Back on March 5th, 2007 I showed you the stain glass marker for the men’s bathroom at La Fuente strip mall. It was only matter of time for a follow-up with the women’s stain glass marker.
Come back tomorrow to see the some of the flower arrangements used on Palm Sunday (Domingo de Ramos in Spanish), which marks the commencement of the Holy Week.
In 1492 the Spaniards came to the Americas and traded their tiny mirrors and beads for all the wealth available in gold, silver and precious metals and stones. The kings of Spain at the time never visited the “new” world. In 2007, today to be precise, the Kings of Spain, Don Juan Carlos (Charles) and Doña Sofía (Sophy) decided to pay a visit to the former colonies in the American continent. This time around the reyes, kings in Spanish, bring back some of the wealth in the form of economic aid for the third world/developing countries (poor countries: if you want to obviate the euphemisms) and they take back tiny mirrors and beads in the form of folk-art and handicrafts. Boy oh boy, what goes around, comes around.
According to the book 1491 by Charles C. Mann (related entries in AGDP), the saddest thing about the clash of the civilizations of Europe and the civilizations of the Americas was the loss more than 2,000 ways of being human. The three great empires, the Aztecs or Mexicas, the Maya and the Inca, and their cultures and knowledge pretty much vanished due warfare and disease. From the ashes and the aftermath of the greatest holocaust known to humanity (over 10 million people and counting) emerged what we now called Latin America. From the Spanish language the Spaniards left behind geysered Miguel Ángel Asturias, Gabriel García Marquéz, Rubén Darío, Juan Rulfo, Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortazar, Pablo Neruda and on and on to an endless list of Nobel-prize-winner novelists and poets.
On a personal note, this is the first time in my life that I am this close to kings and I hope that it will be the last. Adiós Don Juan Carlos and Doña Sofía, best wishes for your trip back to Spain and say hello to Dsole and Carmen, who are doing a wonderful job painting and photographing the life of Madrid. With the reyes came the first rains of 2007; I hope that is not a sign.
Here is a small Slide Show (9 photos) of the Kings of Spain visit to San Pedro Las Huertas, La Antigua Guatemala:
Here is a small video (1:38 minutes) of the Kings of Spain visit to San Pedro Las Huertas, La Antigua Guatemala:
You may have to come back to see the video as it is being held in moderation.
Even the sidewalks get a new look for the visit of King Don Carlos and Queen Doña Sofía from Spain this Friday. According to the woman supervising the painting of the plaza of San Pedro Las Huertas, Don Carlos and Doña Sofía will be visiting this village, just outside La Antigua Guatemala on Friday; I will try to snatch a photo if I get a chance. In the mean time, you can see the Cathedral of San Pedro Las Huertas and quite possibly the bell ringerthat will be there for the benefit of the kings.
Just yesterday I told you about the paint jobs that many houses and buildings undergo for the Holy Week Celebrations. Also, every time a king, a queen, president or prime minister decides to take visit Guatemala or La Antigua Guatemala, this old town undergoes a rejuvenating process of new paint, fixing the cobblestone streets, painting the parks, et-cetera. The whole thing is ridiculous; the work should be done regardless who ever is visiting and because taxes are being paid to beautified the cities. Actually, once a year Guatemalans are forced to paid a small tax called ornato (to beutify) their town of residence.
The face-lift works being done in and around Antigua Guatemala are due to the fact that King Don Carlos and Queen Doña Sofía from Spain are visiting Guatemala this Friday. Their timing could not be more wrong since Guatemala is also hosting the III Continental Summit of Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities.
Many houses and business buildings get a new paint job right before the Holy Week. The streets of La Antigua Guatemala get repaired as well. All this rejuvenating and face-lifts of this old town are needed to make Antigua Guatemala look its best for the Holy Week (Semana Santa in Spanish). As a matter of fact, there’s no other celebration as important, as colorful, as religious, as expected, as huge, as memorable as the Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala.
Normally I stay away from the crowed streets, and I mean really crowed streets. In the Semana Santa week, La Antigua Guatemala receives so many kinds tourists: Firsts and foremost, the Guatemalans, the regional Central Americans and Mexicans and everybody else and their cousins. I will try to come to take some snapshot for your benefit. Wish me luck.
By the way, the building being painted above is the candy store of La Dulceria de Doña María Gordillo —check it out for a sweet view of the traditional Guatemalan candy. You can also see all the other photos about the world-famous candy store of Doña María Gordillo.
Come back tomorrow for an entry about Kings, Queens, Presidents and Prime Ministers Wanted ad.
Back in March 6th I showed to you the entry doorway of Hotel Santo Domingo (Holy Sunday, by the way) with violet banners adorning the crown of the door passage and as a mark of the Lent season. Well to honor the Doors and Windows category I needed to follow up with a pair of windows wearing the familiar purple banners for the Cuaresma season.
