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Fortunately, La Antigua Guatemala is still mostly a pedestrian town, but it gets its share of vehicular traffic and before it gets completely out of control, the new municipal administration is taking steps to put some order in the streets.

On the same topic of vehicles and traffic, pretty soon, perhaps in February, the Municipality of La Antigua Guatemala will begin charging an entrance fee or parking fee to all non-residents of La Antigua Guatemala. Also, no huge trucks will be allowed within or pass through the colonial town. The City Council says some of this money will be used to maintain the streets clean and in perfect shape. Let’s hope they follow up on their word.

Every year, On January 15th, thousands of pilgrims from Guatemala, the United States, Europe and other Central American countries flock to pay homage to the dark wooden image of the crucified Christ, the most revered Catholic shrine in Esquipulas, the spiritual center of Central America. The image of the Black Christ dates back to March 9, 1595, when the Portuguese sculptor Quirio Cataño presented it to the mayor of the city. (source: Wikipediag.org)

It seems like La Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala (The Very Noble and Very Loyal City of Saint James of the Knights of Guatemala), now known simply as La Antigua Guatemala, has always been at the epicenter of past events in Central America. So, it turns out that the Portuguese sculptor Quirio Cataño was living in Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala when he was commissioned the sculpture of the crucified Christ for the shrine of Esquipulas, which is located in the Guatemalan Department of Chiquimula on the border with Honduras and he was finished on October 4th of 1594 the people from Esquipulas traveled to La Antigua Guatemala to pick up the figure and during the trip back to Esquipulas, those who saw the sculpture were enchanted by its beauty and requested to have the crucified Christ image at least a day; finally arriving in Esquipulas on March 9, 1595. That’s how the pilgrimage began to pay homage to the Black Christ of Esquipulas. Below you can read the actual contract between Cristóbal de Morales, the donor, and Quirio Cataño, the sculptor.

En la Ciudad de Santiago de Guatemala, a los veintinueve dí­as del mes de agosto del año mil quinientos noventa y cuatro, Cristóbal de Morales, Provisor de este Obispado, concertó con Quirio Cataño, oficial de escultor, que haga para el Pueblo de Esquipulas un Crucifijo de vara y media, muy bien acabado y perfeccionado, que lo debe dar acabado el dí­a de San Francisco, primero que viene, y se han de dar por él cien tostones de cuatro reales de plata cada uno; y para en cuenta de los dichos cien tostones confesó haber recibido adelantados cincuenta tostones de los cuales recibió realmente y el se obligó a cumplirlo, y para ello obligó su persona y bienes y lo firmó de su nombre y el dicho Provisor.

—Cristóbal de Morales – Quirio Cataño.
(source: Cristo Negro de Esquipulas/Wikipedia ES)

Who wants to have a chance at translating the above contract?

Okay, if you have followed the daily dispatches from La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo for a while, you would remember that back on November 10th, 2008 I reported on the entrance of Citibank to Guatemala, and Central America for the matter, since they bought two of the largest banking corporations in Central America: Banco Cuscatlán and Banco Uno.

Back then I also made some comments regarding the ugliness of the generic Citi logo signs posted on the two branches of the Citibank. I guess the high ranking management heard our cries (yeah right!) and they ordered a new set of signs made from wood. I had suggested ceramic tiles or metal for the signs, but I guess wood works just as good.

Now if they could only have regular banking hours like the rest, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., we will be in business. Let’s hope the top management of Citibank pays us a visit again and listens to our suggestion. Oh, you may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one…

It means hurried fashion or fashion dispatch. I like the sound of that. —Martin Gore, Depeche Mode

Every once in a while you reach certain marks in your life and in your projects and they serve to mull over all the things accomplished thus far and to look into the future and plan for new things.

Well, I have reached this point and like this old fellow, I too will be doing some cleaning around here. I will be changing the theme we have been using almost since July 2006 and reorganizing things so they are easier to browse and to find stuff stashed in the archives. I will also try to go back to clean up all the horrible typos and mistakes in grammar and orthography. I may call on volunteers to help clean up the archives.

