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If I were you I would be very careful about walking around Calle del Arco. See, there’s guy selling dreamcatchers, atrapasueños in Spanish, so imagine somebody catching your dreams as you stroll by. What if you’re a dreamer, would yourself get trapped inside this web? Seriously, I hadn’t realized that dreamcatchers were being produced this far south and adopted by the Maya as part of their handicrafts. I’ll make sure I buy an atrapasueños next time I see this fellow. The going price was between Q25 for the little one and Q120 for the large ones.

While dreamcatchers originated in the Ojibwa Nation, during the Pan-Indian Movement of the 1960s and 1970s they were adopted by Native Americans of a number of nations. Some consider the dream catcher a symbol of unity among the various Indian Nations, and a general symbol of identification with Native American or First Nations cultures. However, other Native Americans have come to see dream catchers as over-commercialized. Non-Indians have also used the dreamcatcher for their own purposes. (source: Wikipedia)

Here’s a video clip showcasing the magic found in and around Antigua Guatemala. The video was sent to me by Lico Rosales to share with you. Enjoy!

The fear of photography is real in Antigua Guatemala. More often I am finding signs which prohibit photography. That’s kind of ironic is you take a moment to consider the Antigua Guatemala is the most important tourist and travel destination in Central America. You might recall a sign from the Only in LAG category which prohibit the admission of food, cameras, guns and backpackers. After I had taken the photograph above, a clerk approach me to let me know that taking photos was not allowed. When my friend asked why, the drone spoke for about two minutes and didn’t say an intelligent coherent thought. Obviously, we left the store because places like this do not deserve our business.

My friend and I continue our stroll and conversation and he was wondering if the owners and employees there would have realized how much promotion a photo and description appearing at AntiguaDailyPhoto can do for their bottom line. He also said to me that he prefers the capitalist approach to prohibition, charge $1 per photo, he reasons most people would not pay, but they wouldn’t feel as they were prohibited from taking photographs either. I agree with him on both comments. So, if you’re a business owner, think twice about prohibiting photography in your shop, you might be missing out on the free promotion that blogs, social networks and news sites could do for your bottom line.

If you spent any time on Parque Central, this will be one of the most common vistas. If you spend too much time there, you might become the buyer, especially if you look like a tourists or a foreigner. Sometimes just carrying a camera is enough to mark you as one. That’s what happens to me often, that’s why from now on I will be carrying a tiny camera that can fit in my pocket. I will update you with the results of my experiment.

These are the more traditional baskets found in Guatemala. I believe these baskets are made from Maguey fiber. Kathryn Rousso knows for sure since she’s the foremost authority when it comes to handicrafts made from natural fibers in Guatemala. You can read some of her finding at the Revue web site.

At the recent Fair Trade Fair in Antigua Guatemala I found these gorgeous baskets made from dried pine needles. The vendor had traveled all the way from Nicaragua to show and sell her baskets. Although, I believe these pine-needle baskets are also made in Guatemala. What do you think, are pine needle baskets made in Guatemala?

The traditional ceramic owls in La Antigua Guatemala are yellow, orange and brown as I have show you before, but more recently on Brilliant and Colorful Guatemala so these unusually looking tecolotes caught my attention. These ceramic owls get their distinctive paint job at one of the village around Lake Atitlán; San Antonio Palopó if I’m not mistaken. Well, one thing is certain, it doesn’t matter the color or paint job or even the materials, tecolotes are among the most popular figures found in the Guatemalan handicrafts and decoration markets.

Here’s one of the new directions that Guatemalan textiles are taking. You can still identify the pieces as made with Mayan textiles from Guatemala, but the patterns and colors as well as the new designs of purses and backpacks are made for people in North America and Europe.

What do you think of these new colors and designs?

Rich colors, patterns and textures are what one gets when buying a piece of Guatemalan textiles. A good example of this statement is the purse shown above, don’t you agree?

On November 11, 2011 (11.11.11 for short) the Feria Nacional de Comercio Justo y Solidario Guatemala 2011 opened its kiosk on the arched hallway of Palacio de los Capitanes Generales to promote exchanges for a better world the brochure declares. The national fair trade fair will remain open until Sunday at 3pm, so if you’re in Antigua Guatemala stop by to get chance to talk to and buy directly from the artisans and small producers of honey, coffee, handicrafts, textiles, recycled crafts, shampoos, teas, cereals, etc.

I took other photos of some of the fair stands, so, stay tune for additional coverage.

I remember that when I was a kid my friends and I made these kind of kites from scratch; barriletes we call them here. Kids nowadays have it easy, just buy them, but they don’t know that half of the fun was building your own since you have to take a field trip with your friends to find the baritas (sticks) and cook the engrudo (glue) from zero. Of course, when you build your own kites, you can make them anyway you please so long as them fly. Believe me, by the time we got to the nearest open space, we had already have had so much fun. I am pretty sure this still holds true for many kids living villages around Guatemala.

I have said it before, but I repeat it again here: Guatemalans can not make anything if it’s not bright and colourful, don’t you agree?

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?

The moment one gives close attention to any thing, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself. —Henry Miller

As every first of the month, AntiguaDailyPhoto is participating on the theme day organized by DailyPhoto community. Mystery Object was voted as the theme for October 2011.

I had a couple of mysterious objects in mind including rum distillation equipment, but, on the last minute, I came across the quote from Henry Miller about how mysterious and awesome the world can be if we pay attention to it. I chose to share these mysterious looking objects, Guatemalan decoration pieces really, made with seeds commonly found in Guatemala. I hope you like it.

Please, if you have some extra time this weekend pay a visit to the other DailyPhoto cities around the world participating and find out what my colleagues have chosen for the theme day. Afterwards come back and let’s know what was the most mysterious object you found.

With today’s entry we finish the handicrafts from around Antigua Guatemala series. Yes, I bet many of you don’t know we were running a series, right?

Out of these five fruits, I am sure there’s one that’s unfamiliar to many of you; we call it granada fruit. Once is ripe, you break it apart and eat the bright red seeds; they taste very citric.

Have you had granada fruit yet? If not, give it a try next time you visit Guatemala.

What better than than Guatemalan-illustrated mugs for your Guatemalan coffee or chocolate? I am sure many of you will be very happy with the one liter mug (34 oz). Don’t you agree Eric from Boston?

These Mayan ceramic replicas can be had for about Q150/$20, but DO NOT try to take them out of the country because you might run into trouble. It turns out now there’s a law that forbids taking handicrafts and replicas out of the country without first having the Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes certify that the piece or pieces do not belong the cultural patrimony of Guatemala. Click the thumbnail to see the actual steps one must take to get this certification.