives from the guest contributors. Don’t forget to contact me if you would like to send your guest contributions.

Resistance through culture; culture through textiles; textiles as heritage; heritage as identity; identity as resistance.

What do you think?

Me gano la vida de lo que la gente me regala. —Mago Dory

I earn my living from what people give me as tips. —Mago Dory

Mago Dory will be the first entry in the Antigua Characters category. I have thought I should wait until I can do a series, but if I follow this path, it might take a long time, so instead, I will publish the Antigua Characters as I come across them and they all will be available through the Antigua Charatecters category.

Mago Dory is the performance name of magician Dory who goes from restaurant to restaurant performing his magic tricks. The photo was taken while we had some tapas with some good friends in La Antigua Guatemala. According to my good friend Nelo, Mago Dory is very famous around La Antigua Guatemala.

The other day I caught Mago Dory as he was doing this magical mystery tour of La Antigua Guatemala restaurants and posted the picture to the Twitpic feed of AntiguaDailyPhoto. If you want to see Mago Dory performance, check out this video clip captured by my good friend Norman, from ClimaYa.

Central America in the News Again: Yesterday Central America was sadly in the news again as Honduras brought back to life a long gone disease in Latin America known as military coup d’état. Honduras and CrisisHN became trending topics in Twitter even surpassing Iran.

At one point or another, we might not like El Señor Presidente (The President) or how is exercising the executive powers he was given through democratic elections, but we must follow democratic and constitutional processes to remove him or her from office. The military coups are NEVER a good option. The wounds caused by military regimes and their golpes de estado and military juntas are still too fresh in many countries in Latin America.

I leave you with Los Dinosaurios, a song by Charly García, Argentine Rock-star. Please, those who understand the lyrics, would you mind, translating and posting them in the comments. Thanks.