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According to Foursquare, I hold more mayorships than anyone in La Antigua Guatemala, including the current elected Mayor, Dr. Vivar.

So, I believe I should be able to change the official slogan of the city from Ciudad de las perpetuas rosas (City of the perpetual roses) to Ciudad de las fuentes (City of fountains); don’t you agree? Just take a look at the Fountains and Gardens category to get a sampling of the many fountains found through out the city.

New Blog and Twitter presence of Municipalidad de La Antigua Guatemala Aside: Finally the Municipalidad de La Antigua Guatemala is sporting new presence in Twitter as well as a new website. If you are in Twitter you can follow @MunideAntigua for all the latest official buzz.

Now, the new web site found at MunicipalidadAntiguaGuatemala.com leaves much to be desired. The new web site is poorly executed, with awkward navigation, horrible animations, partially translated into Spanish menus and a poor structure all around. There is no English version of the website to better serve its foreign community. In my humble opinion, the new web site is almost as bad as the one it replaces.

Of course, the Twitter page has not even been modified to make it look like the official presence of La Antigua Guatemala Municipal government.

I believe that beyond the Twitter presence, the Municipalidad would serve better its citizens if they had a page in Facebook. If the Municipalidad intended to have a social media presence, they are lacking some of basic social media networks.

Furthermore, it’s my professional opinion that the Municipalidad de La Antigua Guatemala was poorly advised regarding its web site, its Twitter account, its new domain, et cetera.

Yes, even the new domain is the wrong choice. Instead of having a FREE or inexpensive .GOB.GT domain they have a U.S. commercial domain. Instead of having something simple as AntiguaGuatemala.gob.gt they have this cumbersome municipalidadantiguaguatemala.com business domain.

Nevertheless, I welcome the new steps the Municipalidad is taken to have a better web presence and communication with its citizens and the world. I just hope next time they hire someone with sufficient experience and knowledge to give them the website and presence that will benefit its citizens the most.

Three simple shots of fountains found inside the patios of Casa Santo Domingo. In the picture above I decided to freeze the water in mid air to show the distinct drops. In the pictures below I went to opposite way and smooth the flow of water to show its movement. I played with running water without getting wet.

Mi Aldea Lancetillo Photo Exhibit Aside: Four members of the Club Fotográfico de Antigua went to Lancetillo to teach teen agers how to use cameras and photograph their reality.

Celebrate the vision of young Guatemala featuring the work of Project Einstein participants. Through six weeks of intensive training in the Zona Reyna, over 70 Q’eqchi’ Maya youth learned the basics of the photography, video and new media to tell the stories of their community, the flyer invitation reads.

The young photographers work is compiled and synthesized in the Mi aldea Lancetillo photo exhibit, which will open tomorrow at 6pm in Convento de Santa Clara, right across from Tanque de La Unión.

The Photo Exhibition will be open until September 17, 2010.

If you’re in Guatemala and can spare an hour, stop by the opening night and meet a few of the kids and members of the Club Fotográfico de Antigua who supported this photo exhibit through donations and logistics.

I share with you one the slide shows they did with the photographs taken by the Guatemalan youths. You can watch the other videos at the special page created by HablaGuate as well read all the background information. Also, you can read the name of all the people and sponsors at the Lancetillo web page. Flyer and video are a courtesy of HablaGuate.

Don’t ask me, but how did the venerable utilitarian pila (water tank) and lavadero (washbasin) became decorations elements or design accents?

In The Venerable Colonial Pila is Now Used as Decoration I introduced you to the washbasins and water tank inside McCafé in La Antigua Guatemala with the following words:

What’s a pila (pee-lah), I hear you ask? simple, the omnipresent pila guatemalteca is basically a water tank and one or two sinks or washbasins for doing dishes and washing the clothes. You have seen a colonial-styled pila before as part of La Casa Antigüeña series and you have also recently seen the public washbasins. So you now know how pilas are basically smaller versions of the public washbasins and water tanks, right?

I bet you never thought a colonial utilitarian washbasin and water tank could be used as decoration for a upscale, hi-tech wireless internet, coffee shop. I think it works and it does especially well, since the water is running all the time between the main two water compartments and adds a wonderful relaxing sound.

