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Last month I showed you the Burger King’s Fountain in Antigua Guatemala and I said that even fast-food restaurants have nice atmospheres and fountains and gardens. Well, today’s photo is showing the patio and garden at McDonald’s in La Antigua Guatemala. Of course, Ronald is always on guard to make sure nobody steals his fountain. Last time I showed the bright yellow and red-striped clown I was doing a series on transnational around Antigua Guatemala. Back on October 4th, I show this same patio from the other end, with water volcano in the background. Soon I will come back to show you other parts of this wonderful patio and garden.

So, is this what you had in mind when you thought of McDonald’s?

Tags: Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo / Antigua / Guatemala / Fountain / McDonald’s / Garden

Boy oh boy, I enjoy breaking the rules. For today we are breaking the photographic rule that says you should avoid taking photos at noon. This is a follow up shot to one my favorites: Shadow casting lamp. Check it out and I hope you like too.

Tags: Antigua Daily Photo / Antigua / Guatemala / lamp / shadow casting lamp / yellow wall

Soon everyone will be familiar with this logotype. Resistance is futile, all of you will be assimilated, we are the Campero Borg Collective. Juan José Gutiérrez and Dionisio Gutiérrez remind me of Pinky and The Brain because of their weekly plans to take over the world. The first plan began over 35 years ago, 1971 to be precise, in a tiny joint in Guatemala City. Their plan was very simple: let’s make a clone of Kentucky Fried Chicken and let’s sell it the world over. So far their plan has taken them as far as many U.S. cities, Madrid and Jakarta and in ten days to Shanghai. In China, Pinky and The Brain Gutiérrez plan to open up 500 new restaurants in the next five years; that is little over 8 restaurants per month. The Gutiérrez plan is to convince or convert the world over to their recipe of fried chicken which is tender, juicy and crunchy by way of plain logic: after all, how can 1.7 billion Chinese be wrong, right?

So if you didn’t know anything about this tiny banana republic in Central America by the name of Guatemala, soon you will! You will know our Campero fried chicken, you will know our babies, and you will know about our workers (undocumented immigrants), among other not-so-glamorous facts. Stay tune or not, either way you will be assimilated!

Tags: Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo / Antigua / Guatemala / Pollo Campero / campero logo / Pollo Campero logotype

Here is better overview of the La Ermita de la Santa Cruz ruins and the trees that hug it. Also, you can see more students practicing for the big marching band competition which I believe will be next week. I will try to take a few snapshots for you and maybe a video clip.

Thanks for all your wonderful feedback and continue visits. My best wishes to you and your love ones!

Tags: Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo / Antigua / Guatemala / Ermita de la Santa Cruz Ruins / marching band / Guatemalan teens

While driving over Calle Chipilapa, I was lucky several school marching bands practicing for an upcoming student band competition in La Antigua Guatemala. In the background you can see La Ermita de la Santa Cruz Ruins, a popular venue for music concerts. I published a rather plain photo of La Ermita before on July 19th, 2006. If you follow the link, you can read more information about the ruins and the concerts that have taken place there.

I am hoping to be free and alert for the student bands competition so I can snatch a few shots for you.

Tags: Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo / Antigua / Guatemala / Ermita de la Santa Cruz Ruins / marching band / Guatemalan girls

Believe it or not, the dry green river bed is El Pensativo River. The other day while driving on Calle Chipilapa, which takes you to La Ermita de la Santa Cruz Ruins, I saw this huge bougainvillea tree on the other side of El Pensativo River, dry now but soon it will have running water. I never seen a bougainvillea tree so big; my wife and I saw a midget bougainvillea tree—about 1 meter in height— in Tapachula, Mexico.

As soon as I decided on the best angle, I waited for the human element to enter the scene (see tip), in this case was these two young Guatemalan girls who were coming from the marching band practice. I was lucky to have all these teenagers to fill the missing element in the picture since Calle Chipilapa is normally deserted. To take photo, I applied the same principles as in the Monk in San Francisco El Grande Church; basically it means waiting for some action to enter the viewfinder window.

Another aspect in the photo above is the white —overblown— skies which are the signs of the rainy season. Soon most of the photos will have white or gray skies. Sorry all the good light and colors are gone now.

