Here’s a marimba sculpture found in Santo Domingo del Cerro representing Guatemala’s national musical instrument. How you like it?
He aquí una foto de la escultura de la marimba que se encuentra en Santo Domingo del Cerro; una representación artística del la marimba, el instrumento nacional de Guatemala. ¿Qué les parece?
Often enough I have heard “take art to the streets, to the people” from my artist friends and acquaintances. I believe that with the photo exhibit “Agua, Ríos y Pueblos” or “Water, Rivers and People” as it’s known in English, EspacioCE have achieved such slippery aspiration. EspacioCE is the name for the cultural proyects of Centro de Formación de la Cooperación Española (AECID) in La Antigua Guatemala.
For information on other cultural events, visit AgendaCulturalAntigua.com, our other cultural project.
A menudo he escucha a mis amigos artistas y conocidos decir: «hay que llevar el arte a las calles dónde está el pueblo». Considero que con la exhibición «Agua, Ríos y Pueblos» EspacioCE ha logrado tan resbaladiza aspiración. EspacioCE es el nombre que reúne todos los proyectos culturales del Centro de Formación de la Cooperación Española (AECID) en La Antigua Guatemala.
Para información sobre otros eventos culturales, visiten AgendaCulturalAntigua.com, nuestro proyecto de cartelera cultural.
Masks are beautiful, of course. It is said that people wear masks, depending on how they live on a daily basis. Simple make-up can be a mask; or just even hiding yourself behind sunglasses.
How about wearing a hat? Let’s leave such definitions on the side, but can you believe there are institutions/corporations/NGOs/etc. that wear masks? If so, would you share your insights with us?
I go first. Here’s a simple event. Not too long there was a gossip started in a social network saying that the Mayor of La Antigua Guatemala was going to pave all the streets of Antigua Guatemala with asphalt. Gossip does travel faster than light in the social networks sometimes and a commotion began to happen. Nevertheless, some reasonable people remembered the reality of the work done by the Mayor in combination with the National Council for The Protection and Conservation of Antigua Guatemala. Oops, yes, it was one of those oops. In this case a company that produces travel books was involved, plus the owner of a bar. What were their intentions?
Such things involving the masking of oneself or one’s true intentions do happen quite often in La Antigua Guatemala and in Guatemala in general. Oh, I could tell you so many such stories involving NGOs and other institutions; but now it’s your turn. So, please, don’t be shy, what experiences and anecdotes will you share with us?
Perhaps it is the fact that La Antigua Guatemala is surrounded by so many coffee plantations and fincas (farms) as well as protected areas that birdwatching does not require far away trips. In fact, just go to a park or restaurant with trees to be able to watch birds. The bird above was capture from the window of the Duane Carter Library, La Biblioteca as we call it, located on Portal de las Panaderas, above G&T bank, right across from Parque Central.
Of course, if you want to watch birds as well as enjoy the quiet and peace of the highland forest around Antigua Guatemala, contact Filadelfia Resort and Tours where you can do birdwatching and canopy tours as well as coffee tours. Filadelfia Resort and Tours is located in San Felipe de Jesús, a village about three kilometers from La Antigua Guatemala, but with access to protected forest land with lots of bird tweeting. 
By the way, does anybody know the name and species of the bird in the picture above?
This is an election year in Guatemala and the Tribunal Supremo Electoral (TSE) is rushing to get all potential voters registered and updated. This election year there will be an overlap on the national identification documents that will be allowed to use: The old, retired cédula and the spanking brand-new DPI (Documento Persona de Identificación). The booth above is located right in front of the Municipalidad (City Hall).
Nothing is sacred in the kitchen and fusion is the tendency in vogue. So it comes as no surprise to find new ingredients as part of the Pupusas repertoire such as chipilín and mushrooms.
Pupusas are tortilla-like dish, about the size of CD and made from a mixture of maize dough, cheese and some typical ingreditients like loroco, beans, chicharon, chirozo, et cetera. Pizza Maya is what I called a giant pupusa the first time I introduced them. We can even find black or blue pupusas in Antigua Guatemala.
It’s quite common to find pupusas with cheese and loroco, an exotic herb from Central America in El Salvador and sometimes in La Antigua Guatemala, but I had never had pupusas with cheese and mushrooms or cheese and chipilín, another exotic herb/weed from Guatemala.
What’s next? Pupusas with cheese and flor de izote, queso y flor de ayote, maybe bledo, espinacas could also work or even quiletes weeds sauté with onions? What do you think?
If you want to learn about Guatemala’s editable weeds, flowers and herbs, follow the white rabbit!
By the way, these two pupusas and a licuado from fresh tropical fruits and milk will set you back Q26/$3.25 at Pupusas Cheros, located half a block from Central Park on 5a calle poniente. RWOrange are you reading this?
Police patrol trucks, really? I am sure that’s a normal question asked when people are told that all police patrol units in Guatemala are actually trucks; well most of them for sure. I believe police trucks are used in Mexico and Central America, but I am not sure if they use trucks anywhere else as police patrol vehicles.
Have you seen police trucks in other countries outside of Central America and Mexico?
