La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo

Hurry home, run rapidly, the witches are watching. Lolo, you must put on your costume to go out for trick-n-treating. It is Halloween in La Antigua Guatemala.

Side note about the photo: the house that serves as backdrop for the running kid belonged to Santo Hermano Pedro de Betancourt (Saint Brother Peter of Betancourt), which is Central America’s only Saint. I have posted a couple of entries before about Hermano Pedro de Betancourt who was born in Tenerife, Canary Islands in 1626. I will post a close-up view of the sign on the wall later this week.

Update about the illegal billboard: Less than two weeks ago I told you about an illegal billboard just outside of Antigua and how it was not going to last. Well, I am happy to report the billboard is gone now.

“Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain.” —Pradip

I found two great quotes about the rain at the Samudaya.org web site which go very well with this photo which is my good-bye to the rainy season 2007 in Guatemala.

The Parque Central is Antigua’s best place for gathering and meetings. It is always so full of life and boiling with stories. Many people from so different nationalities, ethnic background, languages, ages, religions meet or collide there. Sometimes, it might seem impossible to clear up the park, but there is nothing like a heavy down pour to do the job. Central Park is depicted here just a few minutes after lunch, which is a peak hour at the park.

“I love walking in the rain, ’cause then no-one knows I’m crying.” —Pradip

With the end of the rainy season, Guatemala begins preparations for Noche de Brujas (The Night of the Witches), Halloween (All Hallows’ Eve), Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead), Día de Todos los Santos (All Saints Day). How’s that for syncretism?

With these celebrations come new flavors and colors. Fiambre, a cold cuts and pickled vegetables salad that can include over 50 ingredients, is eaten only on November 1st. Giant Kites, over 15 meters wide, fill the sky over the cemeteries of Sacatepéquez to help guide the dead back to their love ones. The little known fact that pumpkins originated in Central America, Guatemala to be precise, escapes most of the people who cut them up for their Halloween celebrations and to make one of my favorites pies. So, there is a lot to show this week and I will do my utmost effort to show you everything.

Here is another example of metal sign for a business. Gran Muralla, great wall, is a Chinese restaurant in Antigua. I wish someone could tell me what do the Chinese characters say, anyone, Lisi?

We are on the last leg of the rainy season which goes from May until October. Like I said before, someone has to water all those plants.

Cultural side note: For some reason in Guatemala they use the words “car wash”, usually as one word, to point you to the places where you can have your vehicle washed and waxed. It makes sense until you realized that Guatemala is a Spanish-speaking country.

Yet I am not sad. How about you?

Juaréz Hnos Hierro Forjado shop in La Antigua Guatemala is the oldest forged metal shop in the American Continent according to the owner. He recounted the people who had visited his shop from all over the continent and Europe because of the quality and old-time processes they use in his shop. “This is the real and original thing,” said he as he pointed to the different articles in his shop.

To be honest, before moving to Antigua, I did not have an appreciation for this time-tested fine craftsmanship. How about you, do you like forged metal items?

Saint Hermano Pedro de San José de Betancurt is Guatemala’s and Central America’s first saint. He was born in Tenerife, but soon enough he realized a sweeter and greater life awaiting for him in La Antigua Guatemala, then La Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala. His remains are in the San Francisco el Grande Church in Antigua, two blocks from my office.

So there is no surprise to see many things made with his image. Here you see a forged metal lantern with his image cast on metal made by the Juaréz Hnos. forged metal shop. If you flip this switch, you can see a close-up view of the image on the lantern.

Here is the other leaf of the door I posted yesterday. The owner of Juaréz Hnos. is framed by the arched metal door… he is there in the shadows. For those who did not bring their horse along or for those pesky trick-a-treaters that Pamela talked about, there are two different door knockers at different heights. If you zoom in the detail of the higher up knocker will knock you off!

For those interested in seeing the arched doorway from the inside, knock here. There is more to come tomorrow from the Juaréz Hermanos forged metal shop.

According to the owner of Juárez Hermanos forged metal shop, this big door (portón in Spanish) is probably the only metal door in Antigua (outside door that is). This is so because only wooden doors are allowed.

Another interesting fact is that the door knocker is very high; you can see it on the upper side of the door painted gold. He said, in colonial times, these door knocker were set high on the doors so you can knock them without getting off your horse. Come back in the next following days to see more things from this forged metal shop.

You can see a previous door knocker posted on this blog by knocking here.