As you can see, violet and purple are becoming a popular color for the Antigua Guatemala DP. I am glad yellow and purple play well together, since I have a tendency to photograph yellow walls and buildings.
Purple cone-head “Cucuruchos” are a big attraction around Antigua Guatemala in the Lent Season. Although Cucurucho’ dresses come in many colors, bright purple or violet are the most-often seen color. But, the purple/violet color is not only present in the cone-head dresses worn by the cucurushos, it is also available in banners that dress up windows and doorways in this very catholic colonial town. Come back tomorrow to see how the windows are dressed up in purple.
Yesterday I told you I was going to have a sample of the sorrowful tunes play by the processional musicians that are an integral part of processions.
On the weekends of the Lent season or Cuaresma as it is known in Spanish, La Antigua Guatemala becomes the backdrop for smaller processions which are a preamble for the huge and massive procession of the Holy Week or Semana Santa.
For now you can enjoy a video clip that shows a procession around El Tanque de La Unión and listen to the mournful music. El Tanque de la Unión is the largest laundry public washbasin in La Antigua Guatemala.
Back on Ash Wednesday, February 21st, 2007, I said that in the Catholic Realm the Holy Week celebration had begun with Ash Wednesday. Around Antigua, this means the commencement of all kinds of religious rituals like processions. Above you see a children’s procession caught by my viewfinder on Saturday 17th.
For many people not used to processions, the whole ‘process’ might be unknown and even foreign, so I decided to take a little walk against the grain of a procession in La Antigua Guatemala so you get a feel for it. Obviously I can only do this with a small procession like the one above or below depends what you are watching because I would not venture do the same with one mega-procession from the Holy Week.
By the way, La Antigua Guatemala is world-famous for its Holy Week Celebrations; in fact, many people only visit Antigua Guatemala for this period. I normally stay away because this town gets REALLY overcrowded, but this time around I will take shots of as many processions as possible for your benefit. I will also research better all the rituals around the Holy Week so you and I can learn a bit about this colorful aspect of life in La Antigua Guatemala.
For now enjoy the little video-clip below!
The sign above is at entrance doorway of the Colegio Mayor de Santo Tomás de Aquino, School of Saint Thomas, and you can see it in context in the façade of the building shown two days ago.
I really like the fact that many signs, even commercial signs, in Antigua Guatemala are made from hand-drawn ceramic tiles. You can check out all the different kinds of signs around Antigua Guatemala, by browsing the Signs category.
Tomorrow I will post the first processions photos from the Lent season. Come back tomorrow to fill your retinas with shades of purple from the cucuruchos’ dresses.
At present this building still goes by the name of Colegio Mayor de Santo Tomás de Aquino and still belongs to the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC), but it is now a museum and cultural center. It is beautifully restored and peaceful; awesome place to enjoy a quite afternoon with a book.
This humble building is where Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, USAC, was founded as part of Francisco Marroquín’s wish and will. The USAC was the third university founded in the American continent, right after Mexico’s and Peru’s universities. It was founded by the name of Colegio Mayor de Santo Tomás, the School of Saint Thomas, on 1562 and it was officially declared a university on January 31st, 1676 by royal command of King Charles II of Spain.
Nowadays, the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala is considered one of the best public universities in Central America. It is the only public university in the country (source Wikipedia).
No, this is not the bust of Lenin. This is the sculpture of Francisco Marroquin, Bishop to Guatemala in 16th century, and founder of the third university in the American continent under the name of School of Saint Thomas, today Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC). The School of Saint Thomas, Colegio Mayor de Santo Tomás in Spanish, was founded in La Antigua Guatemala on October 20th, 1620, over 50 years after his initial request of March 9th, 1562. This sculpture of Francisco Marroquín is located in the Colegio Mayor de Santo Tomás in La Antigua Guatemala; under the bust his testament and wish can be read in old Spanish:
Quiero y es mi voluntad (I want and it is my wish)
que sea de dicho Colegio (to become of such School)
desde agora para siempre jamás (from now and forever and ever)
y que lo hagan poco a poco, (to be built little by little)
y de los frutos (and from the fruits)
que compren los material se acabe, (purchase the material to finish it)
y sea dicho Colegio (and the such School be)
para leer Artes y Tecnólogia y otras Ciencias. (for reading the Arts and Technology and other Sciences.)Fragmento de su testamento (fragment of his will), 5 de abril 1563
More photos of the School of Saint Thomas to come in the following days.
Rudy, this site is a great escape, a relevant commentary, and a great documentary all in one. I think your different and unusual photographs are fantastic - an extraordinary view of everyday life... —Eric
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