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Palo de Izote is the Guatemalan equivalent of the Joshua tree. In fact, Palo de Izote is the Mesoamerican cousin of the Joshua or Yucca tree. Like I mentioned before, I have a fascination with the Izote tree; I don’t know why, maybe its many branches that look like arms and hands.

Palo de Izote is used often in the hedgerows around Antigua Guatemala. Its white flowers are edible and they are considered a delicacy. The izote tree flower is also the national flower for the neighboring country of El Salvador.

Like the Sanitarios sign, you should also make sure you know how to read this sign. Salida de Emergencia means Emergency Exit.

I managed to get some arches reflected in the acrylic sign above, can you see them?

Okay, I guess you guys are right, a little rain in the dry season should not be reason enough to blow the whistle on climate change and the weather manipulations that occur up north. A little rain in the dry season is certainly better than 10 inches of snow.

I figured I ought to share with you a vista from Parque Central 30 minutes after the rain had stopped. Enjoy!

Okay, I want answers, I want the truth!

What are you people up north doing to sabotage our gorgeous, Spring-like, best-time-of-the-year Dry season? Come on, it has to be you. We never have rain in February, even if it’s a loco month. Come on you people, surely we understand how horrible and tough your winters can be; we feel for you, we do. But, please, don’t take your frustration on us, your kind neighbors to the south with perfect temperate weather. If you need a break from your harsh winter, come on down to perfect-weather Antigua Guatemala. You will be welcome and we’ll enjoy your company in the XI Festival Internacional De Cultura Paiz and in the International Jazz Festival. Honest, we will be the warmest hosts you have ever known. So, please, stop messing around with our weather.

Having a satisfying coffee with a very delicious torreja at La Cocina del Obispo, this flower was just there sort of flirting. It’s called Flor de La Pasión because it’s got a religious signfiicance and if I’m not mistaken it is Venezuela’s National Flower. If you know the flower, can you guess the colors and the significance of it?

Try to be fair and don’t look it up on Google or Wikipedia.

text and photo by Arturo Godoy.

Isn’t it just engaging to run into so many different doorlocks around La Antigua Guatemala? This one is found in one of the villages around Antigua Guatemala; it is from a museum, can you guess which one?

text and photo by Arturo Godoy.

Like many fountain’s around Antigua Guatemala, there is always something very soothing about them (oh, and the light was just beautiful), but how many of us do pay attention to them? If you do, can you guess where is this fountain located? I hope this is a tough guess for you.

text and photo by Arturo Godoy.

Another typical vista from February are the streets repairs done before or during Cuaresma, Lent, to have all the streets in their best condition for Semana Santa, Holy Week, in La Antigua Guatemala.

Do you know how much money is spent every year on street repairs? Hint, the answer is in the archives.

Normally the Christmas light decorations are put up on Parque Central before the Burning of the Devil on the first week of December and they take them down on Día de la Candelaria (Candlemas) on February 2. This time, however, I believe the Christmas lights were up even before Thanksgiving and they were taken down until this week. This is how the illuminated tree branches look at twilight and at night.

Below there are two additional photos to add context and so you don’t get the wrong idea about the photo above.

There are several jacaranda trees in Parque Central which make a gorgeous display of purple or violet during February and March when they are in bloom. I will try to get a panoramic shot so you can see the jacaranda trees in bloon at Central Park.

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?

Jacaranda trees can be found all over town as well. I will be in the look out for other jacaranda trees around town. Stay tune!

In Guatemala we have the following sayings: Enero loco y febrero otro poco, Crazy January and February a bit as well, or Febrero loco which means Crazy February. Well this week February is totally loco since we had cold days, below 10C/50F, hot humid days, cloudy days and clear skies days and rain; everything in just five days. Also, Volcán de Fuego was erupting an average of 4 times per hour; some hours almost every five minutes.

Today’s was captured with an iPhone while I was walking back to the office from lunch. Make sure you click on the image above to look at the large version. I like the grainy-rainy quality of it; what about you?

A couple of days ago there was another manifestation. I didn’t get a chance to learn what they were manifesting about, but I was able to take a picture as they were marching home.

Do you believe in the power of manifestations or do you think that’s the remains from another era?

Guatemalan gastronomy is so rich with stews. If the stews are watery we call them caldos and if the stews are thick we call them recados. In Guatemala we have plenty of caldos and recados and sometimes is difficult to decide whether a stew is a caldo or a recado. Take Kak’Ik for instance, which is caldo that looks like a recado.

The picture above is from the three-meat Subanik from Cocina del Obispo located at the entrance of San Juan del Obispo. Cocina del Obispo is a great place to try out all the different Guatemala stews and typical dishes. Cocina del Obispo is a traditional house that is converted into a restaurant on the weekends, therefore all the dining tables are spread between garden, patios and dining room.

Anyway, henceforward we declare Guatemala as the Ultimate Stew Country!

How many other Guatemalan stews can you name besides pepian, tapado, subanik, pulique, hilachas, jocón, kak’ik, caldo de gallina, caldo de res, gallo en chicha, tiras de panza, pollo en crema, pollo a la cerveza, carne guisada, revolcado, caldo de mariscos, etc.?

How many of these stews have you tried?

In case you didn’t know, in Guatemala we had a large influx of Germans for over a century. Regina Wagner, a Guatemalan of German ancestry, takes us through a magical and mystery tour through history in her book Los Alemanes en Guatemala 1828-1944 and she explains how the Germans were brought to Guatemala through government-sponsor campaigns, where they lived and tell us about their trials and tribulations in Chapinlandia. In her book, Regina also describes why the sudden stop occurred in 1944. Los Alemanes en Guatemala 1828-1944 is a great book and it should be in the library of anybody interested in understanding the complexity of Guatemala.

See, the Guatemalanness is complex and the mixtures just gets even richer with each new ingredient. Ha, no wonder we don’t even understand ourselves.

Did you know about this large German immigration to Guatemala?

The price of flowers goes up exponentially around certain dates like Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day, just to name a few.

A dozen roses is selling for Q60/$7.50 right now, while the normal price at the market goes from Q20/$2.50 to Q35/$4.50 for a dozen roses, depending on the quality and whether one is a regular costumer or not. For instance, a co-worker at the office buys two dozen roses every week for Q35/$4.50; he always gets this special price because he’s regular customer.

Of course, all flowers get a price hike, but certainly roses are the most affected since most people want to give roses for el Día del cariño.

In Guatemala Valentine’s Day has a much wider meaning since Día del cariño, Day of affection or caring, is about celebrating all the different manifestations of love and caring.

What better way to send my best wishes for Día del cariño and Valentine’s Day to all of you than to share a Corazón chino, Chinese heart, flower which are native of the wet tropical mountain forest of Central America and South America regardless of its popular name. The Anturios or Anthurium is the scientific name.