La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo

I was lucky to capture this couple and their new baby just taking a rest and enjoying the beautiful light and atmosphere around Parque Central. This young family seemed to be at peace and taking pleasure of each other; judging, of course, by the additional photos (click to view the supporting image 2, image 3, image 4 and image 5 or a slideshow of the images).

My best wishes for the New Year to all my dear visitors!

Adopting Guatemalan Babies:
Now, regarding the adoptions of Guatemalan babies, I am mostly against because this is run like a business, thus the people involve in putting babies for adoptions have little regard for what is best for the babies. The baby-selling industry has taken advantage of the poor legislation and regulation regarding adoptions in Guatemala. A whole industry has spawn from this vacuum and babies are given in adoption to foreigners, mostly unaware, for very large sums of money. If you are considering adopting a baby from Guatemala, please inform yourself and visit some of the resources that I list below.

Customs and Cultural Expectations:
Guatemalan babies that are raised abroad, away from Guatemala and its culture, traditions, language peculiarities and diet, will not be Guatemalans by any means. The birth place does not make you a Guatemalan or Mexican or Costa Rican (regardless of what your identification card or passport says); what defines you is the place where you grow up and values and culture you receive at home.

To People Adopting Guatemalan Babies:
Thanks for stopping by and for leaving your valuable comments; I am glad you like the photos and information, although I must warn you, I do not maintain this site for any particular group; rather I do it for myself and for those who might enjoy a daily snapshot from a colonial town in Central America. I do it for friends and family. I do it for Guatemalans abroad who are masochist and need a daily dose of their homeland.

If you feel that the photos and information on the Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo are helpful or even useful to you and your family, please, take a moment to leave your feedback and to donate towards the hosting bills of this site (through the blue button underneath the search form). I take all the photos and research all the information to the best of my abilities and without any funding, except my own pocket and the donations of people like you.

I wish you good luck with your Guatemala-born baby, raise her with lots love and make her an important part of your family and community. If s/he ever has the need to know about his birth-place, then and only then, tell him about this very complex and troubling tiny country in Central America.

Resources for People Planing to Adopt Guatemalan Babies:
A quick search through Google throws many resources, but judging by the traffic coming towards Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo, the following links are run by people who know the processes and pitfalls. If you know of other reputable resources, please, let other know through your comments in this entry.

1. Guatemalan Adoptions Forum
2. Guatemalan Adoptions Group at Yahoo
3. Guatemala Adoption Information & News

¡Buena Suerte!

Okay, enough of guns and cowboys. I leave you with an interesting portrait a little cowboy kid. Children always represent the hope of a better future. Tomorrow, there will be a photo about Guatemalan Adoptions since it seems that lately there is a lot of traffic coming from the Guatemalan Adoptions Resources sites (even though some of them didn’t like my last two entries [wink wink MicheleB]).

Too bad this photo is not about a comedy movie. It is the reality of Guatemala; which it seems to drowning under guns. As I said yesterday, Guatemala does not need guns on the streets; or anywhere for the matter. I don’t mean to scare you, but on May 1st, I set myself to tell and show the good, the bad and the ugly about La Antigua Guatemala. In other words, to be as honest as possible about this country and the things that I see and experience. I wanted my eyes to become windows for you to see through and my mind a big black board for you to read.

It was in 1998 that I got to see Men with Guns, thanks to a pair of tickets I received from KPFK, in a nice an comfy theater in Sunset Boulevard. It is one thing to see a movie filled with men and women with guns living and dying through a bloody civil war (an obvious reference to Guatemala, of course) and then to get in to your air-conditioned car and drive to the ’safety’ of your home near the beach. Fast forward to the future or the present, whatever you want to call it. Another thing is to walk a few blocks to see a show with horses and cowboys and be shocked by meeting Real Men with Guns. By the way, these two individuals were not, sadly, the only people with guns.

What is the deal? Why take all the gun power to a family show about horses? The reality of this country makes artistic manifestations pale in comparison. Can art shock us anymore? I believe that the Guatemalan government should buy a few thousand copies of Bowling for Columbine and broadcast it and show it for free around the country. Also, stronger legislation prohibiting guns on the streets is required. Guatemala needs less guns; the world needs less guns.

La Antigua Guatemala, despite its name (Old Guatemala City) and its architecture, is a modern city with cutting-edge technologies like Wireless Internet Connections (Wi-Fi for short) as I wrote in the Wireless Knife Sharpener entry, back in June 27th. Too bad not many people feel safe to use the free wireless connections that are available throughout that many coffee shops and restaurants around Antigua.

As Guy said in his Blog Diablogico, “In a matter of days I will be in a less protected area where quite natural behaviours, like walking around with an expensive computer, are likely to result in a violent death. I’m sure that the free wireless internet at Pollo Campero is a cunning ruse to get the laptop users out in the open where they can be picked off more easily!”

