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Eveyone needs a break every once in a while. Today will be my break. However, before I head for the beach, I will share with you this simple image of doves taking a break or perhaps holding a staff meeting before the storm’s arrival; you decide.

Did you know the Pacific Ocean shores are only 45 to 60 minutes away from La Antigua Guatemala?

Everyday that passes by Antigua Guatemala becomes more social, a gathering place. I wonder if the chuchos used Twitter or Facebook to organize their barcamp meeting.

I have developed a deep respect for animals. I consider them fellow living creatures with certain rights that should not be violated any more than those of humans. —Jimmy Stewart, actor

I am sure this is the first time many of you see a milk delivery service like the one we have in Guatemala. Basically, two or three shepherd boys guide a herd of goats, cabras in Guatemalan Spanish, around town selling the drawn-on-the-spot glass of milk for Q5/$0.60. Some people drink the milk directly from the glass, while others boil it first.

Now, you may think these milk deliveries only occur in the rural communities of Guatemala, but as you can see in the pictures below, the shepherd boys and their sheep can be found even the Downtown Guatemala City, known as Centro Histórico. Can you imagine El Señor Presidente coming out of his bureau in the National Palace to drink some fresh milk? Only in Guatemala, I tell you!

This milk delivery approach puts a new twist of the term “fresh milk”, don’t you think?

I ‘d like to know the name of this kind of bird, which comes to tweet and chat with our little white kitten everyday.

I know the bird is native to northern Central America and can be found often in Coffee Plantations of Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador. Also, I know the bird belongs to Jay or Magpie family.

The jays are several species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the crow family Corvidae. The names jay and magpie are somewhat interchangeable, and the evolutionary relationships are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian Magpie seems more closely related to the Eurasian Jay than to the Oriental Blue and Green Magpies, whereas the Blue Jay is not closely related to either. (Source: Absolute Astronomy)

By the way, I don’t know why Guatemala doesn’t promote itself as bird-watchers paradise? Don’t you think we have hundreds of colorful birds with all kinds of forests and jungles.

This is just one of those rare shots you get when the opportunity strikes. I was scrolling through my email when my roommate suddenly burst out laughing. I looked up to find the house cat, “Gringo,” cruelly toying with its newfound prey… a lagartija, or lizard. The cat had wounded the pour creature and was simply reveling in torturing it: pouncing on it and sending it quickly scrambling nowhere fast on the slick, tiled floor. While I felt sorry for it, my photographer-instinct flared and instead of saving it, I photographed it. I couldn’t pass up the rare opportunity to take a photo of an animal that is usually too wily for humans to get so close. Unfortunately, the light was terrible. Still, I think I still managed to get a pretty cool shot!

text and photos by Laura McNamara

There are so many things that could be said about this photograph of two men, both in soldiers uniforms, even if one of them belongs to another age, another era, another place. But in a sense both of them are playing roles—today’s soldier playing one that may seem incongruous, suprising or even paradoxical, especially to those whose memories need only reach back very few years, rather than imagine back almost two thousand. And as someone who is not Guatemalan, and who doesn’t live in La Antigua Guatemala, I will let the image—or perhaps other people, speak of the complexities of history, time, and the place or role each of us play in it.

text and photo by Michele Woodey.

It is not unusual to see people riding horses within the streets of La Antigua Guatemala. Some of the horses have been trained to do so gracefully that is a pleasure to watch them go by. Such is the case of this white horse and the jockey that ride as one with refinement and suave stride.

If you have seen this white horse being, what did you think of it?

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If you come to this web site looking for artistic or touristic photographs from Guatemala, you’ve come in vein because here you can only find “everyday images” from La Antigua Guatemala. Today’s image is no exception.

As a matter of fact, I captured the golden kitten petting his best friend, the chucho, while out buying tortillas for lunch as in Guatemala you buy freshly made tortillas for every meal, for los tres tiempos pues. So there I was, walking the three or four blocks to the tortillerí­a where Manolo took his tortilla-making lessons and half way there I found this everyday image. I am glad I make a conscious effort to ALWAYS carry the camera with me so I can catch as many ordinary-daily-life pictures as possible.

Today’s photo is not as good as the one shown in Partners in Adversity, but good enough to show the affection between two best friends.

Have you shown your affection to your friends and family lately? Today’s as good a time as any…

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These prices represent over 60% discount over the normal princes . This special offer will be over on Dí­a de Reyes (Jan. 6th); so don’t miss it.

