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The easiest way to get authentic traditional Guatemalan cuisine is to get a daily menu special at your local diner. For instance, this meal known as Pepián, quite possibly Guatemala’s National Dish, was part of the daily menu special which included a fresco, drink made from blended natural fruits, sugar and water (more watery than a licuado), rice and tortillas, all for Q25. This meal can be had at Comedor Tí­pico Antigüeño, right on Alameda Santa Lucí­a, right across from the Municipal Market of La Antigua Guatemala.

Could somebody share the recipe for Pepián with the rest of us? Thanks!

Lucky me that I learned to have new aesthetic values for things antique and old. Lucky me that I find beautiful and unusual things on my strolls around La Antigua Guatemala. Lucky me!

To appreciate an old colonial town like La Antigua Guatemala you need a new set of aesthetic values. See the beauty of many things in Antigua reside in their many imperfections; sometimes they are made to look like that. For instance, forged metal railings are hammered while red hot to to lose their perfect round or square shapes. New houses are built to look old and used. The same applies to brand-new furniture. The natural paints used on the façades of houses peels almost yearly and new coat are put on the old and after so many years you get really awesome looking textures. Besides, many things are still made completely by hand, thus it is impossible to get two items to look the same; quite the opposite to modern assembly and manufacturing lines where item one millionth looks exactly the same as any of the previous items. People actually appreciate the very old, antique and used-looking, with a few imperfections; the older the better. The harmony of all these elements, used, old, antique, imperfect, rusted, unfinished, peeled makes up the magic of La Antigua Guatemala.

Almost a year ago I said that La Antigua Guatemala is the Wedding Capital of Guatemala. Later on, my good friend Daniel Chang, Professional Wedding Photographer, mentioned to me the term Wedding Destination. I think he’s right, La Antigua Guatemala makes a wonderful wedding destination and that’s why often, very often, you see couples, locals and foreigners, getting married in one of the churches.

This is what I said last year on November 24th:

La Antigua Guatemala is the most often used backdrop in Guatemala for… you name it. Anything from films, concerts, paintings, photos, festivals, religious rituals, and why not, weddings too. Actually, La Antigua Guatemala is used often as the backdrop for weddings not only of Guatemalans, but for many foreigners as well.

Now if you really want to see what a wedding in La Antigua Guatemala does look like in the hands of a professional photographer, check out the recent photo shoot of Hallie & Steve… Destination Wedding in Guatemala by Daniel Chang, good friend of mine. Daniel Chang even made a slide show of the wedding with music and all; a must see if you want to check out the work of a Pro.

Thanksgiving Day is not a tradition from La Antigua Guatemala or even from Guatemala or Central America for the matter since at the time the traditional “first Thanksgiving” is venerated as having occurred at the site of Plymouth Plantation, in 1621, La Antigua Guatemala had already celebrated its 78 anniversary as the third capital of the Spanish colony of Guatemala, a large region that included almost all of present-day Central America and the southernmost State of Mexico: Chiapas. In 1566 King Felipe II of Spain gave it the title of “Muy Noble y Muy Leal” (“Very Noble and Very Loyal”).

Nevertheless, Thanksgiving Day or Dí­a de Acción de Gracias as it is known in Spanish this harvest festival is observed and celebrated by the large expat community living La Antigua Guatemala. So if you’re in town today, there will be many places where you can have a turkey dinner. Bon Appetite!

For those living in the U.S., my very best wishes for a Thanksgiving Day with the family and friends full of reasons to express gratitude.

Whenever you come across people riding horses or donkeys over the cobblestone streets of La Antigua Guatemala you feel like you are for real in the 16th and 17th Centuries.

It is not unusual to come across people riding horses, carriages, bicycles, motorcycles, automobiles, trucks, chicken buses and semis all within a few moments.

