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Surely, Antigüeños have a lot of tolerance for all the different kind of visitors they welcome into La Antigua Guatemala. Present-day “real” hippies are seen often strolling around town.
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ACT 1:
So there I was, consumed by own thoughts, after having had a few moments at the Benches at the Museo del Libro Antiguo pondering the big tough questions in life, walking back to the office and I glanced over to my right and saw the wonderful light bathing the La Antigua Guatemala Cathedral (oh, life is beautiful and full of these tiny moments, I said to myself). A few more steps and I immediately saw a photo opportunity as there was a Guatemalan military chicken bus parked right in front of the Cathedral. See exhibit 1 below (first photo from the left).
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There is a “real” story of discrimination, arrogance and patronizing behind today’s photo.

If at least ten (10) people request it, I will tell you the story tomorrow.

Why do creators always look down upon their creations?

Ranchero music is for Latin America what the Blues is for the U.S.: music with just enough texture and color to express a wide range of emotions. Above, we can catch a glimpse of the ranchero music violinist in a break from the cantinas tour around La Antigua Guatemala.

What kind of story can you extract from this old man’s stare?
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Sometimes silence is louder than thunder! That was the case this past Saturday at the inauguration of the exhibit “Los Desaparecidos” (The Disappeared) where the Guatemalan Social Democrat government opted for the silence. We hear you load and clear, alright.

It seems like ordinary ants do not like the idea of a giant sompopo queen ant moving into the neighborhood.

Even though the Guatemalan winged sompopo ant appears every year in May, on average most Guatemalans know very little about them (myself included). So, I decided to ask around to the people who have a little knowledge about the sompopos; their answers are very enlightening and myth busters.

Are you ready to drop your jaw and say, “ah… I did not know that”?

Myth #1: May’s Sompopos Ants are males
No. May’s Sompopos, the winged kind you see in the picture above, are actually queen sompopo ants and they come out and fly away from the ground to fund new sompopo colonies.

Myth #2: May’s Sompopos Ants fall from the sky
No. They actually come out the ground and because these are queens; they need to find new fertile territories to build new sompopo colonies. In nature wisdom, these sompopo queens were provided with wings so they can fly as far away as possible.

Myth #3: Sompopos Ants are only available in May
No. Sompopo ants are actually available throughout the year. Sompopo ants are 4 to 5 times bigger than ordinary ants. Sompopo ants are red and devilish furious. Sompopo ants do not have wings. Sompopo ants are smaller in size than the “Sompopo queen ants” which have wings and come out in May to build new colonies. The sompopo queens are known as “sompopos de mayo” while the sompopo ants are just called “sompopos comunes” (ordinary sompopo ants). Sompopos are hormigas (ants). May’s sompopo queens are only seen in May; thus their name (duh!). They remained underground the rest of the year, as any good ant queen should do.

Fact #1: May’s Sompopos Ants are edible
Yes, May’s sompopo queens are collected by some Guatemalans who remove the belly bottom and roast them on a comal (baked clay griddle), add salt and lime juice. Those who have tried them say that sompopos taste like butter or chicharrones (pork rinds).

Actually, May’s Sompopo Queen Ants could be considered the “Mayan Caviar” since the part removed from them is loaded with ants eggs. In other words, the belly bottom of the sompopo queen ant is the equivalent of the roe of fish.

Fact #2: May’s Sompopos Ants are used in fights
Yes, May’s sompopo queens are collected by some Guatemalans kids and taken to school to fight other sompopo ants. Since these sompopo ants are queens in search of new dwellings to build their own colonies, they are highly ferocious and territorial. Kids are ignorant of the sompopo ants processes and life cycles and thus they use them as fighters; similar to cockfights.

Fact #3: May’s Sompopos Ants are disappearing
Yes, May’s sompopo queens are disappearing and are completely non-existant in many parts of Guatemala that used to have them not too long ago. The less May’s sompopo queens you see, the less colonies they will build. If the sompopo ant disappears, who knows what the ecological catastrophe this will ensue.

Please, if you have any other myths, facts or anecdotes to share with the rest of us, feel free to add them to the comments.

LAGDP’s Entry Published by elPeriódico Side Note: As it turns out, thanks to Michelle Garzaro, editor of elPeriódico‘s Sunday supplement miPeriódico, today’s entry was translated into Spanish and published on Sunday, June 1st, 2008. I leave you the newspaper’s clip below, in case you want to read or see it. Like always, you click the thumbnail to view an enlarge version. elPeriódico is one of my favorite Guatemalan newspapers.

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Enough about pondering the big questions!

Sompopos are now here and thus we are now “officially” in the rainy season.

Sompopos arrived on Thursday 22nd, May 2008 which was also the celebration of Corpus Christi in La Antigua Guatemala. In Guatemala, May 22nd is also Dí­a del arbol (Tree Day) which could be a very good excuse to watch The Fountain; a film by Darren Aronofsky.
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I think I should find a quiet and tranquil place to seat down and ponder these tough questions:

What is art and what is handicraft?

Am I the oppressor, the oppressed or both?

Why is Cubism not folk-art?

Does a painting become a handicraft if it is exhibited in restaurant and does a handicraft become art if it is exhibited in a museum?

When will sompopos de mayo arrive?

What makes art art and what makes everything else handicrafts or folk-art?

In Spanish art is arte and handicrafts are artesaní­as; kind of like little arts. I wonder why artesaní­as is the name given to the stuff created by the indigenous people of Guatemala… I wonder. Can anybody help me understand why?

Ah, look at all the lovely colors
Ah, look at all the lovely colors
Where do they all come from?
Where do they all belong?

Guatemalan textiles is all the proof that you need that there’s harmony in chaos; don’t you think?

In my opinion, it was a nice gesture to let handicrafts into the hallways of the Museo del Libro Antiguo (Old Book Museum) through the month of May. The handicrafts add some vibrant colors to the otherwise muted color palette of the museum.

I have some more shots from this encounter… would you like to see them?

If you are in Guatemala this weekend, you can visit all public and most private museums for free. May 18th is the International Museums Day and what better way to to celebrate these wonderful institutions that with free entrance to today’s special activities. Don’t let this opportunity go by, especially if you are a tourist, to visit all the museums you can in a day. You can hopscotch among all the different museums around La Antigua Guatemala and Guatemala City.

Today can also be a day for the soul and heart and since we already mentioned the word hopscotch, might as well build upon it. How can one pamper one’s heart and soul with hopscotch, you ask? Well, hopscotch is the English translation for Rayuela, one of the most important novels published in the last century (1963), written by Julio Cortázar. Rayuela (Hopscotch) was published at the beginning of the 1960s and was a revolutionary work of literature for a revolutionary decade. Rayuela was also one of the most influential novels in Latin America. No better music than jazz to accompany the reading of Rayuela, and if you can get yourself a copy of Jazzuela, the music described in Rayuela. From Jazzuela is easy to move to Miles Electric: A Different Kind of Blues, and then to The Soul of a Man from Wim Wenders which could easily takes us to “Vietnam Blues” of J.B Lenoir. Ah… life is good in La Antigua Guatemala!

A weekend of hopscotching museums, Rayuela, Jazzuela, Miles Davis, The Soul of a Man and J.B. Lenoir are a sure way to leave your heart and soul very blissful. That’s my humble opinion; what do you think?