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I am not sure whether now there are more people celebrating Halloween in La Antigua Guatemala or if I am just more aware of the alienation of Guatemalans in general. Although it is kind of difficult to use the word alienation for a town like Antigua Guatemala where most people are not locals. Perhaps, that’s why unconsciously I only photographed Guatemalans kids; who knows really. Anyway, it is what it is or as we say in Guatemala, lo hecho, hecho.

I believe this is the second time I noticed these wooden rustic chairs hanging from a wall. In the post Hanging Chairs in La Antigua Guatemala I reported that I found the hanging chair unusual and intriguing; I still do.

What do you think the hanging chairs represent or mean?

This morning two photo clubs, Antigua’s and Guatemala’s, got together at Casa Santo Domingo to pay homage to photographer Ricardo Mata who about 54 years ago called on 10 of his colleagues to form the first photo club of Guatemala.

It was a rare opportunity to see members of both photo clubs at one place to share our passion for photography and to pay a tribute to Guatemala’s most prolific photographer and world traveler. He shared with us this morning that he had travel and photographed 94 countries. I regret not procuring a copy of a thorough biographical sketch by writer and long-time friend Carmen Matute of Ricardo Mata. Heck, even Ricardo Mata declared he would love to have a copy of the biographical sketch since he said there were more information there than what he has available in his own archives. Talking about archive, Ricardo Mata’s photo archive is in the millions of images, most of them slides. See the video below to take a peek at his archives.

The Club Fotográfico de Guatemala also held its monthly photo contest and I had the honor to be one of the judges. All in all, it was awesome feel-good event; the kind that you never read about in the news, but happen very often in Guatemala.

Here’s a video of Ricardo Mata narrating how the funded Guatemala’s first photo club thanks Nelo Mijangos. (more…)

Here’s another day trip away from regular school day. Boy, when I was a kid anything to get me away from a regular school day, especially if it was for a theater play, concerto, or philharmonic recital, even visits to museums were good. So I guess a visit to a church is just as good when you’re a kid, even if it isn’t politically correct for the adults.

Just like the separation of State and Church is not an issue in Antigua Guatemala, taking students from a public school to visit a church for mass service is not an issue either.

To be honest, it’s quite difficult to separate religious rituals and festivities from culture in Guatemala. Often times the boundaries that separate religion and culture, traditions and identity are very fuzzy, out of focus really (pun intended). I believe even atheists participate in some religious rituals and feasts like Cuaresma (Lent), Semana Santa (Holy Week) and Navidad/Noche Buena (Christmas/Christmas Eve). In fact, I remember reading the chronicle of an atheist and leftist poet and author who had became a cucurucho (float bearer) for Lent along with some of this friends.

What do you think about taking students from a public school to mass service inside a church?

Living in La Antigua Guatemala is such a trip because you get to see and experience different eras and lifestyles all at once. Take for instance the vista of a campesino (small plot worker) with his horse heading out to work early in the morning to the rolling hills of Volcán de Agua and now imagine that just one hour later you can meet with friends for French crêpes or Bagels for a power breakfast, and meet a client at a sushi bar for lunch and assist to a baroque music recital at night. Of course you keep track of all of this with your iPhone 4S or Galaxy Nexus Android-powered phone while keeping an online photographic dairy in real time. That’s what I mean by the collapsing or co-existing of different eras and lifestyles.

Have you noticed those things in your visits to Antigua Guatemala?

The especially made sausages for fiambre can now be found in the supermarket and mercados.

Do you know what is fiambre? If not, read on. Fiambre is an extremely rare and unique dish which includes over 40 ingredients; basically it’s a salad made from cold cuts, all kinds of meats, fish, vegetables and pickled vegetables. It’s served on Novem- ber 1st and 2nd for Day of the Dead and All Saints Day. Fiambre is a cold meal of Spanish origin, possibly from the Ex- tremadura provinces in Spain. Fiambre is a very special meal for Guatemalans, and it is only available on November 1 and 2. Follow the white rabbit to see photos of fiambre!

Pastis (pronounced in UK: /ˈpæstɪs/, US: /pæˈstiːs/) is an anise-flavored liqueur and apéritif from France, typically containing 40–45% alcohol by volume, although alcohol-free varieties exist.

Pastis was first commercialized by Paul Ricard in 1932 and enjoys substantial popularity in France, especially in the southern regions of the country.[1] Pastis emerged some 17 years following the ban on absinthe, during a time when the French nation was still apprehensive of high-proof anise drinks in the wake of the absinthe debacle. The popularity of pastis may be attributable to a penchant for anise drinks that was cultivated by absinthe decades earlier, but is also part of an old tradition of Mediterranean anise liquors that includes sambuca, ouzo, arak, rakı, and mastic…. Continue reading at Wikipedia

Yes, you can find a place of pastis in cosmopolitan Antigua Guatemala. Also, one can also find absinthe at another venue. Do you know where to get pastis in La Antigua?