Coffee trees do not grow very tall and that is why they are easy to harvest. Here you see coffee trees which are the short plants and the shadow trees which are the tall trees. Coffee trees need shadow trees and that is why is easy to confuse them, especially if you never have seen a coffee tree. La Antigua Guatemala produces one of the best coffees in the world and because it is grown a mid-level altitude (1500 meters) on volcanic soil and with lots of water and humidity in the environment, the resulting coffee is not as bitter as Huehuetenango coffee, yet it is more aromatic; truly as delicious coffee cup (follow the link to see the whole process from the trees to the cup at Finca Filadelfia, photos courtesy of Eve Andersson). On my post on Live green fences you can see a panoramic shot of two coffee plantations divided by a road.

For some reason, mini trucks are Guatemala’s favorite vehicle. Toyota and Nissan are the preferred brands in Guatemala.

What would you say is the preferred vehicle in your city? Let me guess: SUVs, well maybe not; I rather wait for your answer.

Many of the deliveries are still done by bike. If you recall my post about daily bread delivery service on September 24th, you might remember that bread delivery was done on a bicycle. Also, just a few days ago I mentioned that bicycles are among the most widely used vehicles in Antigua on October 11th. Actually, many of the photos show bicycles riders on the background as Kate commented on the tree trimming entry. Bicycles are great vehicles for deliveries as well and they do not pollute.

Having said all of that and having shown many bicycles on previous photos, you would think that bicyclists get a special bike path, right? Of course not, no way josé, this is Guatemala and if you approach the politicians with proposals for special bike paths and roads they will say they will look into it mañana. As LD said, “We’ll see how many mañanas it takes for something to change.” Yeah right, mañana would say Carlos on The Shrimp on the Barbie (Funny movie for our friends from Down South and Under).

Side note: Today is a holiday in Guatemala: “Día de la Revolución” (Revolution’s day). This holiday commemorates the resignation of Dictator Jorge Ubico and his succesor Jorge Ponce Vaides which did not last very long because the revolt of October 20, 1944 overthrew the dictatorship for good. Next came the political spring for Guatemala with Juan José Arévalo, as freely-elected president first and then Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán as “… president of Guatemala from 1951 until 1954 when he was ousted in a coup d’état organized by the US Central Intelligence Agency, known as Operation PBSuccess… ” (As quoted from Wikipedia). There you have it, Guatemala was not a sovereign country any more. The worst thing is that “… Guatemala is just a pawn of the United States once again… ” (quote from LD, a Canadian now living in Guatemala, on her post UN Vote: Does anyone care? on her site Hello from Here)

One of the benefits of living in or around La Antigua Guatemala is the lack of billboards. Isn’t weird that I start the paragraph describing the absence of billboards around Antigua (really, it is more like bragging), then I show you the very one thing I just said we didn’t have. Well, let me brag one more time my dear visitors and friends: No large outdoor signboard are allowed within 4 kilometers of the entrances to La Antigua. By the way, in Guatemala the word for billboard advertising is valla publicitaria.

This valla is within 1.5 km from Antigua’s entrance, on the road to the Ciudad Vieja. Just day before yesterday, I saw some workers come and put up the advertising board, and I knew instantly that this billboard would not last. They put another billboard at this very same location before, just on the other side of the road and that was taken down pretty fast.

So, yesterday, on my way to work, I stopped next to it to take a photo of the billboard before it is taken off. I really enjoy the roads without billboards, but this is reality that I can only experience around Antigua. The rest of the country is plastered, up and down every road with huge billboards.

What is the situation about large boards with outdoor advertising in your little corner of the world?

Update about the illegal billboard:
Well, I am happy to report the billboard is gone now. The billboard lasted less than two weeks since today is October 31st.

The typical or traditional sweets at la Dulcería de Doña María Gordillo are “… made from milk, condensed milk, coconut, almonds, marzapan, guyava, sesame seeds and more, and packaging your selections in boxes. Experiencing these tastes is a must do.” This was the recommendation of Kindira at Virtual Tourist. She suggested to give the clerk your price and have the lady make the selections for you.

Where is it? If you come to Antigua and are looking for a little pick-me-up, go to 4a calle oriente, one block east of the Central Park, and look for this sign.

Dulcería is the Spanish word for candy store and La Dulcería de Doña María Gordillo is probably the most famous candy store in Guatemala. The now-famous candy store has been reviewed and profiled in numerous magazines and newspapers. The land and house where is located the world-famous candy store has a history that begins in 1546, a little over 460 years ago. The candy shop, however, was established about 130 years ago. Here is the other side of the store.

Next to the candy jars, to your left, there is a magazine which has a photo of the candy store on the cover, can you tell me what the name of the magazine is? if you do and also tell me what the web address is for the magazine, I will send you a post card and a few postage stamps. Let the game begin!