The reality is not that you do time-travel when you visit La Antigua Guatemala, but rather you travel to a place where different times, eras and centuries co-exist at the same time. That’s the only way to explain the horses and donkeys, the old church ruins, the wireless internet access, the G3 cellular networks, the satellite direct tv, the ATMs, the electronic banking from home, et-cetera.

Central Park and the streets nearby were militarized for about 10 hours, beginning around 5 a.m. because El Señor Presidente of Guatemala decided to have a meeting with the municipality majors of Sacatepéquez (that’s the name of Departamento or State to which La Antigua Guatemala is the capital).

As I walked into Central Park I was amazed by the large numbers of police men, secret service agents, army, tourist police, motorcycle police and bodyguards around Central Park. I have never seen so many armed forces in La Antigua Guatemala. As began to inquire why there were so many army and police agents, I was told that El Señor Presidente was having a meeting inside the Municipalidad (City Hall). Some local police men shared with me that they wish the general population receive a fraction of this security.

My pure chance I was there when motorcades were about to leave the area and just then I realized that the vice-president and Marlene Blanco, Director of the National Police, were also present. Marlene Blanco is the first woman ever to head the National Civil Police; that the equivalent of the Federal Police or FBI in other countries.

Glancing a note at elPeriodico newspaper, I found out the meeting was about the security in the 16 municipalities in which the Departamento of Sacatepéquez is divided and that’s why the Director of the National Police was present. On unrelated note, Prensa Libre newspaper reported that Guatemala is the fourth most violent country in Latin America with a homicide rate of 28,5 per 100 thousand people. I don’t know the homicides rates for other countries, but for sure Guatemala is trying to win the first position.

Can you share with us the homicide rate for the country you live in?

It seems like Claudia and I are synching our thoughts lately. She makes a comment regarding her nostalgia and memories and I am photographing something similar almost at the same time.

For instance, in her last comment, Claudia she was bringing back some long lost memories from her dear Guatemala, in her own words, “No helmets, no amber alerts, no Wiis, just a plastic ball or if lucky a real soccer ball…” Last night, in my way back home, I stopped, for a few moments, to take a few shots of football game at the local school basketball court. Many neighbors sat on the sidelines talking and watching the game. The thoughts the crossed my mind while taking the photos were in synch with Claudia’s latest comment, “… I feel one component that I loved of living down there was that you knew everyone and everyone knew you, or of you, do you know what I mean? You spoke to your neighbors, you knew their names, where they worked, etc. Heck, you could even have refaccion together, at night you could hang. . have some decent conversation about everything and nothing…”

Although things have changed a bit from the old and romantic Guatemala that Claudia is nostalgic about, much have not changed. For instance, I live in small colonia (barrio or neighborhood) of about 100 homes and despite the fact that my wife and I try to keep to ourselves as much as possible, we do know and talked to our neighbors, know their names and what they do for living. Often we give each other rides back into La Antigua Guatemala and together with other neighbors had sent the chucha de la colonial (the neighborhood’s pet dog) to be neutered. Less than two hundred feet from our home there are several pavilions where some neighbors get together on the weekends for the chuparrasco, chupa (drinking) rrasco is short for churrasco or barbecuing. Chuparrasco is the Guatemalan informal colloquialism for a social gathering to drink and eat, especially charbroiled meats.

After you have lived a for a while in La Antigua Guatemala, it is impossible to walk a few blocks without being greeted, waved goodbyes, or fully stopped to chat for a few moments. That’s right fellas, people still chat offline in La Antigua Guatemala. What do you think about that?

After MO confirmed the spelling for Misperos which Nadia had used in reference to this yellow fruit known in the English language as naseberry or sapodilla, I became curious and next time I went to the market I asked a few people selling it. Many of the m/nispero vendors used the word mispero, but they had no problem understanding the word nispero. So it seems like the prefered spelling/pronunciation in Guatemala goes with initial m.