Tags: Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo / Antigua / Guatemala / Bougainvillea Tree / El Pensativo River / Guatemalan girls

Mother’s Day is celebrated in Guatemala on May 10th. Where do Guatemalans take their mom to dine on her day? But of course, to Pollo Campero. I decided to go there and see if I could snatch a shot for you, but I was too shy. The Pollo Campero restaurant was very busy with moms going in and out of the place; there were many good photo opts, but I felt like I was intruding, so I only took one overall shot of the scene (a bit blurry at that).

Today I am also breaking the daily photo rule by publishing three photographs about three different kinds of Guatemalan moms. Regardless of all the inter-country or international adoptions or The Baby Flight as Dr. Karen S. Rotabi calls it, there are still plenty of loving and caring moms in Guatemala. I am showing only three today, but there are many more.

The cowgirl mom above is helping his cowboy kid get ready for a horsemanship show. The urban rocker mom takes her daughter to Jamtigua International Music Festival and bonds with her while listening to the haunting music of Ranferí­ Aguilar and his Rain Maker concert. Last but not least, we have the indigenous mom hurrying up with her daughter while doing some errands. The last photo was published before under the title Let’s go mija, we are going to be late… on August 21st, 2006.

The group that suffers the most with inter-country adoptions is, of course, the indigenous population since their offspring and descendants are taken away to live in far away lands under a different culture and different lifestyles. Guatemalan indigenous population are descendants from the Maya and thus Amerindians or the original peoples of the American continent. By taken away the children from these very close indigenous tribes, something very important is lost. But what the heck, we are living in global economy world with a zillion free trade agreements so there are no speed bumps to the flow of money towards the north. Why shouldn’t humans be part of this flow? Why should only immigrants who can pay their coyote be allowed to suffer the American Dream? Isn’t it the destiny of the peoples this planet to be all and only mestizos (mixed)? Is there any benefit to diversity, really?

I leave you with the questions above to ponder.

To all the visiting moms, I wish them a very happy Guatemalan Mother’s Day! To my own mother Lidia, now living in Las Vegas, I send all my loving through this entry.

Tags: Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo / Antigua / Guatemala / Guatemalan Moms / cowgirl+mom / urban rocker mom / indigenous mom

Just two days ago I was showing the original mermaids in the Santiago Museum and I said I did not have a close-up shot of the existing mermaids from the main fountain in Parque Central so you can compare them. The closes thing was the main fountain in Even the Fountains Take a Break. Thanks to Christina from Omaha DP for providing a link to a close up of the mermaids from her last trip to Guatemala. That day I went to take a few shots on my lunch hour so I can do this follow up. Here is an even closer look at the mermaids; there are four of them.

Tomorrow, May 10th, is Mother’s Day in Guatemala. I am sending big hugs and kisses to my own mother now living in Las Vegas; I miss you very much!

Tags: Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo / Antigua / Guatemala / Mermaids Fountain / Central Park / Parque Central

A few days ago, on May 3rd, Pamela, from Tenerife Daily Photo, posted a somehow modest cross for the Dí­a de la Cruz if we consider that all around the Canary Islands the word cross, cruz in Spanish, is present in many of the towns like Santa Cruz, Puerto de la Cruz, et-cetera. Come on Pamela, you can do much better than that! So I had to do a follow up, even if it is a few days later and a few kilometers away from Santa Cruz.

I knew it was the Day of the Holy Cross, which is also the Day of the Construction Worker in many countries in Latin America, but I was not able to get a shot that day because we were in the process of moving and there were a lot errands and things to do. Two days later I was able to get a shot of a decorated cross at a construction site. The Day of the Santa Cruz is also celebrated as the construction worker’s day which means the architect, engineer or landlord throws a party for the construction workers which includes a food feast and alcoholic beverages (most of the time, but not necessarily). The construction worker make a cross from the materials available on site and the post it somewhere so everybody can see it. Most of the time, they also decorate the cross.