It would really be nice to be able to eat your bagel while drinking a cup of the best coffee in the world while you check on the latest photos of the Daily Photo Cities wirelessly with a WI-FI connection in your laptop and feel safe about walking out of the sandwich joint, like the Bagel Barn.

There is a war going on between CitiBank and HSBC Bank over the control of the Central American’s money. Both of these two large banking corporation pulled out their hefty wallets and bought out the four large Central American Banking chains: Banco Uno, Banco Cuscatlán, Banistmo, Banco de América Central (this one still in the works). I guess there is money [to be made] in the banks.

Trivia Side Note: It is interesting that these two colossal corporations have lost their humble city names. Click the following links to visit the Daily Photo Blogs corresponding to the cities that gave birth to these mammoth banks and come back here to tell me which city belong to which bank: Hong Kong Daily Photo, New York Daily Photo, Shanghai Daily Photo. Also, can you explain to me why the largest British corporation (As of Jun 30, $1.74 trillion) has Chinese names?

A few Guatemalans living abroad asked for photos of tamales colorado (red) and negro (black) made especially for Christmas Eve and Christmas through New Years, so that is the reason for today’s photo. You would never see a plate like this one with three different kind of tamales served at once since it is against Guatemalan etiquette to eat more than one tamal at the time; you may eat as many tamales as you stomach may allow, but one after another (see the quote below for further explanation). The tamal colorado (red) is the most often seen the tamal in Guatemala along with the small chuchito (wrapped with corn husks), but the tamal negro (black) is usually made only for special occasions and Christmas, of course. The black tamal takes its name from the chocolate-based sauce and comes with raising, dried plums and nuts. Yes, it is bit sweet, although the tamal negro is considered a main dish. I have posted before a photo of two other kind of tamales before: the pache and the chuchito.

Never order two tamales together, as Guatemalan etiquette calls for eating one at a time. Of course, you may help yourself to more tamales as often as you want, just like my dear Uncle Rafa, who in his good times started a Christmastime competition of eating red tamales and once consumed 17 in a row.
Another warning: The big leaf on which red tamales are served is a plantain leaf and is not edible. I can never forget my dear grandmom´s joke about a gringo telling his Guatemalan hostess that the tamales were very good — only the lettuce was too hard. (Quoted from Tamales at Revue Magazine by Arturo Echeverría; click the link to read the whole entry)

Thank you all for your kinds words and wishes. I leave you with the recipe for the tamal colorado in English and Spanish (here is another recipe for the red tamal).

Today’s entry is dedicated to my niece Samantha. I love you very much Samantha.

Red is the most prominent color around Christmas time. You can see it in the many people who dress up like Santa Claus; in all the special offer fliers, in the firecracker wrappers, in the fruits. In the picture above, you can see a single stand that sells apples, pears, grapes along all kinds of fireworks and firecrackers.

In Guatemala, Christmas Eve is as important as Christmas. People stay up all night waiting for midnight to have tamales with the family and to open up their presents underneath the Christmas tree. People also burn many different types of firecrackers and fireworks. Kids run around the neighborhood given hugs and wishing a Merry Christmas. Right at midnight people burn so many firecrackers and fireworks that you might think it is the third world war. The meal is usually especially-made tamales colorados (red) or negros (black) served with bread slices and freshly-made fruit punch. There is pine-needles over the floor as carpets and long strings of yellow and sweet fruit called manzanilla here or tejocote in Mexico (it looks like a yellow cherry). Christmas Eve is filled with so many colors, flavors and scents; it almost feels like an overload on the senses. If you have experienced Christmas Eve in Guatemala, at least once, it is impossible to be away and not miss it. Christmas Eve is one of the most important celebrations in Guatemala.

I send my cyberhugs and best wishes for the season to all you. I thank you for visiting Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo. Tomorrow I will bring pictures of Tamales colorados and negros.

Catholics in the American Continent celebrate many of the same religious events and traditions on the same days, more or less, but they do not do it exactly the same. For instance, Posadas, small processions that take to the streets the images of Mary and Joseph on platforms, beginning on December 15th, are celebrated differently in Guatemala than they do in Mexico, which is my only other reference. Below a detail explanation of how are Posadas celebrated in La Antigua Guatemala.

The faithful follow with torches and candles, singing as they go to the rhythmic beating on turtle shells and high pitches played on clay pipes, both very important to the tradition. The images leave their places in the nacimientos of churches, homes and business establishments to enact the journey of the young couple form Nazareth to Bethlehem to register their citizenship, along with the rest of their birth. But the young woman is soon to deliver a child, and it’s tough finding lodging for the rest she urgently needs. —Quoted from an article by Joy Houston in the December 2005 edition, page 16 of Revue Magazine (available as a PDF download).

