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Jornada has to be one of the most difficult Spanish words to translate into English. Jornada is basically journey or a march performed in one day, but it is much more as well. For instance, jornada electoral is polling day; jornada laboral is working day; jornada matutina and jornada vespertina refers to morning and afternoon classes respectively; media jornada is a half day; jornada militar is a military expedition, jornada can also mean opportunity, occasion, or circumstance; jornadas reducidas means part time; La Jornada or The Daily is one of the best newspapers from Mexico, jornada de reflexión is the day before elections when campaigning is forbidden. (source: SpanishDict)

So, the best way, in my humble opinion, to translate jornadas médicas or jornadas de salud is to use the words health campaign days, which can be just mornings or afternoons. Jornadas médicas is also the name given for free medic consultations campaigns that go from village to village or to remote areas in Guatemala. Jornadas medicas can also apply to Guatemalan, Cuban or foreign doctors and nurses.

By the way, back in February, Guatemala made the news because it gave The Quetzal Order, Guatemala’s top distinction to Fidel Castro as a gesture of gratefulness for the over 17 million medical consultations and more than 40,000 eye surgeries practiced in the context of the Miracle Operation free-eye surgery program, undertaken by Cuban doctors in the benefit of the Guatemalan people. (source: Escambray)

The photo above was taken in the village of San Pedro Las Huertas during a jornada de la vista or free eye exam consultations.

With all the different examples given above for the word jornada, do you think you can now use it?

All along these 1,124 consecutive entries, I have been compiling a collection of abstract photographs of La Antigua Guatemala with the idea that one day, perhaps, I will have another exhibit called Antigua Abstracta as a follow up to Antigua in Black and White. Anyway, in the mean time, you get to enjoy my findings.

Here are other possible candidate for the Antigua Abstracta series: New Aesthetic Values for an Old Town, Antigua Colors, Upside Down Arches, Shadow casting lamp.

Please, tell me what you think of the idea and if you had the money, would you buy photos from this series?

For those who come to AntiguaDailyPhoto.Com for the photos, here’s today’s photo of paninos or paninis which I believe are Italian words for sandwiches. In the picture above you can appreciate the cheese and chicken panino from Café Barista which aims to have gourmet sandwiches to accompany their large selection of up-scale coffee selection. A panino like the above sells for about Q40/$5 in Café Barista of La Antigua Guatemala.

Violation of Freedom of Speech Rights Aside: Like Manolo mentioned the other day, there is huge tele-novela (soap opera) scandal going on in Guatemala which began on Monday over the releasing of an 18-minute video of Slain Lawyer. The indignation over the accusation in the video have made all the news the world over. Really, it is a shameful situation for a country and its government.

I have tried to keep all the stuff out of this web site, except for some hints and links I posted on Monday and Tuesday. However, I draw the line when a person, Jean Ramses Anleu Fernández, is arrested and fined Q50,000/$6250 over a single Tweet of indignation. That’s got be the most expensive twit ever. What country am I living in where a person can go to jail and be fined Q50,000/$6250 over a 140-character opinion. This has to be the most ludicrous violation of the Freedom of Speech as well as a violation of the Guatemalan Constitutional Rights. You have to read all the details of the imprisonment of Jean Ramses Anleu Fernández (@jeanfer). Also, please if you can spare 5 minutes of your time, please write to the Guatemalan Government and demand that Jean Ramses Anleu Fernández be freed without paying a single centavo.

Café Barista is the newest hipster kid on the block in La Antigua Guatemala. Café Barista opened its doors the week before the Holy Week. The prices are higher than normal, but so is the quality. They also have free wifi zone. Café Barista is located on the Northwest corner of La Antigua Guatemala’s Central Park.

Come back tomorrow if you want to see what their sandwiches look like. Stay tune!

Nowadays, even fast-food restaurants are creating up-scale spaces within their premises. That’s the case of McDonald’s in La Antigua Guatemala that turned a little coffee cart service they had at the entrance known as McCafé into a large and delightful area for having coffee, desserts and your regular menu with a South view of Volcán de Agua (that’s to the left of the photo above). On top of it all, there is trouble-free wifi zone available in the McCafé dining area for checking emails, the recent or past entries of AntiguaDailyPhoto, videos and the latest twitter trends.

Oh how I wish I could be like Truman Capote and take this avalanche of twits, news, videos about a scandal developing right now in Guatemala City an turn it into a novella. But, like I said before, “… if Kafka had lived in Latin America, he surely would had been a clerk all of his life. This was said in reference to Kafka’s fantastic imagination, which it would have been kept in checked by the ordinary magical realism events in Latin America.” So for now and forever, the best I can do is to paraphrase or mimic the title of one of Capote’s best stories.

If you have followed the daily of updates of the La Antigua Guatemala DailyPhoto (LAGDP) for at least a year, you would know that Mother’s Day is celebrated in Guatemala on May 10th as Día de las madres.

To all the visiting moms, please, let me share with you the Guatemalan classic marimba Un vals para mi madre (A vals for my mother) and wish you a very happy Guatemalan Mother’s Day! A very special Thanks (Gracias) to my own mother for teaching me how to be a fairly decent human being most of the time (I think! ).

In 2007 I posted a very long entry showing you three kinds of Guatemalan mothers: the cowgirl mother, the urban rocker mom, and the indigenous mamá in the entry May 10th: Mother’s Day in Guatemala. I also touched the subject of inter-country adoptions which was it was hot topic back then. That’s no longer an issue, but if you want to go back in time to read about those three kinds of moms and the adoption issues, follow the white rabbit.

