AntiguaDailyPhoto.Com

Believe it or not, the land around La Antigua Guatemala was a very ‘fertile’ arid zone before the introduction of the coffee bush as a crop in 1875. I know fertile and arid sound like two mutually exclusive words, but they were not in Guatemala before 18th century where the Nopal and Maguey cactuses were grown in plantations. I’ve even seen photographs of the nopal plantations around La Antigua Guatemala in the CIRMA Fototeca (The Photo Archives at The Center for Mesoamerican Research). CIRMA is the local think-tank.

The gardens at Parque Central are the very best example of the diversity of plants that can grow side-by-side in La Antigua Guatemala. You can find anything from jacaranda trees, palm trees, flowers, avocado trees, cactus, et-cetera. I promise I will do a mini-series about the great plant nursery that is the Central Park of La Antigua Guatemala.

The Guateflora category takes its name on a wonderful compilation book by the name of Guate Flora: Plantas ornamentales más utilizadas en jardí­nes guatemaltecos (Guate Flora: Ornamental Plants Most Often Used in Guatemalan Gardens). The books compiles more than 400 photos of the plants most often used in Guatemalan gardens along with technical description about the plants’ categories, and how to grow them. Many of the photographs in the book were taken from gardens in private homes, hotels, restaurants, parks, green houses, mini-malls or on the streets around La Antigua Guatemala; this fact is what prompted me to try to take shots of the ornamental plants as I encounter them in my comings-and-goings.

You know you are in a Guatemalan home the moment you see the Colas de Quetzal (nephorlepsis spp.) or Quetzal’s tails (ferns) hanging in the corridors. The Colas de Quetzal bracken has to be one of the favorite ornamental plants used in the Guatemalan home. Some of these ferns or brackens are native to Guatemala, but they are considered cosmopolitan because they can grow anywhere. Colas de Quetzal can grown in hanging baskets, pots or in the ground, but they need some shadow to maintain the evergreen colors. The above photo of Colas de Quetzal was taken at Vivero La Escalonia (5a av. sur final), a very popular nursery in La Antigua Guatemala. Vivero La Escalonia is a great place to have breakfast or lunch.

The Guateflora category takes its name on a wonderful compilation book by the name of Guate Flora: Plantas ornamentales más utilizadas en jardí­nes guatemaltecos (Guate Flora: Ornamental Plants Most Often Used in Guatemalan Gardens). The books compiles more than 400 photos of the plants most often used in Guatemalan gardens along with technical description about the plants’ categories, and how to grow them. Many of the photographs in the book were taken from gardens in private homes, hotels, restaurants, parks, green houses, mini-malls or on the streets around La Antigua Guatemala; this fact is what prompted me to try to take shots of the ornamental plants as I encounter them in my comings-and-goings.

We continue our Guateflora series with the omnipresent coffee bush or tree, which has manage to leave the coffee plantation to become a hedge. The coffee bush is one the most often seen plants around La Antigua Guatemala, but not often I’ve seen it used as hedge. The above photograph was taken at the Compañí­a de Jesús building, with the ruins in the background. The coffee bush is not included in the Guateflora book, but I am sure it should be included since it is found often in gardens in La Antigua Guatemala. If you don’t know what the Guateflora book is, please read the paragraph below.

The Guateflora category takes its name on a wonderful compilation book by the name of Guate Flora: Plantas ornamentales más utilizadas en jardí­nes guatemaltecos (Guate Flora: Ornamental Plants Most Often Used in Guatemalan Gardens). The books compiles more than 400 photos of the plants most often used in Guatemalan gardens along with technical description about the plants’ categories, and how to grow them. Many of the photographs in the book were taken from gardens in private homes, hotels, restaurants, parks, green houses, mini-malls or on the streets around La Antigua Guatemala; this fact is what prompted me to try to take shots of the ornamental plants as I encounter them in my comings-and-goings.