Since there are so many wireless Internet access points (Wi-Fi) available in La Antigua Guatemala, it’s not unusual to see people calling back home via Skype from gardens and patios. Of course, a headset is still needed if you want to keep your Skype-conversations semi-private.
Have you used Skype while in Guatemala to call back home?
Debido al hecho de que hay un sinnúmero de puntos de acceso al Internet inalámbricos en La Antigua Guatemala no es extraño toparse con viajeros llamando a sus casas a través de Skype desde jardines, patios y restaurantes. Por supuesto que los auriculares son obligatorios si se desea mantener la conversación medio privada.
Even though at first I didn’t like the pastel yellow plaster applied to the newly restored Palacio de los Capitanes Generales, now I have to admit it is growing on me.
Here’s the background information about the restoration works:
After two and half years and Q16 millions/$2 millions spent in renovations Palacio de Los Capitanes has finally opened again. The new façade is painted with yellow and white paint. According to an article in Prensa Libre, CNPAG, the entity in charge of restoring and protecting La Antigua Guatemala, also removed 15 tons of extra weight. There is still a second restoration phase quoted at Q14 million more to be done.
If you’re interested in looking at the façade of Palacio de Los Capitanes before the renovations, please follow the white rabbit to the Palacio de Los Capitanes archives.
As we have mentioned before, if you’re planning a visit to Guatemala, make sure you pack your sunglasses if you don’t want to be blinded by the rich saturated colors found everywhere in the land of the Eternal Spring. Especially so, if you plan to spend time in La Antigua Guatemala’s Central Park which is the main hub for people watching and a guaranteed spot to enjoy the best of Guatemala.
If you have spent time in Antigua’s main plaza (Parque Central), please, share with us your experiences!
It does not matter where you go in Guatemala, you are certain to find elotes asados (charbroiled corn on the cob).
This is what Laura McNamara shared with us on her post Craving Corn: Elote
It’s also fun to think about the tradition behind the Maya and their connection to corn as you get elote caught in your teeth. According to Popol Vuh —a sacred book that is casually referred to as the Mayan Bible— the first man and woman were made from corn. Thus, corn is a huge part of the Maya culture and diet.
Slowly but surely these ugly, but necessary antennas are disappearing from the Antigua Guatemala skyline. Some of the antennas around Antigua Guatemala are being camouflaged as trees while new cellular towers are disguised as public street lamps inside the colonial town.
Equinos Sanos para el Pueblo (ESAP) is a Guatemalan foundation that promotes the welfare of working equines, recognizing their importance in the economic and emotional stability of the families in the rural communities. ESAP develops, promotes and strengthens sustainable practices in the care and handling of working equines through educational programs with the participation of the communities and with strategic alliances.
It’s good to know that there’s an organization already working for the welfare of the working horses and equines in Guatemala. If you get a chance, please, visit ESAP’s website and let them know you appreciate their work; I have done so.
Equinos Sanos para el Pueblo (ESAP) es una fundación guatemalteca que promueve el bienestar de los equinos trabajadores, reconociendo su importancia en la estabilidad económica y emocional de las familias y las comunidades. ESAP desarrolla, fomenta y fortalece prácticas sostenibles de cuidado y manejo de los equinos trabajadores a través de programas educativos con la participación comunitaria y alianzas estratégicas.
Es bueno saber que existe una organización encargándose de promover el bienestar de los equinos trabajadores en Guatemala. Si tienen un par de minutos, pasen por el sitio web de ESAP y háganles saber que aprecias su labor; yo ya lo he hecho.
Besides the typical papalinas (potato chips) found everywhere, in La Antigua Guatemala you can also find exotic chips made from eggplant, plantain (plataninas in Guatemalan Spanish), cassava chips (yuquitas in Guatemala), sweet potato chips (camote in Spanish) and other such exotic vegetables. Of course, you need an exotic sandwich to match the exotic chips and the torta cubana (Cuban sandwich) is a pretty good match.
Bon appétit!
Además de las típicas papalinas que se encuentran pordoquier, en La Antigua Guatemala uno también encuentra frituras exóticas como las berengenas, plataninas, yuquitas, camotes y otras verduras endémicas de la región. Claro que se necesita un emparedado que este a la altura de las frituras exóticas y la torta cubana hace una muy buena combinación.
¡Buen provecho¡
¡No pongas todos los huevos en una canasta!
Oh the wisdom of idioms do not escape the Guatemalan typical small business owner. That’s why it’s commonplace to find a zaguán shop selling disparate items. For a long time I’ve been wanting to show this with just one image; I believe today’s photo works, don’t you think so?
La sabiduría de los modismos y dichos no se le escapa al típico empresario guatemalteco. Es por esta razón que a menudo uno encuentra un zaguán vendiendo artículos desiguales. Desde hace tiempo he querido mostrar esto con una sola imagen; creo la foto de hoy funciona, ¿qué opinás vos?
Rudy, this site is a great escape, a relevant commentary, and a great documentary all in one. I think your different and unusual photographs are fantastic - an extraordinary view of everyday life... —Eric
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