The Avocado Lady
Ever since I came to Antigua about four years ago, I often come across this lady who is always selling avocados. I believe she must have a small parcel of avocado trees. Anyhow, it is a pleasure to see her and her avocados, the local variety, are always of good quality. Mexico and Guatemala are the birth places for this delicious fruit.
Trivia 1: The word avocado comes from the the Spanish word aguacate which in turn comes from the Mexican Nahuatl language word ahuacacuauhitl, which means testicle tree. Avocado in Maya is on and palta en Quechua. Source: UC Davis.
Trivia 2: The people of Antigua are known as Panzas Verdes, green bellies. They have gotten this non-offensive nickname for the great amounts of avocados they ate in the past.
Trivia 3: Local hearsay is that Wilson Popenoe took the local avocado variant to California and from it the California avocado emerged (hass). More on Mr. Popenoe on the June 12h post.
Daily Content
July 23rd, 2006
I just sent a comment but lost it; hope this isn’t a duplicate. I visited Guatemala only once when a friend from El Tejar took me to Antigua. I was impressed primarily by the women’s weavings. The patterns and colours are fantastic and enhance the women’s inner beauty through their talented craft–which is a gift to the world!
July 23rd, 2006
Trivia 4: avocat means both avocado and lawyer in French.
Lovely shot. I like the angle and the composition. And the colors are marvelous too.
July 23rd, 2006
Beautiful photo. I love what she’s wearing.
July 23rd, 2006
A very beautiful picture!
July 24th, 2006
that’s a great people shot, I like it!
August 20th, 2007
The California Avocado is From La Antigua Guatemala…
It is official: The California avocado if from La Antigua Guatemala. I had mentioned a couple of times the antigüeños are known as Panzas Verdes (green bellies) because of all the avocados they eat (see trivia 2) and that one Wilson Popenoe took the …