In 2008, I showed you an indigenous mother helping her son to overcome his fears in the entry Mother’s Safety Zone.

Mother’s Day Bonus: I will send today’s photo as signed 4×6 post card with Guatemalan stamps to the first person that can correctly tell me what Mayan language these two Mayan mother speak. You can read all about Mayan languages to see the possible options. Good luck to you all!

It’s been a while since I last updated the color palette category. What do you think of the new colors?

Guatemala has some of the best textiles you can find in the world. If you come to La Antigua Guatemala, you can find this wonderful textiles everywhere, including ambulant textiles sellers on the streets. If you take a close-up look at the Guatemalan textiles, you will be amazed at the intricate weaving patterns. Some people actually travel to Guatemala to learn the tricks of the Guatemalan weavers; can you believe that?

Guatemalan textiles are world-famous. As a graphic designer, I have been intrigued for a long while now about the fact that the indigenous people of Guatemala use so many different colors, patterns and textures in their textiles and yet the entire pieces are always in harmony. How do they do it?

Anyhow, here is yet another example of the colorful things that can made from the Guatemala textiles. What’s the Spanish word for backpack?

This satchel is perfect for coffee lovers.

This satchel is made by recycling of the coffee sacks used for carrying whole coffee beans of the best coffee in the world (follow the white rabbit if you want to see the coffee sack). You can also find backpacks, bags and purses made from these recycled coffee sacks. In your next visit to La Antigua Guatemala, home of the best coffee in the world, don’t forget to take back home backpacks or satchels for the coffee-loving family members and friends.

What’s the Spanish word for satchel?

I wonder what would be a good translation for espumillas? A literal translation would be little sponges, but a proper word is meringue. Espumillas can be found year round in La Antigua Guatemala and the rest of the country. Espumillas are often found in town fairs and at your local tienda (convenience store). Espumillas are very sweet!

Below what I found in the dictionary:

espumilla or meringue is sweet food made from a mixture of well-beaten egg whites and sugar, baked until crisp and typically used as a topping for desserts, esp. pies. Individual meringues are often filled with fruit or whipped cream. (source: Mac OS native dictionary)

Guatemalan Spanish Word of the Day: turrón is the Guatemalan word for well-beaten egg whites and sugar. In México, turrón is known as merengue, which is very close to the English word meringue. In Guatemala, merengue is a Caribbean style of dance music, which is very popular here.

Every time I see these subtle differences in the Spanish language, I think that having live one-on-one Spanish Lessons through Skype may come very handy in case one can not take full immersion Spanish classes in La Antigua Guatemala; how else can you ask about these little subtleties.

Okay, here’s a sign of restaurant exploiting the fact that everybody knows all grandmothers prepare the best food and have the most obscure recipes for authentic traditional food. By the way, I do miss the food of mis abuelas.

Surely you remember the photo of Clamping the automobiles on the No parking zone, right? Or how about the story of two police officers reporting that their patrol car was stolen, “Nos robaron la patrulla, cambio” in Guatemalan police anecdotes?

Well, it looks like there is a traffic police officer who is not taking any chances with his own motorcycle and even though he parks in the police only zone in front of the traffic police station, he feels that a clamp in the rear wheel of his motorcycle is in order, just to be sure and safe. I’m telling you, only in LAG.

Día de la Santa Cruz (Day of the Holy Cross) is celebrated in Guatemala and other Latin American countries on May 3rd which is also the day of the construction worker or albañiles as they are known in Spanish. Through out La Antigua Guatemala and the rest of the country you can find adorned crosses, especially at construction sites. Last two years I have shown humble crosses at construction sites (2007 and 2008), but today I bring you the main cross at El Calvario Church.

Below, I share with you a wonderful performance by Chico Buarque of Construção (Albañil/Construction Worker). If you would like to ready the lyrics in English and/or Spanish and all the background information of this very important catholic feast, just follow the white rabbit. Enjoy!

According to my dashboard, today’s entry is number 1111. Go figure!

Alameda is the Spanish word for tree-line road or pathway. La Antigua Guatemala has three alamedas from its original drawn grid of 1543. The three alamedas are Alameda Santa Lucía, Alameda Santa Rosa and Alameda del Calvario. I believe this is the first time I show you Alameda Santa Rosa.

All three Alamedas represented the outer limits of Santiago de Guatemala, now known as La Antigua de Guatemala, for several centuries. Nowadays, all three Alamedas are inside the main grid or Historic Center of La Antigua Guatemala.

Most people do not know that the tree-lined street running up the El Calvario Church is an Alameda. Most people now call Alameda Santa Lucía as Calzada Santa Lucía even though there are no calzadas in La Antigua Guatemala.

Believe it or not what you call the Santa Lucí­a Street is the biggest controversy on this 6-block-long avenue. See, most people call it Calzada Santa Lucí­a; calzada is one of the Spanish words for paved avenue/street or road. Those who know and pay attention to the signage, would tell you there are no calzadas anywhere in La Antigua Guatemala. You should call it Alameda Santa Lucí­a; alameda being the Spanish word for a tree-lined street/throughway.

This controversy has gotten so big that spilled out of the 6-block avenue onto the rest of La Antigua Guatemala. Most cheap and poorly researched maps would have Alameda Santa Lucí­a as a Calzada. (… continue reading)