La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo

Color is everywhere in La Antigua Guatemala. Color is on the walls, on the flora and the fauna, on the sky, on the parks, on the people, on the food, et-cetera. Why would toys be any different? Here are mini Guatemalan dolls for your refrigerator. I take orders.

There is even an entry on Wikipedia about Guatemalan Worry doll. They are world-famous judging by Google results. They are even therapeutic according to Jay Cross.

Remainder: The Daily Photo Family will be running the Doorways of the World theme September 1st. Make sure to come back tomorrow to have a listing of the participating cities around the world. Also, do not miss it, I have a great photo to crown myself as The Best Doorway of the day (Sorry Nuno and MarieMcc, you guys haven’t got a chance).

Many indigenous women earn their living by selling folk-art on the parks. This photo was taken at Iglesia de la Merced in La Antigua Guatemala.

To be what I am is not a something to be proud of; it is a shame. I do not represent the women of my country. The majority of indigenous women, starting with my mother, are illiterate. We are millions of Maya and only two women have a Doctorate degree (Ph.D.). I do not want to go by without raising the voice because the ones that have governed this country have taken away our dignity. —Irma Alicia Velásquez Nimatuj

This is Irma’s answer to the question of “Marco Antonio Flores says you are one of the most authentic indigenous intellectuals, what do you think of his statement?” as it appeared in an interview in Revista D, of Prensa Libre (rough translation through Google). Irma Alicia was not allow to enter a bar-restaurant called “El Tarro Dorado” (The Golden Mug) in Guatemala City in June 2002 because she was wearing her Guatemalan indigenous dress. She tells the story herself in English here.

If you considered that somewhere between 50 and 60% of the population is Maya, this act of discrimination is unacceptable. I feel so enraged to hear this kind of acts of discrimination. Yet, this happens everyday in this country to many people. I do not know where are the Maya women are going, but I wish that they achieve their goals and the justice is available to them. Believe when I say this country is very complex.

Many of you seemed to like Arches reflected on Tanque de la Unión. So today I bring to you a photo of the park where the water tanks are located. It is once again Monday, the boot-up day of the week. Best wishes to all of you and take it easy and slow.

It is Sunday and I figure, a nice mellow and tranquil image might be the recipe for a slow day. I want to thank my friend Daniel Chang, a professional photographer, for pointing out this photo. He said, “look the sky mimics the volcano; there you have a photo for the Antigua DP.” The volcano is Volcán de Agua, which is to the South of the city.

I posted a photo on June 6th with some of these exotic flowers in a truck. Now, I get the chance to present them to you in a fountain. Okay, this is the last photo I will post from Hotel Centro Colonial Antigua even though I took more and I uploaded 8 of them to my flickr account. If you care to see them, I have them in a slideshow; there is a treat for you.

Trivia: The red flowers are called camarones here. Can you guess what it means and do you the English name for these flowers?

One thing is very obvious in the photos of Guatemala: Green is everywhere (Lisi would be happy here since she loves green). On my post of Wood used as fuel in Antigua, I told you the etymology of the word Guatemala; in short it means Land of forest. For the whole story go, click the link above.

Now for the trivia: What other words in any language could be translated to the concept of “land of forests or trees”? I will get you started with three: Quauhtlemallan in Nahualt, Quiche in Maya, Holland in Dutch. Please help with other words in other languages.