Literature Side Note: For an interesting twist on the story that 35% of the population of the world knows about, I recommend you read The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by José Saramago, Nobel Prize for literature in 1998.

How are Posadas celebrated in your neck of the woods?

I captured this image on a show about horses in San Miguel Escobar, a little village just outside La Antigua Guatemala. In the foreground we have an old Guatemalan cowboy showing his horse with pride, while in the background we have a crowd that gather just outside the church to watch the show. The organizers of the show very intelligently set the start of the show right after mass, so they could have a crowd served for them. This is a follow up photograph to Old Guatemalan Folks, in which Jackie commented that these folks “…are not interested in whatever’s going on…” Also, the grandmother and granddaughter that were selling comales a few days ago belong to this series about San Miguel Escobar. There are other images in this series. Stay tune!

On the north side of Parque Central (Central Park) stands the Antigua Guatemala’s Town Hall, Municipalidad in Spanish or Muni for short. Here is a shot of the arches during the day.

My best wishes for the season and a Prosperous New Year to all the visitors of Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo!

Since several of the Daily Photo Cities are publishing images with low-light or taken at night, I decided to continue with other photos I’ve taken around Parque Central at night. Just a few days ago I posted Lit branches at Parque Central and Illuminated Central Park.

Today I bring to you a shot of another building that is photographed a lot. Palacio de los Capitanes, or Captains’ Palace caught the eye of Meg on the Guatemalan Choppers in Antigua post, back in August 17th. Nowadays the building is used by The Police and the State Department as their headquarters. Here is a view of the building during the day.

Here are other Daily Photos Cities with night shots recently

• Alexandria Daily Photo
• Kuala Lumpur Daily Photo
• Paris Daily Photo
• Shanghai Daily Snap
• Hong Kong Daily Photo

Yesterday I mentioned that the traditional baked-clay comales are disappearing in Guatemala in favor of the metal comal; heated through gas. All this talk about the comal and some of you might be wondering what the heck, what is the comal and what is used for? Well, the comal is the Pre-Colombian stove for Mesoamerica. It is used mostly to cook maize-based tortillas, a Spanish term derived from the word torta, meaning a round cake.

The tortilla, that is most familiar to North Americans and quite possible most of the world, is a kind of thin unleavened flat bread, made from finely ground maize (corn) or wheat flour. Here I am paraphrasing the entry of Tortillas in Wikipedia (click the link for a longer definition).

All the cultures of the world found a way to include carbohydrates in their diet. Maize-based foods and tortillas are the carbohydrates for the Mesoamerican cultures. It is the equivalent of rice and wheat for Asia and Europe. Maize, however, is much more than a food group. Maize defines the Mesoamerica’s peoples. I have posted several entries regarding maize, but I believe I stated its importance more clearly in Mayan Pizza and Frijoles Colorados. Maize is one of the most important ingredients in the genesis of the human kind according the Popul Vuh, the Mayan equivalent of the Bible.

In this photo, we have a window into the tortilla-making process as it is done in Guatemala. Unlike Mexico, where tortillerías, the place where they make and sell tortillas, are micro-industrial joints and tortillas are made with machines and in large numbers, in Guatemala tortillas are made by hand and in a setting pretty much like this one.

This photo does not have great color, as I like, but I was very lucky to be permitted to photograph these two indigenous women in front of their comal. The photograph was taken at night with a tripod and with lens opened for 3 seconds. I am happy with the overall feel and rhythm of the image. What do you think of it?

No, we aren’t talking about Comal County around the San Antonio area in Texas (Click the link to visit San Antonio Daily Photo). We are talking about the griddle or grill made from cooked clay that is used for cooking tortillas or quesadillas. The comales seen here, the round clay-discs in the back, are beginning to disappear in favor of modern comales made from metal and heated through gas. Wood is used as fuel with the traditional Guatemalan comal (click the link to see a photo wood piles).

According to the information found in Wikipedia, the comal dates back to the Pre-Columbian era when maize was grounded by stone, made into tortillas, then filled with whatever was available. More recently the comal has found its way into the modern kitchen as part of the stove top.

Please, come back tomorrow for a photo of the tortilla-making process as it is done in Guatemala nowadays.

Yesterday, I said that I wish I had the photographic skills to bring to you the fabulous light show at Central Park because it is breath-taking to see so much light around the trees and plants. It is almost a magical vista. The photos here do not it justice. Here is another shot from a different angle.

Magical and romantic could be the adjectives for the park now. Many couples come out to spend some tender and romantic times with their other halves.

If I am not mistaken the electric bill and the lights are paid by Bayer of Guatemala. Bayer also puts the lights over the trees on the strip of the Calzada Roosevelt in front of their headquarters in Guatemala City.

My apologies for not being able to respond all your comments lately. I have had a lot of work in the last two weeks; but I do get to read all your wonderful feedback.