For the upcoming future I can offer a discussion forum where all of us will be able to dig deeper into some themes and subjects that I have treated lightly in daily flow. Also, I will be working in a new site to rescue and share all the Guatemalan recipes I come across. This new Guatemalan recipe website will be bilingual and everyone will be welcome to participate and share. Once again, I will need your support and feedback.

For now, let the old man sweep the park with his all-natural broom. ¡Buenas noches y buena suerte!

Today’s entry marks the 1000 consecutive daily pages of La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo. And I thought I wasn’t going to last 30 days!

Pacayas, known as date palms in English, are an staple of the Guatemalan cuisine. Pacayas can be found pickled, like in the fiambre salad, charbroiled, boiled, and most often covered with egg batter (envuelta en huevo) and bathe with tomato sauce.

Boy, now that I think about it I could quite possibly do an entire series of Guatemalan foods envueltas en huevo (covered with egg batter). If I did such a series, I would begin with Guatemalan chilaquiles, which are totally different than Mexican chilaquiles.

Who would like me to do such a series on comidas envueltas en huevo?

Pacayas are also known as Tepejilote palms and Chamaedoreas. Below a text that explains how to grow them in the United States:

One of the taller Chamaedoreas, cultivated as a crop for its male inflorescences (pacaya). Pacaya is a popular and important vegetable, eaten raw or cooked, and sold in the markets. It is harvested before the inflorescence opens, at which stage it looks like an ear of corn. It is mostly harvested from plants of C. tepejilote, which has been cultivated for centuries, especially in Guatemala. (… continue reading)

If you want to skip the planting, growing and harvesting part, you can find pacayas in the U.S. under several Guatemalan brands or under the Goya brand. Below a quick recipe to prepare pacayas with tomato sauce, thanks to the Goya web site:

Pacaya En Salsa De Tomate Con Sabor Goya

Ingredients

1 jar Goya Pacaya cut in squares
1/2 onion diced
3 garlic cloves diced
1/4 bunch cilantro/parsley
1 green Morrón pepper cut in squares
2 tomatoes chopped
1 jalapeño pepper chopped
2 bay leaves
2 tsp. Goya Tomato Paste
2 tsp. Goya Salsita Chile de árbol
2 cups Goya Tomato Juice
2 tbs. Goya Olive Oil
Goya Adobo to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. In a casserole, stir fry onion and garlic in oil on low heat. Mix well.
2. Add pacaya, Morrón pepper, tomato, cilantro, parsley, jalapeño pepper, bay leaves, tomato paste, Salsita, tomato juice and 2 cups of water.
3. Season with Goya Sazón Adobo, salt and pepper to taste.
4. Cover and simmer on low heat.
5. Once it is done, serve with Goya White Rice and enjoy!

Source: Goya web site

These also make Guatemalans hot!

In Guatemala there are at least two words you can use when referring to pickled foods: Escabeche and Curtido. Jalapeños en escabeche (pickled jalapeños) is a very popular delicacy from the Guatemalan cuisine which not only includes jalapeños chiles, but also, carrots, cauliflower, onions, cabbage, and often pacayas.

By the way, this much jalapeños en escabeche cost Q2 and included 4 jalapeños along all the other pickled vegetables.

Do you want to know more about the pacayas? Come back tomorrow for the complete follow-up including one or two recipes.

The first person that can name this Guatemalan dessert AND provide the recipe for its preparation through the comments will win a surprise photo package. Everyone is encouraged to participate.

Let’s see how long it takes for someone to come up with both answers.

Caldo de res (beef stock or stew) has to be among the most often eaten dishes in the Guatemalan cuisine. It is never absent from the Guatemalan daily menus of diners, fondas and restaurants. Like many Guatemalan caldos, it comes with carrots, corn on the cob, güisquil (chayote), ayote and chilacayote (squash), potatoes and beef. They usually serve caldo de res with rice, avocado and lemon slices. Caldo de res is often called “cocido” (cooked) in La Antigua Guatemala.

There have been 104 entries in the food and drink category thus far and I am sure I have not covered not even 30% of the meals in the Guatemalan kitchen. However, I do believe this Guatemalan food sampling is among the largest, if not the largest, available online. What do you think?

The sonajas or maracas take on a different name in Guatemala, they are called chinchines; an onomatopoeia (onomatopeya in Spanish). Generally, Guatemalan chinchines are found painted black with incisions made to expose the natural color with patterns similar to what you may find in textiles, but more recently chinchines can be found of all colors.

