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Details, details, details.

Oh boy, here are those ugly power lines again. But wait, what’s in the background? Sure enough, now everywhere you look in and around Antigua Guatemala, you find yourself with antennas.

It feels like there’s a race to turn La Antigua Guatemala into the first full wireless city in Latin America. The Antigua Guatemala local government is now installing security webcams throughout the city to keep a better control on its citizens, oops, I meant to say on the criminals.

On the flip side, the total wireless plan also includes Internet wireless access for everyone within city limits. Oh, I hope they don’t forget about the less fortunate Guatemalans who live in the villages around Antigua; in other words, Antigua’s workforce.

Details, details, details.

There are so many different street lamps or faroles, as they are known in Spanish, in La Antigua Guatemala that if I run a different one each day, it would take so many months to show all the different kinds.

Now, can you tell me what’s inside the lamp or in its reflection?

Detalles, details, detalles.

Take a corner window, add a forged iron crate and a few plants and you have transformed a boring window into something beautiful. Well, at least that’s my opinion; what’s yours?

pushwigh#@%&?¿… blip! Alert, alert, we break from our regular programing Details, details, details to bring you this important news update.

From early in the morning, around 8 a.m., there were sightings of hundreds, no, make it thousands of people with dark markings in their foreheads. The first sightings were reported near the church of San Francisco El Grande, right after the mass service, but by 9 o’clock in the morning, reports were coming in from all over Antigua Guatemala.

People driving their cars were seen with this strange dark mark in their foreheads. Soon students, children, elderly people, workers, everywhere you looked there were these markings. There were gatherings of tourists to discuss what in the world could be the cause of the markings considering that people continue their lives like usual, like if they were not aware of the marks in their foreheads, which, believe me, were pretty obvious.

By noon, even tourists visiting the Top City of Antigua Guatemala were experiencing these marks that looked like crosses drawn very hastily. There were even reports in Twitter from Antigua Guatemala’s wireless internet cloud at Central Park. Like a pandemic, by late afternoon, the twit reports were coming in from all over the world turning the news into a Twitter trend; with updates every few seconds.

Finally, an unspecified number of adventurous travelers found the courage to approach some of the marked foreheads and asked the people the bore them why in the worlds everything seemed to continue as business as usual even though there were very obvious marks in their heads. The response came in with a wonderful smile and the marked people informed the unaware tourists that today was Ash Wednesday, which was observed by going to mass and by having their foreheads painted with an ash cross. They also said that Ash Wednesday was the beginning of Lent, the 40-day penitent period before the Holy Week.

Please, send in your reports from your part of the world and share with us your impressions regarding this fairly unknown Catholic ritual.

Details, details, details.

I also believe that, some times, details are like opportunities: you blink and they are gone. So you always have to be on the look out for those ephemeral details as well as for those fleeting photo opportunities.

Details, details, details.

I believe beauty manifests itself in the details. Correct me if I am wrong!

Details, details, details.

Gustave Flaubert believed that God was in the details. Other people believe the devil hides in the details. What do you think?

Details, details, details.

Often you find little windows on the doorways of the houses of La Antigua Guatemala and most often they are protected with a window crate. I was lucky to capture this wonderful metal crate at the Doña Marí­a Gordillo candy store.

Okay, here’s something sweet to end the work week. I came across this blackberry dessert at La Casa de las Mixtas; one of favorite hangouts for lunch lately. According to the owner they do similar desserts with strawberries, pineapples and other berries. Below you get the basic recipe as told by the owner of the restaurant La Casa de las Mixtas, established in 1901.

Mora is the name for blackberry (correct me if I am wrong); no I am not referring to the BlackBerry wireless handheld device. Rather, I am talking about the aggregate fruit from a bramble bush, genus Rubus in the rose family Rosaceae.

The recipe for the blackberry dessert is so simple that even I can prepare it. Basically you have to liquify the blackberries with water and sugar; not too much water since you want to end up with watery paste. How much sugar it is up to you, but plenty to get the jelly consistency. Then you put this watery blackberry paste into a pot, along with cinnamon sticks and cloves and bring to a boil and then simmer down until you obtain a jelly consistency. That’s it, let it cool and refrigerate and you’re ready to serve your blackberry dessert. You can do the same thing with other berries, like strawberries and pineapples.

When was the last time you had moras?

Interesting enough, last year when I published the Guateflora series, I overlooked the jacaranda trees, which are omnipresent in and around Antigua Guatemala. Although, I did show you the Jacarandas at Antigua’s Central Park almost two years ago, on February 22nd, 2007.

Well, perhaps it is the fact that gorgeous pale violet colors of the jacarandas trees are more obvious in February, just in time for the beginning of the Lent season in which one starts to see doors and windows adorned with purple or violet bands. Purple is the official color of the Lent season; do you know why? Do a search in the archives for the answer.

Anyhow, as I took the shot of the group of young tourist walking around Antigua’s Main Plaza, I noticed the splendid pale violet color of the jacaranda tree framing the photo and I figured I ought to take a few shots for you to enjoy the delightful play of the violet color, branches, sunlight and sky. I am sure some the recent photos would look wonderful as 8×10 or 11×14 high quality prints in your office, cubicle, or at your workstation at home. Get your prints while to help you cope with winter season!

