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Flor de Pascua, Flor de Noche Buena or simply Pascuas are how poinsettias are known in Guatemala. Poinsettias are native to Guatemala and Mesoamerica and in general can be found in the wild or in gardens as undocumented aliens. Poinsettias or Flor de Pascua are in full bloom in The Land of the Eternal Spring for the Christmas season. The most common color is red, but now you can find yellow, white, pink and mixed at your local nursery and shops. Pascuas are an integral part of the Guatemalan decoration for the Christmas season and beyond. They are also given as present quite often.

The chamomile rings are known as manzanilla in Guatemala (tejocotes in Mexican Spanish). The aroma of a Guatemalan Christmas decoration is provided mainly by the chamomile rings and the pine needles (used as carpets). Other scents around the Christmas season in Guatemala come off from the tamales, ponche (fruit punch) and hot authentic chocolate. The manzanilla rings sell for about Q5 each and they measure about 10 feet.

Pino is the name by which Guatemalans refer to the pine needles used as Christmas decorations, specifically, to spread around the floor and nacimientos. Pine needles and the chamomile rings provide the scent for a typical Guatemalan Navidad (Christmas).

Chicuyas is the name by which Guatemalans name the part of the pine tree, which I don’t its English name (can you help me with the English name for part of the pine tree). The pine tree provides many elements of the Christmas decorations for Guatemalans, like the pine needle that is spread on the floor as carpet. The pine needles provide an important aroma to the Christmas season in Guatemala.

Hey, it just occurred to me that Guatemalan Christmas Decorations could be a nice series. What do you think?

Sometimes in your way to work, you just have to stop, take a deep breath and sip from your cup of coffee from La Antigua Guatemala and enjoy the scenery around el Tanque de la Unión. Sometimes you just have to take all the wonderful light and color on the dry season in La Antigua Guatemala.

Wouldn’t you?

PHOTO DELIVERY UPDATE: If you order is in by next Tuesday night (Dec. 16), you can still receive your photos by December 24th.

Okay, here are the new Guatemalan Spanish words of the day: Churros, Poporopos, Plataninas, Papalinas.

Churros: A churreria is the place where they make churros; [CHOOR-roh] Similiar to a cruller, this Spanish, Mexican and Guatemalan specialty consists of a sweet-dough spiral that is deep-fried and eaten like a doughnut. Churros are usually coated with a mixture of cinnamon and confectioners’ (or granulated) sugar (source Answers.com).

Poporopos: This is the Guatemalan Spanish for pop corn. Most other Spanish-speaking countries use palomitas. I believe Guatemala is the only country that uses the word poporopos.

Plataninas: Basically, plataninas are green platano/plantains chips. Plantains are like bananas, but much bigger and with a unique flavor. Guatemalans eat platanos in many forms, like plataninas, rellenitos, fritos (fried), atol de platano, chairbroiled and baked; just to name a few.

Papalinas: This is the Guatemalan Spanish word for potato chips. Like poporopos, I don’t think papalinas is used in any other Spanish-speaking country.

It just occurred to me that the United States is one of the largest Spanish-speaking countries since it has one of the largest populations of Spanish speakers. Spanish has been spoken in the U.S. from a time before its independence. And at the rate at which the Spanish-speaking population grows, faster than any other, you may have to hablar español sooner or después. Remember that you can always come to La Antigua Guatemala to take Spanish classes in the more than 65 Spanish Schools available in this tiny colonial town.

Por favor dejar sus comentarios y preguntas abajo; hay mucho espacio abajo y esta bitácora digital es ecológicamente verde, panza verde verde pues.

So after the Burning of the Devil is over and the set up of the Nacimientos has already began, we can assume the Christmas season will be in full steam and that means the Guatemalan fairs will mushroom onto the main squares of every town and city.

In the picture above, we cought a glimpse at the final touches of a fair stand. If you blink again there will be a dozen more stalls and if you blink a third time you are going to wonder where all these people come from.

I am playing with the rojos, as always, so you play the cremas.

If there are more people willing to play, we can form teams… don’t worry I will pay for all the games, no matter how many matches we all play. I am feeling a little kindhearted lately.

If you want to play, please sign up in the comments area. Also, if you want to explain the importance of los rojos and los cremas to everyone else, please feel free to do so. The ball is on your court.

The official date for the commencement of the Christmas season in Guatemala is December 8th, although many malls and commercial centers, imitating the businesses from up north, begin decorating for Christmas right after Independence Day, celebrated in Guatemala on September 15th.