Two close spellings and/or pronunciation for the same item happens quite often between Guatemalan Spanish and other flavors of Spanish, especially Mexican Spanish. Another good example of this situation is the Spanish words for coriander in which most people in the Spanish-speaking world use “cilantro”, but in Guatemala some people still use “culantro”. I grew up hearing the latter and I had to learn to use the word cilantro later on while living abroad. I am happy to report that both words are in use now in Guatemala.

What other examples do you have of close spellings for the same words between Guatemalan Spanish and international Spanish?

Many Guatemalan families take advantage of the peaceful and tranquil atmosphere surrounding the church, convent and monastery ruins around La Antigua Guatemala to spend some quality time with the family. The best things in life are free or nearly free as Claudia said it, “… simple times, simple pleasures, family, friends, nature… ” feel her heart with nostalgia.

Don’t get me wrong, you need money to live or to try to survive in Guatemala, as in the rest of the world, but in general, it seems that people in Guatemala live happier lives, with much less money and amenities than people in the U.S.A.; that’s my slight appreciation of two societies I have been lucky to live in most of my life.

What’s your opinion or what have you observed in your trips to the land of the eternal Spring?

The already narrow sidewalks of La Antigua Guatemala get even narrower with benches that literally grow out of the walls. Even though I have said a couple times that Antigua is a wonderful town to stroll with the family, with friends or alone, still, one must be careful with the colonial drain spouts or the colonial houses that drain onto the sidewalks, the unevenness of the sidewalks, the window’s sills and now with the benches as well.

What do you think of this kind of bench? Would you use it if you were walking around Antigua?

This is the follow-up photo as requested by Matt and MO. Don’t you ever say I don’t cater to your wishes and obsessions.

… And I said to myself, what a wonderful world…

Ayudante is title for the guy in the orange shirt. El ayudante, the helper or assistant has in reality many jobs and a meager salary. For starters he’s primary job is to help the chicken bus pilot; that’s where he takes his title. But he is also the fare collector, the usher, the carrier, the loudmouth yeller, the bus washer, the gofer and the list never ends…

The front cover of Prensa Libre this past Sunday had this title as the main header: Transporte Mortal (Mortal Public Transit) and them the following subtitle: Every 8 minutes a bus gets robbed, a crisis that has left 107 dead pilot just this year. Below the entire paragraph in Spanish for those who can read Spanish. Here’s the Google-translated article.

Cada ocho minutos un autobús es asaltado o sus pilotos son extorsionados en Guatemala, lo que hace un total de 200 al dí­a, según los empresarios del transporte urbano. Pero esta práctica ha tenido consecuencias aún más nefastas para el paí­s: 107 pilotos asesinados, casi medio centenar de familias enlutadas por extorsionistas —que muchas veces tienen cara de niño—, y más de millón y medio de usuarios afectados a punto de quedarse sin medios para trasladarse a sus lugares de trabajo. (continue reading…)

Sometimes things are so obvious that one doesn’t mull over them; that’s the way things are and you accept it.

While taking the shot of this basket with the day’s groceries bought at the market, a simple fact became crystal clear. I thought well this basket looks kind of heavy, I am glad to know that the owner only had to walk a few steps from the market to the chicken bus terminal. And just like that I came to realized why the chicken bus terminals are always located adjacent to the markets in Guatemala; La Antigua Guatemala being no exception.

That’s what I call a “Duh moment”. I am afraid to say I have many duh moments as I rediscover the culture of Guatemala through the lens of the camera.

Spanish word of the day: Canasta is the Spanish word for basket. I am glad to report that most canastas used for groceries or for carrying the heavy pots with atoles are still made from natural fibers.

The world infamous chicken bus reinvents itself again. The chicken bus that was born out of a retired school bus from our neighbors from up north; a second life or recycling ( whatever you want to call it); transformed itself into a mass public transit bus for the rural areas of Guatemala.

Well, the chicken bus now sports a brand new dvd player to entertain the passengers while they are squeezed into space originally designed for two children that now fits three large adults. At least, we can watch music videos between paradas (bus stops) as long as we are not riding parados (standing up).