In Water Tanks and Colonial Style Social Networks I mentioned that “as in colonial times, these public water tanks and washbasins serve as the places for doing the laundry and for water distribution. Furthermore, public laundry washbasins (sometimes rivers or lake shores) serve as the gathering place for news, gossip and community building through the interactions that take place. Public washbasins could be considered the first news broadcasting sites or social networks such as Facebook or Twitter; computers are not required. In many places in Guatemala this stills holds true.”

In Colonial Washbasins from Guatemala I showed you how the washbasins and water tanks are often the central piece to decorate an inside patio in colonial homes.

Today’s entry showcases the pila and lavaderos right next to Cafetenango restaurant inside Finca Filadelfia. Looking at main photo above I am thinking I should have captured a video clip a few seconds of the running water and resulting sound. I have to keep a thread around my finger to remember to capture more videos, as my dear friend Kara Andrade has rightly recommended to me. Oops, sorry!

I am sure you were already thinking of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.

Gotcha!

Well, this is really a literal snapshot or think of it more like a tickler vista so you revisit Whitman’s poetry. I know I will read a few poems of Hojas de Hierba this week; if you do the same, please share with us which poems you read. Deal?

Here’s an interesting idea, cover the patio with transparent laminas plus a pergola framework where one can hang the Colas de Quetzal (nephorlepsis spp.), helechos (ferns) and put other plants in pots around the fountain and one can enjoy of the patio year round, including during the rainy season.

How you like that?

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

Anyhow, I like it and it’s 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.

So far I have posted several photos of the palo de izote tree, but Palo de Izote Tree is my favorite. I might even include it in my Antigua Abstracta series. I also like today’s version of Palo de Izote.

How about you, which one you like better?

Besides signs, I also have a fascination for fountains. I am glad in La Antigua Guatemala there is an abundance of both.

Can you guess where is this fountain located?

The fountains around the Plaza Mayor provide the perfect sound track for spending a relax time sitting on a bench and watching the world go by… especially during the lazy afternoons.

Can you hear the water falling and murmurs of the people near-by?

Don’t we all would love to have a room with a view? Even though this is not my daily view, I can’t complaint from my rooms with different views towards the jardín florido, flowering garden.

Arched windows are quite common in La Antigua Guatemala; I am sure I have shown you one arched window before, but I believe today’s image is a better example since you get to see the window in context.

This magnificent garden is part of the El Sitio Cultural, one of the culture centers of Antigua Guatemala. Come back tomorrow to see the view from inside towards the garden.

I wonder how many fountains there are in La Antigua Guatemala. Everywhere I go, even in fast food restaurants, there is at least one fountain. Take a tour through the Fountains and Gardens category to see how many I have shared with you already.

One or more búcaro fountains are found along a patio or corridor away from the main fountain normally found in the center of the main patio. Like I have said before, búcaros are half fountains embedded along walls. In today’s smaller houses búcaro fountains are usually the only fountains found; still quite beautiful and relaxing though.

What better way to enjoy a Sunday morning than to bring a freshly brewed cup of the best coffee in the world from Antigua Guatemala and a couple of newspapers to seat and read by the fountain in the patio. Beautiful weather, peaceful ambience, great coffee, what else can you ask for a Sunday newspaper reading morning. Life is good!

I like to photograph old people. I like to photograph young people. I like to photograph people, regardless of their age, really. I like to photograph people bonding. I like to photograph members of a family interacting, being kind to one another. That’s what life is all about.

Please, help me come up with possible things Ixchel would show to her little brother, Chepito. The most creative comment wins a post card!

Looking for Palladin Aside: In May, it will be the official showing of Looking for Palladin; a mayor movie filmed in La Antigua Guatemala and other parts of Guatemala.

Arrogant Hollywood talent agent, Josh Ross (David Moscow, is sent to Guatemala to find two-time Oscar winner actor Jack Palladin (Ben Gazzara). Although they’d never met, the search is emotionally complicated as the long-time retired star was once married to Josh’s late mother. The young agent’s contempt for the ‘old’ actor mirrors his comedic distaste for the local community, whose help he desperately needs to find him. What Josh hopes will be a quick and lucrative deal turns into a soul-searching journey. The retired star and his estranged stepson must confront the past they had forsaken (source: Looking For Palladin)

I believe this is the third or fourth time I shown you a búcaro fountain. Can you tell us now what exactly is a búcaro fountain and how many búcaro fountain photos have been shown so far?