With the Feast for the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th, people begin putting up their Nacimientos (Nativity Scenes); a tradition that was brought to Guatemala by Santo Hermano Pedro de Betancourt and then spread to the rest of America (the continent).

One important aspect of nacimientos is that baby Jesus is missing from the scene since his actual birthday is on December 25th. In the mean time, the quest of shelter by Marí­a and José begins; these celebrations are known in Guatemala as Posadas.

Hello, hello, hello.
Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me.
Is there anyone at home? … just follow the white rabbit

Okay, let me break the bad news to you guys. The Burning of the Devil tradition in Guatemala is disappearing. Even though, I read a couple articles about La quema del diablo (Burning of the Devil) in the national newspapers, when I finally decided to go out to the streets to photograph the celebration, I could not find anything bigger than small fogatas (bon fires). I even asked around to the people in the community and they told me it was not celebrated like it used to by the gone-by elders.

Even Iván Mendoza who goes by the nickname of Diciembre7 and uses a burning devil as an avatar twitted about the disappearance:

la quema del diablo es una tradición, no la podes quitar de la noche a la mañana, aunque en los últimos 5 años casi desaparecio…

The burning of the devil is a tradition, you can not do without over night, although in the past 5 years it almost disappeared.

I guess that La Antigua Guatemala remains as one of the few places where you can meet with hundreds of people willing to Burn the Devil and the bad spirits in cleansing ceremony through purifying power of fire. The idea of the La quema del diablo celebration was to get rid of the devil, the bad spirits, the bad vibes and anything negative that may interfere with the celebrations of Nacimientos (Nativity Scenes), Posadas (Quest for Shelter [Español/English verses]) and Christmas celebration which begin officially with the Feast for the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th.

Would you like to be the proud owner of this chicken bus junk yard? I take only serious offers…

Tomorrow, December 7th, Guatemalans will be celebrating the Burning of Devil. Stay tune for coverage of the event.

A quick trip to the handicrafts market provides a handful of colorful images like the one above. Stay tune for upcoming photos from the folk art market and nacimientos.

If you come to this web site looking for artistic or touristic photographs from Guatemala, you’ve come in vein because here you can only find “everyday images” from La Antigua Guatemala. Today’s image is no exception.

As a matter of fact, I captured the golden kitten petting his best friend, the chucho, while out buying tortillas for lunch as in Guatemala you buy freshly made tortillas for every meal, for los tres tiempos pues. So there I was, walking the three or four blocks to the tortillerí­a where Manolo took his tortilla-making lessons and half way there I found this everyday image. I am glad I make a conscious effort to ALWAYS carry the camera with me so I can catch as many ordinary-daily-life pictures as possible.

Today’s photo is not as good as the one shown in Partners in Adversity, but good enough to show the affection between two best friends.

Have you shown your affection to your friends and family lately? Today’s as good a time as any…

Season’s Special Photo Offers

$50 for twenty five (25) 4″x6″ printed on matte
$100 for ten (10) 8″x10″ printed on matte
$200 for ten (10) 11″x14″ printed on matte

These prices represent over 60% discount over the normal princes . This special offer will be over on Dí­a de Reyes (Jan. 6th); so don’t miss it.

The above sign about ZONA WIFI (wifi zone) now on display on the four corners of the Plaza Mayor (Main Plaza) of La Antigua Guatemala is an initiative from local Municipalidad (City Hall) to provide FREE Internet wireless access; that’s what zona wifi really mean.

As far as I know, with this FREE wifi zone around Central Park, La Antigua Guatemala becomes the first city/town and municipality to provide free wireless Internet access in Guatemala. There are many private WIFI zones in Guatemala, especially in restaurants and bars, but this initiative would be the first of its kind for a local government in Guatemala.

As matter of fact, the importance and relevance of this Zona Wifi is of such magnitude that a press release at the Municipalidad de La Antigua Guatemala web site states the following:

El departamento de Informatica informa: Impulsando la Primera Ciudad digital en Centro America, Internet GRATIS en el parque central de Antigua Guatemala

The department of information technology (IT) informs: La Antigua Guatemala becomes the FIRST digital city in Central America with free Internet [wireless] access in around the Central Park of La Antigua Guatemala.

I congratulate Dr. Adolfo Vivar, Mayor of La Antigua Guatemala, and the City Council government for taking the giant step!

I will take some time next week to highlight some the major and innovative programs sponsored by Dr. Vivar and the Municipalidad of La Antigua Guatemala.

What’s your opinion regarding the free internet access around Antigua’s Central Park?

Given the main ingredients above, can you name the Guatemalan sauce that will be prepared?

Happy Birthday Chata! (I-heart-U).