Gerberas (gerbera jamesonii) are a very popular flowers in the gardens of La Antigua Guatemala. Gerberas are found in yellow, white, red (like the picture above), orange, purple and pink. Gerberas grow in temperate-cold climate and give their beautiful flowers throughout the year. This particular shot was taken at the nursery Vivero La Escalonia in the south part of La Antigua (5a av. sur final). (source for technical information: Guate Flora)

With this entry we will begin a series of flowers and plants that are available around La Antigua Guatemala. This series will not be in consecutive order so you will have to browse the Guateflora category or search for Guateflora: in the search form on the sidebar.

The Guateflora category takes its name on a wonderful compilation book by the name of Guate Flora: Plantas ornamentales más utilizadas en jardí­nes guatemaltecos (Guate Flora: Ornamental Plants Most Often Used in Guatemalan Gardens). The books compiles more than 400 photos of the plants most often used in Guatemalan gardens along with technical description about the plants’ categories, and how to grow them. Many of the photographs in the book were taken from gardens in private homes, hotels, restaurants, parks, green houses, mini-malls or on the streets around La Antigua Guatemala; this fact is what prompted me to try to take shots of the ornamental plants as I encounter them in my comings-and-goings.

Please, would let me know that you think of this new series?

… enough said.

The above yellow corner is located on 1a calle poniente in La Antigua Guatemala. The Astoria delicatessen is just one of many delicatessen in La Antigua Guatemala. We are privileged in this aspect with access to some fine and exclusive ingredients. La Antigua Guatemala is a tiny town that wants to be a huge cosmopolitan metropolis, but without the traffic, rush hours, or smog. Let it dream!

Have I mentioned I have a fetish for the signs around La Antigua Guatemala? Here you see the Berenjenas (eggplant) sign on 6a avenida norte. If you are interested in seeing what all this fetish is about, please, browse the sign category (at your own risk).

The Fetish Etymology Side Note: First there was the Spanish word Hechizo (witch craft or witch-made) which turned into Feitiço in Portuguese. The Portuguese Feitiço swam over the North Sea to France and became Fetiche (actually, between you and I, Feitiço flew to France on a broom; but since we are talking about the XV century we don’t want to risk misinterpretation, you know). Once in France it was only a matter of time for the English to snatched the foreign-sounding word, but because they did not how to spell it, Fetiche became Fetish. Unfortunately this was at the time when the Europeans were trading with humans from Africa and because they did not know much about Africans religions they use the word fetish to denominate all those religious rituals. Karl Marx felt that merchandise possessed a bewitching aspect and thus it was evil, so he called this malicious attraction a fetish. Once in the German language, it was only a matter of time (again) for mister Sigmund Freud to muddle with its meaning to apply it to the phenomena he was observing in his clinic. With this last meaning fetish (fetiche in Spanish) came back to its mother tongue; completely transformed. (Source: Fetiche from elcastellano.org)

Don Tulio, the owner of La Naranja Pelada, has an interesting taste for decoration; to say the least. Here we have an embossed snapshot of Guy sitting at the bar while waiting for his abulón ceviche (abalone lime-juiced soaked salad).

Perhaps next time Guy makes his way down to Guatemala, we could meet up for ceviches, beers and blogs at El Pelicano Dorado… What you say, Guy, are you up for it? Anybody?

Post cards request update: The first two post cards arrived today at my postal office box. Gerard’s post card from Hyde, England and Carolyn’s from sunny Southern California arrive today. Gerard’s post card was sent on September 29, it arrived to Guatemala City on October 8 and to La Antigua Guatemala on the 10th. Carolyn’s post card was sent on October 1st, it landed in GuateCity on October 6 and it made its way down to La Antigua Guatemala today. If you don’t know what I am talking about, please do read the entry Postscript.

