You think Antigua Guatemala is just processions for the Semana Santa? Wrong. There is more… there are also plays, like this one. This play was being performed parallel to the procession of La Merced this past Sunday.
Can you tell what’s the play all about?
text and photos by Arturo Godoy. Check out Arturo’s portfolio to purchase photos from his massive photographic bank.
Okay, we have a new dialogue game. Those of you who have followed AntiguaDailyPhoto for a while know the rules. This simple image will allow us to play a creative game. Taking the two men as our characters we will write up one of many conceivable dialogues as the interaction between them. To get ideas or inspiration check out these previous entries: Arch-framed Women in Jocotenango and Opposite ends of life #2. The best dialogue will receive this photo as 4″x6″ post card.
Good luck to all the participants!
I confess that you have to click on the image above to understand the title. I confess I have never in my life seen so many cucuruchos together. I confess I never been surrounded by so many violet or purple robes. I confess that I should have waited another 10 minutes to take photographs of the thousands of cucuruchos. I confess…
An hour for the Planet…
An hour of no light for the planet; it was celebrated worldwide. Antigua Guatemala did its share, as a city. Some, of course didn’t. Nonetheless the care for our planet should be done 24×7, and not just an hour per year. Of course, I understand all the difficulties of going “green” completely because it also depends on where you are living in the world. However, given all difficulties “going green” full time then perhaps initiatives like this one are a seed of change of conscientiousness.
Antigua Guatemala did its share on a seed of change. Things are getting better; it’s getting better all the time…
text and photos by Arturo Godoy. Check out Arturo’s portfolio to purchase photos from his massive photographic bank.
This was the second time I was alerted about the exotic flower arrangements placed on the fountains prior to a procession or lent activity. I took this photo the day after the procession at Escuela de Cristo. It was a welcoming surprise to learn that cleaning people did not take the flowers away.
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As Semana Santa, the Holy Week before Easter, approaches, the historic colonial town of Antigua sees almost daily processions. These processions include music, colors. . . and most importantly floats. . . that don’t really float, but are heavy wooden depictions of the life of Christ. Because of how heavy these floats are, they often need to be carried by more than 60 men, women and/or children. The processions wind themselves through the cobblestone streets. And people pay for the honor to carry them.
One quirk to the payment, is that according to my friend Nelo, each person pays Q60 per turn. Each procession includes on average 60 turns and each float needs 80-100 carriers. So this adds up fast, about Q290,000 (US$38,000) per procession. So where does all this money go?
Almost one third goes to the band. I heard that the San Felipe Church processional Band charges Q150,000 (close to US$20,000) per procession and La Merced Church processional band about Q125,000. I imagine some of the money goes to the church who lends the saint figures for the processions. Some money goes to the organization, the creation of the scenes above the floats which are never the same and lastly for maintenance.
Literary Introspection Aside: Much of what I am today and the decisions I made that took me to La Antigua Guatemala were inspired or influenced in part by Milan Kundera’s writings. Through the reading of several of Milan Kundera‘s novels, especially Life is Elsewhere, Laughable Loves, The Farewell Party, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Immortality and Identity, I begun to question myself about life, lifestyles and what I wanted out of the day. Life is a jigsaw puzzle made up from moments (days) and where and with whom you spend those moments shapes the picture you see at the end. Honestly, I do not know if it is better to live in the ‘first world’ with a first-world salary, first-world commodities and such or to live here in the south or third world with all the complications and dangers that decision entails. I don’t know about the first/third world euphemisms either. However, I do know that a different life or lifestyle is possible outside the safety net. There are other ways to be human and to experience unusual traditions and celebrations. There is a huge difference between Spring Break, Easter, Holy Week and Semana Santa as we live it in La Antigua Guatemala for sure. To each its own. For the moment, I’m just happy to be able to take ordinary snapshots from my daily comings-and-goings and to be able to share them with YOU! I hope you enjoy them too!?
Guatemala is a colorful country. What, you don’t believe me? Well, Why not check out the Color palette category to see for yourself. For instance, take a look at today’s photo, these are hand-painted traditional Guatemalan balls and they are so colorful. In other parts of the world they are happy with a one or two-colored balls; in Guatemala nothing less than the rainbow will do. 
Could you live in a country with rich and intense colors?
I can bring to you the colors, the imagery, the sounds and even video clips, but I can’t transmit or transfer you the smells and aromas of the Holy Week. The pungent scents of corozo palms and copal insence you will have to imagine them. Let’s hope that today’s photo can trigger or precipitate forth the buried memories in your unconsciousness; please, let us know if you can smell the incense; can you taste it too?
Transference: the action of transferring something or the process of being transferred.
With these processions not only the heavy floats are being transferred, but also the culture and the religious fervor. If we delve into the realms of the psychoanalysis, we could talk about transference neurosis; however that’s way too deep and complex for a simple image portraying a row of little girls carrying a Holy Week float. Let’s enjoy the Cuaresma vista instead.
The Cuaresma and Semana Santa season comes with its own set of garments; from the Romans to the Cucuruchos to the Dolorosas (or whatever the name is for the women carrying floats). Here I was lucky to capture the portrait of little devotee accompanying the girls procession. Come back tomorrow if you want to see a procession of little girls.
I have honestly tried not put as many Cuaresma/Lent and Semana Santa/Holy Week photos here. I could, in theory, have a Lent/Holy Week photo each day since Ash Wednesday, but this is not a religious website: it is rather a blogumentary of La Antigua Guatemala and as such I try to cover all aspects of what is like to live in one of the most enchanting towns of the world. However, sometimes it’s impossible not to publish photos like today’s. Talk about the idiosyncrasy of Guatemalans, have you ever seen a more convincing set of Roman soldiers in your life?
This is the third year I share with you a photo of the broom-head Roman soldiers. Click the two link to Roman soldiers to see the previous images. This is what I wrote last year about the Roman soldiers of Guatemala:
So, I come out of the closet now and tell you I really find delightful the excessive garishness of the costumes of Guatemalan Roman soldiers, the clothes of the Holy Week figures, the golden-painted floats, in short, everything about the Holy Week celebrations in the villages and municipalities around La Antigua Guatemala. You may have to click on the photo above to see the fine or kitschy details of the Guatemalan-Roman soldier costumes.
Now guys, if given the opportunity, would you find an exhilarating experience to go out in public wearing a broom-head helmet, a bright-red cloak and a kitschy-looking Roman costume, wouldn’t you? Come on, live a little!
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On the weekends Calle del Arco is turn into a pedestrian strip and several business bring out benches, carts and flowers and plants in huge pots. Lots of people take advantage of these sitting spaces to have their photo taken or simply to take a break.
The picture above is another vista that ” …helps to show that Guatemalan colours and shades are everywhere and are part of the beauty of the Land of Eternal Spring ®” as Manolo put it.
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Often we hear that Guatemala is a country of contrasts. Even I try to show it often and what better way to show the contrasts of Guatemalan women than yesterday’s photograph of capitalinas sporting the latest garments in fashion and today’s picture of three indigenous women wearing the traditional corte or Guatemalan hand-woven skirt.
I was lucky to capture these beautiful Guatemalan women taking a short break from selling their handicrafts the passing tourists on Calle del Arco.
What do you think of the series Guatemalan women so far?
Rudy, Thank you so much for bringing Antigua to me everyday. As so many people, I love Antigua and wish I could live all year. Thank you so much for having stories in English and Spanish. I have been studying Spanish for years and the short stories in both languages are very helpful. Antigua Daily Photo is the first thing I look at everyday when I turn on my computer. Once again, thank you so much. —Michelle, Miami, FL, USA
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