Yes, perspective is everything!

If you don’t believe me compare the Tea Partiers and the Occupy Wall Street movement, since both share some similarities on the surface, but represent opposite world views as shown in this article from Aljazeera: Tea Partiers: The self-hating 99 per cent.

There may be surface similarities between the two uprisings, but they actually represent two opposing populist world views, whose only philosophical resemblance to one another is their belief that they speak for “the people” against the elites. While both movements are mainly concerned with economic issues, their beliefs about the causes and solutions they propose couldn’t be more different… continue reading at Aljazeera.

Huh, and you thought that we were sheltered against world events news in our beautiful, tranquil and enchanting little corner. We also heard about the recent rescue of the Belgian-French bank Dexia, which could be the first domino to fall in a replay of the 2008 recession.

Perhaps you should visit Guatemala and enjoy the end of the world as we know it.

See, perspective Is everything!

Always remember to look up, down, left and right. You’ll never know what you will by simple change of perspective.

The kites on the skyline mark the end of the rainy season, the beginning of the cold and dry weather and the arrival of the winds from the great white north. The kites also mark the approaching Día de los Muertos celebrations and that is time for the world famous fiambre from Guatemala.

By the way, in Guatemala we use the word Barrilete for kite while Papalote is used in other parts of Latin America.

So, what’s up with the crazy and weird title I hear you asking… well, let me explain.

First the sunshine part. After 11 days of continuos rains we were greeted with sunshine and chilly winds on October 20. If Twitter had hyper-local trending topics, then the #climaGT hash tag could had been the trending topic for Guatemalans on October 20, as almost everybody was tweeting about how good it was to have sunshine again.

The apology came next as President Alvaro Colom apologized to Mr. Arbenz’s son Juan Jacobo and asked for forgiveness on behalf of the state. This apology made to several major newspapers around the world.

Here a few fragments from the New York Times article:

More than a half-century after Guatemala’s elected president Jacobo Arbenz Guzman was overthrown in a coup planned by the C.I.A. and forced into a wandering exile, President Alvaro Colom apologized on Thursday for what he called a “great crime.”

The Eisenhower Administration painted the coup as an uprising that rid the hemisphere of a Communist government backed by Moscow. But Mr. Arbenz’s real offense was to confiscate unused land owned by the United Fruit Company to redistribute under a land reform plan and to pay compensation for the vastly understated value the company had claimed for its tax payments.

Mr. Arbenz “was not a dictator, he was was not a crypto-communist,” said Stephen Schlesinger, an adjunct fellow at the Century Foundation and co-author of “Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala.”

The Arbenz family is seeking an apology from the United States for its role in the coup, he said…

Good luck with that!

Last but not least, the Revolution Day part. On October 20, Guatemala celebrates its Dí­a de la Revolución (Revolution’s Day) and everybody gets the day off as it is a national holiday. If you want to know more about Día de la Revolución, follow the white rabbit to last year post.

Every once in a while we all need a break. La Antigua Guatemala will be having such a break in a few hours since there will be a programmed power outage from 8am to 1pm on Wednesday 19 because the electric company will be doing some testing and maintenance of the power grid around Antigua Guatemala. So, don’t worry if for a few hours there are no updates in Twitter, Facebook and other social network from people living in Antigua Guatemala. I also will be disconnecting from the matrix as of now…

I have mentioned it a few times, but let me repeat it again. There’s are aesthetic principles which are used and apply to design and architecture to make then look and fit harmoniously and coherently into the Antigua Guatemala enchanting environment. Take this water tank and washbasins for instance, which I am not sure it’s an original piece or if it was built to look old and worn. This is what I call the antigüeño aesthetic values: colonial styles and designs, built to look worn, old and even abandoned; normally with part of the plaster removed as to show the guts. Sometimes, they even give new uses to objects, like in the picture above where the water tank and washbasins are used as decorative fountain. Other examples that I’ve seen are colonial style cooking pot used for a regular plant pot, a door or window turned into a coffee table, an old carriage wheels used as decorative elements, et cetera.

Other recent examples of the antigüeño aesthetic values:

• Garden Wall at Sabe Rico
• Rustic brick wall
• New houses that look old
• Old and rusted metal wheels

It’s nice to see colonial pilas and lavaderos (water tanks + washbasins) being used now as fountains and as decoration. If you want to see a pila as decoration follow the white rabbit to The Venerable Colonial Pila is Now Used as Decoration. If you want to see colonial pila being used as a fountain check out Finca Washbasins and Water Tanks. Of course, you can simply come back tomorrow to see the entire water tank and washbasins of this fountain.