La Naranja Pelada restaurant either falls under the category of tacky or kitsch; you decide! Besides all the specimens on the walls don’t go with us. To have stuffed animals in the brink of extinction like the caimán (cayman) shown above is enough for us to go elsewhere. The reasons I have to show all the recent photos of La Naranaja Pelada have to do with documenting a place with a little fame because of the ceviches they serve there. Seviches are a very important Guatemalan dish and very popular snack/meal around La Antigua Guatemala. I also found La Naranaja Pelada to be very tacky and kitsch. There is still one more shot about La Naranaja Pelada and then we will wave our goodbyes.

What is your opinion about La Naranaja Pelada, based solely on the photos and copy you seen so far?

It was last year, on May 14th, that I showed a photo of Shrimp ceviche. If I am not mistaken, it was the shrimp ceviche photo that brought me to the attention of Guy from Inner Diablog and viceversa. Interestingly enough, I also met Sompopo [virtually] through a photo of a sompopo back in May 2006.

Anyhow, much has been said about ceviches and there are almost as many spellings [seviche, cebiche, sebiche] as there are recipes from all the different countries of Latin America. But three ceviches styles are the most widely known: The Mexican, The Peruvian and The Guatemalan Ceviche. All seviches have their own twist and I have to admit that the Guatemalan cebiche with conchas (shellfish with dark, almost black, ink) is the least appealing of all. Yet, for those brave enough to have tried it, the Guatemalan conchas ceviche is a total delicacy. Guy from Inner Diablog has spent enough ink talking about ceviches and since he’s a total connoisseur, I rather you go to his blog and read about ceviches there.

There are many great places to eat ceviche in Guatemala and La Naranja Pelada is one of them. It is a habit among Guatemalans and foreigners who enjoy ceviches to share the information of where to get the best ceviche; everybody knows where to find the best ceviche and it is not the same place for everybody. Esperanza and I, for instance, know that the best ceviche can be had at La Blanqui restaunrant-bar in Escuintla.

Okay I’ve done my part. Now it is up to you, can you share with us where to get the best ceviche?

Guy’s description of the restaurant fit it to the t: “…wood-panelled and decorated with specimens of local ‘game’ such as snakes, turtles and armadilloes.” La Naranja Pelada restaurant falls into the tacky category of restaurants or bars that have an exotic, underground sort of, appeal for intellectuals and ordinary people alike. Another example of this is the bar El Olvido in Guatemala City. I dislike most of what I saw inside La Naranja Pelada (peeled orange), but especially the animal decoration on the walls and bar. Also the full-size ‘Marlboro Man’ poster is of poor taste in my book. This weekend We rented the film Thank You for Smoking directed by Jason Reitman and there was a chapter about the Marlboro Man who was dying from all the years of smoking. Talk about synchronicity.

Just about now, many of you may be asking where I am going with this mini-series, right? Well, be patient. I am almost there… to be continued.

Crea fama y acuéstate a dormir. —anónimo (Create fame, then sleep. —Anonymous)

The first time I ever heard about La Naranja Pelada (The Peeled Orange) was at Inner Diablog, a blog published from London but filled with hindsight and hard-to-find information about Guatemala. On top of all, Guy writes so eloquently that it is a pleasure to read his entries. Honest, Guy’s blog and his writing is an inspiration to me. Check it out!

In the area around Antigua the best ceviches are to be found in a small seafood restaurant on a backstreet of Jocotenango called La Naranja Pelada. The dining room is wood-panelled and decorated with specimens of local ‘game’ such as snakes, turtles and armadilloes. (source: Inner Diablog)

The second time I read about La Naranja Pelada was about a meeting of Guatemalan writers that took place there. Then I read a recommendation by Pepe Zarco, one of the columnist of Prensa Libre.

This was enough to pique my curiosity. I have to find the La Naranja Pelada… To be continued

Okay enough is enough. If you browse the Arches category you can find 22 entries and that is not counting all the arches that have appeared through the 535 consecutive days, but I have not tagged or classified as arches. Not once I have talked about the simple column that supports the arch; that is wrong if you consider that it takes two columns to support a single arch. My very dear friend JM Magaña, La Antigua Guatemala’s former conservator and the pen behind the architecture column in Recrearte magazine, could call me a near-sighted person or worst a discriminatory individual or architecture elements. We can not continue like that, no way José! We put an end to this discrimination today. There you have it above, a humble arch column close-up taken at the Municipalidad de Jocotenango.