Whenever you come across people riding horses or donkeys over the cobblestone streets of La Antigua Guatemala you feel like you are for real in the 16th and 17th Centuries.

It is not unusual to come across people riding horses, carriages, bicycles, motorcycles, automobiles, trucks, chicken buses and semis all within a few moments.

The reality is not that you do time-travel when you visit La Antigua Guatemala, but rather you travel to a place where different times, eras and centuries co-exist at the same time. That’s the only way to explain the horses and donkeys, the old church ruins, the wireless internet access, the G3 cellular networks, the satellite direct tv, the ATMs, the electronic banking from home, et-cetera.

Spanish classes can be exhausting, especially full immersion classes, so make sure you take breaks often… your dog will be glad too.

It seems like ordinary ants do not like the idea of a giant sompopo queen ant moving into the neighborhood.

Even though the Guatemalan winged sompopo ant appears every year in May, on average most Guatemalans know very little about them (myself included). So, I decided to ask around to the people who have a little knowledge about the sompopos; their answers are very enlightening and myth busters.

Are you ready to drop your jaw and say, “ah… I did not know that”?

Myth #1: May’s Sompopos Ants are males
No. May’s Sompopos, the winged kind you see in the picture above, are actually queen sompopo ants and they come out and fly away from the ground to fund new sompopo colonies.

Myth #2: May’s Sompopos Ants fall from the sky
No. They actually come out the ground and because these are queens; they need to find new fertile territories to build new sompopo colonies. In nature wisdom, these sompopo queens were provided with wings so they can fly as far away as possible.

Myth #3: Sompopos Ants are only available in May
No. Sompopo ants are actually available throughout the year. Sompopo ants are 4 to 5 times bigger than ordinary ants. Sompopo ants are red and devilish furious. Sompopo ants do not have wings. Sompopo ants are smaller in size than the “Sompopo queen ants” which have wings and come out in May to build new colonies. The sompopo queens are known as “sompopos de mayo” while the sompopo ants are just called “sompopos comunes” (ordinary sompopo ants). Sompopos are hormigas (ants). May’s sompopo queens are only seen in May; thus their name (duh!). They remained underground the rest of the year, as any good ant queen should do.

Fact #1: May’s Sompopos Ants are edible
Yes, May’s sompopo queens are collected by some Guatemalans who remove the belly bottom and roast them on a comal (baked clay griddle), add salt and lime juice. Those who have tried them say that sompopos taste like butter or chicharrones (pork rinds).

Actually, May’s Sompopo Queen Ants could be considered the “Mayan Caviar” since the part removed from them is loaded with ants eggs. In other words, the belly bottom of the sompopo queen ant is the equivalent of the roe of fish.

Fact #2: May’s Sompopos Ants are used in fights
Yes, May’s sompopo queens are collected by some Guatemalans kids and taken to school to fight other sompopo ants. Since these sompopo ants are queens in search of new dwellings to build their own colonies, they are highly ferocious and territorial. Kids are ignorant of the sompopo ants processes and life cycles and thus they use them as fighters; similar to cockfights.

Fact #3: May’s Sompopos Ants are disappearing
Yes, May’s sompopo queens are disappearing and are completely non-existant in many parts of Guatemala that used to have them not too long ago. The less May’s sompopo queens you see, the less colonies they will build. If the sompopo ant disappears, who knows what the ecological catastrophe this will ensue.

Please, if you have any other myths, facts or anecdotes to share with the rest of us, feel free to add them to the comments.

LAGDP’s Entry Published by elPeriódico Side Note: As it turns out, thanks to Michelle Garzaro, editor of elPeriódico‘s Sunday supplement miPeriódico, today’s entry was translated into Spanish and published on Sunday, June 1st, 2008. I leave you the newspaper’s clip below, in case you want to read or see it. Like always, you click the thumbnail to view an enlarge version. elPeriódico is one of my favorite Guatemalan newspapers.

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Enough about pondering the big questions!

Sompopos are now here and thus we are now “officially” in the rainy season.

Sompopos arrived on Thursday 22nd, May 2008 which was also the celebration of Corpus Christi in La Antigua Guatemala. In Guatemala, May 22nd is also Dí­a del arbol (Tree Day) which could be a very good excuse to watch The Fountain; a film by Darren Aronofsky.
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Life is tough for the homeless in La Antigua Guatemala, but it helps to have a friend to cope with adversity.