The legend has it that when they were unburying Jerusalem, they found three crosses, one of them larger than the other two. When some of the diggers touch the larger cross, their ailments healed and the cross were thought to be miraculous. The priests on site called a funeral passing by and the dead man’s hand was made to touch the cross and he resurrected and walked away. The cross was taken immediately to Rome, the Vatican to be precise, and a chapel was built for it. This chapel was built in record time and for this reason and for the fact that the man who resurrected was a construction worker who had died while at work a few days earlier, this date became the day of the construction worker. All of this as seen on tv, a few details more or less.

Don’t forget to browse over Santa Cruz category at Wikipedia to get an idea of how far the Spaniards and Portuguese took those two words.

Tags: Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo / Antigua / Guatemala / Holy Cross / Construction site

I wanted to show you the original mermaids and link to the current mermaids at the main fountain in Central Park, but guess what I haven’t done a close-up shot of the mermaids (one more thing to add to my todo list); so, I have to link to the photo Even the Fountains Take a Break, since this is the only shot which shows the mermaids.

Anyhow, the mermaids above can be found at the Museo de Armas or Old Weapons Museum; yes I know, mermaids have nothing to do with weapons, unless you consider the sirens singing dangerous. I believe this is also called the Saint James Museum, Santiago in Spanish.

This shot could be anywhere in the world, except for the fact of the blue in the sky can only be Guatemala; so they tell me.

Because of the reasons I described yesterday, more people tend to use electrified barbed wire to protect their houses; sometimes, they use two or three rows stocked.

I have shown many beautiful walls around La Antigua Guatemala, but this is a type of wall, which I dislike, that can also be found here. Like Pamela, I despise the view of the naked block, concrete block, breeze block, or whatever they call it in your neck of the woods. How about you?

In this tiny office of this building, the Captains’ Palace, two police officers take crime reports, charges and denounces, all under the Spanish word of denuncias. This photo looks like a slide taken out of a Latin American film from the 80s; like Men with Guns or El Norte. Unlike their peers in other parts of the North, Guatemalan Police officers are paid low wages and receive very little and poor training. They try to do their best, but resources are insufficient. I don’t have the exact figure right now, but I remember reading the starting monthly salary for a police man is about US$240. This is not enough!

Tags: Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo / Antigua / Guatemala / National Civil Police / Guatemalan Police Men

On Fridays, between 4 and 6 p.m., you can seat on one of the benches in Parque Central and enjoy of a live-music concert performed by the Municipal band. I leave you with tiny video clip below so you can a feel for the music.

Tags: Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo / Antigua / Guatemala / Municipal Band / arch portal

Even though the Ciudad Vieja Cathedral was founded in 1534, it is obvious the church has gone through many renovations. For instance, if you take a closer look at the façade, you can see the baroque architectonic details which were not available until a couple centuries after it was founded. The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception is the patron of Ciudad Vieja and thus it celebrates its town fair on December 8th at the Beginning of the Christmas Season.

Tags: Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo / Antigua / Guatemala / Ciudad Vieja Cathedral / Façade / Catedral de Ciudad Vieja

Okay, I am overwhelmed by such positive feedback regarding the one-year anniversary and the work done thus far. I don’t have the vocabulary at my disposal to let you know how grateful I am to hear (read) your kind words. Perhaps the best response is to continue the photographic journey and to strive at improving the ride, both ways visually and in the written form.

One of the best photographic tips in my arsenal came from my wife. She said to always try to include something alive in the picture; photography should be about life. So, I try to get the light and perspective that works best and then I wait for the human element to complete the puzzle. Also, I normally like to show the contrast of size between this old building and the humans that use them. The juxtaposition of people against the massive church buildings works well to show the scale.

With the introductory paragraph above I present to you the façade of the Ciudad Vieja Cathedral on one corner and a man and his child in the opposite corner with a deep blue sky as backdrop. This shot is very similar to Antigua’s Cathedral at Sunset which showed a massive cathedral in one corner and a tiny bike rider in the opposite corner with an even deeper blue sky.

The Ciudad Vieja Cathedral was founded in 1534, just a few years after the arrival of the Spaniards. Pretty old structures as Jerry put it; with rich historic values. You can see the main dome of this cathedral here.

Have I told you why I started the Antigua Guatemala DP on May 1st?