¡Viva el arcoiris!

If you have followed, for at least a while, the previous 995 daily pages, you might have come to realized that Guatemalans don’t like mellow neutral colors like beige or gray. On the contrary, the color palette found in all things Guatemalan is an intense and rich rainbow, with so many complementary and contrasting hues that anyone with a little background in plastic arts may find impossible to combine in a single piece. But leave it the Amerindian indigenous people of Guatemala to show you how.

Oh how I wish I could do the same!

Unlike other Spanish-speaking countries, Guatemala does not make a big deal of the arrival of the Tres Reyes Magos (Three Wise Kings) known as Epiphany in English; a Christian holiday celebrated on January 6th. Except, of course, for burning firecrackers and ringing bells of the churches right at noon, which seems to be Guatemalans’ favorite way of announcing or marking a holiday or event.

In Christian tradition the Magi (Greek: μάγοι, magoi), Three Wise Men, Three Kings or Kings from the East are said to have visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts. They are mentioned only in the Gospel of Matthew (Mt 2) , which says that they came “from the east to Jerusalem” to worship the Christ, “born King of the Jews”. (Source: Wikipedia.org)

In other Spanish-speaking countries, Christmas gifts and presents are given on Dí­a de los Reyes and not on Christmas Eve or even Christmas. In some countries, children receive presents on both occasions, but in Guatemala Christmas Eve is the designated date for children to receive their presents.

Also, for many people, Dí­a de los Reyes marks the end of the Christmas season, although around Antigua Guatemala, many people keep their Nacimientos and Christmas decorations until February 2nd, Dí­a de la Candelaria (Candlemas), which incidentally is Groundhog Day in the United States. The day after February 2nd the Christmas lights around Antigua’s Main Plaza will be pick up and put away.

Just like everything else in Guatemala, money is very colorful. I believe I could also do a series in Guatemalan currency. What do you guys think? Would you be interested in knowing a little bit of history and background information on the bills and coins from Guatemala?

Can you imagine a series on bills and coins? Now, imagine a series on bills and coins used by fincas and haciendas (farms and plantations)? Now that would be an extraordinary series on currency. Do you want me to?

About a month ago I reported that La Antigua Guatemala had become the first digital city in Central America, but I did not get a chance to try out the free public wifi zone available in Antigua’s Main Plaza until now.

Thanks to the iPod Touch I received as birthday present from my sisters, I walked into La Antigua Guatemala’s Plaza Mayor, also known simply as Parque Central, to verify the wireless public Internet access and its speed. I am happy to report that when the wifi zone works, its speed is very good: average 480 Kbits/s and Maximum speed of 692 Kbits/sec. A quick glance at the DNS servers from the wifi access points show the service is provided by Telgua, Guatemala’s telephone land lines monopoly.

I promise to a series about Guatemalan monopolies, if enough people request it.

Below you can see the screen captures taken with the iPod Touch.

Public WiFi Zone Speed

Public WiFi Zone Settings

Even while doing errands and chores around La Antigua Guatemala, you are given the opportunity to experience a post card moment. Life is good!

There are two volcanoes in the background, can you name them?

First wallpaper download for 2009 from La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo (LAGDP). You can browse the wallpaper category to get the other 23 Guatemalan wallpapers for your computer available from LAGDP.

Just two weeks ago I shared with you a photo red and yellow pascuas (poinsettias) and I mentioned that poinsettias were native to Guatemala and Mesoamerica. A few days after that, I came across an article in Prensa Libre entitled: Pascuas que cambian de colores (Poinsettias of different colors) in which I learned that, according to industry statistics, Guatemala is the top grower of poinsettias in the world. Guatemala produces 60 million poinsettias which represents 80% of the production in the world. How about that?

Other interesting reads about Poinsettias in Spanish/Google-translated.

• Pascuas y pinabetes, negocios de fin de año / Poinsettias and Pine trees, an end-of-the-year business
• Estrella de Nochebuena; pascua florece con la Navidad / Star of Christmas Eve, Poinsettias blossom with Christmas
• Pascuas que cambian de colores / Poinsettias of different colors