The Amazon Wish List Side note:
I want to publicly thank Carolyn from Minnesota for being the first person to donate towards the operations cost of La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo through the Amazon Wish List for LAGDP. Like many of you already know, this web site is maintained economically through your donations towards the hosting bills and my own economic resources to pay for the rest, which includes internet access, batteries, memory cards, cameras, tripods, blank discs for backups, external hard drives, computer equipment, Flickr account, books, entrance fees, restaurant bills, parking lot fees, et-cetera. I even placed some adsense ads to help unload some of the cost from my personal budget; I hope the adsense ads are not too distracting. Still, LAGDP is an economic burden, so I REALLY appreciate any help you guys send this way. Many thanks to Carolyn from Minnesota and to all the people that have donated thus far. The Amazon Wish List for LAGDP ships whatever you guys donate from the list to a P.O. Box in Miami and from there the item is taken via airborne to Guatemala City. Once there, I receive a phone call to let me know about the package. I am still responsible for the shipping charges from Miami-Guatemala City, import duties and sales tax. I know it sounds complicated, but it all works out somehow.

Here is another shot taken at the Municipalidad de Jocotenango (city hall) which shows its yellow façade and abundance of arches. Jocotenango was the community where workers and artisans (indians) lived in colonial times. Nowadays, Jocotenango still provides residence to many of the workers of La Antigua Guatemala.

Does anyone care to tell us a little more about Jocotenango?

The building of the municipalidad (city hall) is a yellow building with simple arches, lots of them. The arches provide great photo opportunities, like in this case where two women were caught by the viewfinder in one of those fleeting moments.

This is very simple image will allow us to play a creative game. Taking the two women as our characters we will write up one of many conceivable dialogues as the interaction between them. This would be similar to what we did in Opposite Ends of Life #2, which you should look at and read to get an idea. The apparent age difference could be used to set the pair as mother and daughter or sisters or simply co-workers of the newly opened Subway; it is up to you. I will submit the first plausible dialogue.

Backpacker girl

Mami, Jhon Daniel is not answering his cel phone…

Skeptic mother

Ay mija! I’m telling you I don’t like this boy. What kind of name is Jhon anyway?

Backpacker girl

Má… I told you already, we kids don’t have a saying about what kind of names you parents chose for us.

Skeptic mother

Mija, still Jhon is so pretentious and foreign… Juan Daniel sounds better to me. Anyway try to call him again.

Backpacker girl

For sure I will not name my first son Jhon, I rather use Cristhian Jeovani. Gosh! he doesn’t answer.

Skeptic mother

See, Cristhian Jeovani is más bonito (prettier) and sounds better too.

Backpacker girl

Okay mami… Jhon Daniel just answered and he said that he couldn’t respond his phone before because he got the job at the new pizza stand on the drive thru of Pollo Campero.

Skeptic mother

Va pues, at least he’s good enough to get a job!

What is your reading of the photograph above? What sort of story can you invent for the scene above?

Here is a vertical shot of a biker doing a jump in the atrium of the Jocotenango church. Jocotenago is one of the communities very near La Antigua Guatemala. Jocotenango is so close to La Antigua that you might walk and cross over the municipal borders without realizing it. Jocotenango and Ciudad Vieja are the two municipios (counties) where most of the antigüeños moved after they sold their houses in La Antigua Guatemala. Some antigüeños sold their house under pressure from buyers and because the incredible prices buyers were willing to pay. Ciudad Vieja and Jocotenango is where most of the workers of La Antigua Guatemala businesses live. Jocotenango and Ciudad Vieja are ‘REAL’ Guatemalan communities, unlike La Antigua Guatemala. Soon I will post an entry with the following title: La Antigua Guatemala is not Guatemala (which I’ve been saving for a long while now). Stay tune!