The winter weather in Antigua Guatemala has been wonderful: a little chilly, a little windy and a little warm, all in the same day; heck in the same hour sometimes. But, the winter weather in La Antigua Guatemala has been comfortable enough to entice strolling around town; especially around Antigua’s Central Park.

As you can see above, I was lucky enough to capture a group of young tourists as they listen to the guide explain and put in context the wonderful things filling their young eyes.

Of course, you know that you can always check the weather conditions, in real time, of Antigua Guatemala if you scroll down a little to almost the end of the second side bar.

On the same side bar, you will find the Premium sponsors of La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo. Please, if you get a chance, go check them out and if you can, please use their services next time you come to La Antigua Guatemala. The premium sponsors are making it possible for me to continue providing and maintaining the daily updates. Also, thanks to their support, next week I will start using a better camera so I can bring you even better photos. So, please, go check their services as soon as you can and please let them know you learnt about them in La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo.

According to the statistics only 67% of the population has Internet access in Guatemala (source somewhere in elperiodico.com.gt or prensalibre.com.gt), but by 2012 the stats will be close to 90% of the population with access to Internet. These figures sound a little off or highly inflated for a country like Guatemala where the majority of the population does not have a computer.

Well, does true and perhaps these numbers are a little optimistic, but you can explain these figures if you focus in the word access. Most of the Guatemalan population does not have Internet access at home, but certainly Guatemalans get their access through work, restaurants with wifi networks, public wifi areas, cellular telephones and Internet cafes, like the one shown above.

According to a study by the Unión Internacional de Comunicaciones, from 2002 through 2007 the number of Internet users went from 400,000 to over one million and it was expected to increase to over 2.5 million in the following to years (source Prensa Libre: Se duplica número de cibernautas).

La extrema pobreza es casi sinónimo de extremo aislamiento, especialmente aislamiento rural. Pero los teléfonos celulares y la internet inalámbrica ponen fin al aislamiento y, por lo tanto, terminarán siendo la tecnologí­a más transformadora del desarrollo económico de nuestro tiempo.

Extreme poverty is almost synonym of extreme isolation, especially in the rural areas. But cellular telephones and wireless Internet access finally put an end to isolation and, therefore, these will end up being the transforming technologies of economic development of our times. (source elPeriódico: La guerra digital contra la pobreza)

No wonder there are close to 7 million cellular lines compare to half million telephone line lines. Now, it seems like everybody has a cellular telephone, from the shoeshine boy to el señor presidente. Now the race is on to bring 3G Wireless Internet Access to the rest of the country; Tigo has a head start, but Telgua and Telefónica are closing in and best of all the service is getting faster and cheaper.

Guatemala constituye, en opinión de expertos, uno de los paí­ses más adelantados del Istmo centroamericano en cuanto a penetración de Internet inalámbrico.

Guatemala is, in the opinion of experts, one of the most advance countries of the Central American Isthmus in terms of wireless Internet penetration. (source Prensa Libre: WI-FI, Internet sin conexiones)

In your travels through and around Guatemala, what have been your impressions about Internet access?

This is crap!

The four basic principles of graphic design are: Contrast, Repetition, Alignment and Proximity. It was Robin Williams, the graphic designer and teacher, who came up with the memorable acronym to help people remember these basic principles.

I believe this photo embodies the basic principles of contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity (crap); don’t you agree?

Although I think green mangoes can be found in Guatemala all year round, I believe they are better when in the mangoes are in season. I believe MO should begin reserving his airplane tickets if he does not want to miss the green mango season again.

I invite MO and everyone to come down to La Antigua Guatemala right now to get some green mangoes on me; to enjoy the upcoming carnival (goodbye to meat); to observe the penitence and meat-free Lent season and of course to get your turno to carry the huge floats at the world-famous Holy Week in Antigua. Life is too short to live uneventful existence year after year.

I dare you to live a little this year, I dare you to be a cucurucho this year!

Every afternoon, the homeless man above walks slowly towards this corner house in Antigua Guatemala, one block away from the Parque Central, and right at one of the doorways he brings himself down to sleep while being cuddled by the warm rays of the late afternoon sun.

Guatemala is a country of extremes. Often, extreme beauty and extreme violence can be found at the same time or at the same place or both. In a country where most of the population can not afford economical housing, houses, apartments and condos go on sale regularly for $200,000 (Q1,600,000), $300,000 (Q2,400,000) and sometimes even the one-million dollar mark (8 million Quetzales). Such is life in Guatemala where the monthly minimum wage is about Q1,700 ($212.50) and many people do not even earn the minimum wage salary.

Guatemala is among the poorest countries of the Americas with more than half of the population living in poverty. Particularly acute is the problem of inadequate housing.

Most of the population living in poverty resides in make-shift housing made of corn stalk walls, dirt floors, and roof shelters comprised of garbage materials (cardboard and plastics) and corrugated iron or wood. These living circumstances are the threat to the health and survivability of families. (source: Construcasa.org brochure)

It is sad to read introductory paragraphs like the above in most brochures put out by the ONG headquartered in beautiful Antigua Guatemala. Certainly, life can be tough in La Antigua Guatemala, chosen as top city to travel and recently declared the first digital city in Central America.

Ironically, according to ConstruCasa the cost of a basic house is approximately $3,500 (Q28,000). How many economical houses could be built with the cost of one of those houses listed in the second paragraph above? Oh, extremes I tell you!

How can I help? I am glad you asked!