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Last Friday night at 7 p.m. AntiguaDailyPhoto guest contributor and professional photographer Arturo Godoy, Kara Andrade from HablaGuate and I attended the conference La verdadera estructura del Calendario Maya, or The True Structure of the Mayan Calendar, given by Mayanist David Stuart. Dr. David Stuart refuted the modern visions of the end of the world of the 2012 Mayan Calendar as false and lacking any base in the old Maya civilization. The conference was centered around the Mayan Calendar from a new perspective based on the latest research done by Dr. Stuart of the true internal structure of the Mayan Calendar. This was the first time Dr. Stuart gave this conference. In other words, the 2012 Mayan Prophecy is a hoax!

Luckily, Kara Andrade, a new media journalist, took notes and broadcasted them in real time at the new citizen-based and contributed journalism HablaGuate web site as Demystifying 2012; follow the white rabbit if you want to read her notes of the conference. Arturo Godoy and I, on the other hand, took the opportunity to document the conference through photographs. Okay, I will you guys in a little secret, the entire conference was video-taped and the audio recorded by both Arturo and Kara; hint, hint, if you bug them long enough, they will provide links for the video and audio.

This was also my first time at Casa Herrera, a wonderfully restored colonial house. I was delighted with the results of the restoration and I promise I will make the time come back and photograph the entire house and so a series about it.

For now I bring three snapshots taken with the aid of the fish eye attachment donated by Michele and Eddie from Toronto through my Amazon Wish List. Let’s thank them both for their continued support!

Here’s a little overview about Casa Herrera:

The Casa Herrera is a research, conference and teaching facility located in the heart of La Antigua Guatemala that focuses on the varied and inter-related disciplines that contribute to the study of Pre-Columbian art, archaeology, history and culture.

Since 1977, The Maya Meetings at Texas have been at the cutting edge of research into the culture of the ancient Maya of Mexico and Central America. This annual conference draws scholars from a wide spectrum. (source: Facebook Casa Herrera page)

Basically Casa Herrera is The Mesoamerica Center of the University of Texas at Austin.

David Stuart speaks about the myth of 2012 by hablaguate

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Guatemala’s National Registry of Persons, Registro Nacional de las Personas, RENAP began retiring the old Guatemalan identification card known as Cédula back in September 2009. The RENAP only has until December 31, 2010 to switch the old identification booklet documents since by law the cédulas will be rendered invalid and useless on January 1, 2011.

The new Guatemalan identification card goes by the name of Documento Personal de Identificación, DPI for short. The DPI is a plastic card, similar to the driver license, with three levels of security and a chip with a microprocessor. The DPI will also incorporate the Códico Único de Identificación, CUI for short, which will be an universal unique identification number, the equivalent to the Social Security Number.

Of course, turning all the paper records into digital files for +13 million people is a colossal undertaking; one with still many wrinkles. So for now, the process of switching the old cédula for the new DPI is taking over two months with long lines forming around many of the RENAP offices. Such is the case of the RENAP office in La Antigua Guatemala, although if you go to Jocotenango or Ciudad Vieja, there are no lines.

If you’re interested and let me know in the comment area, I will explain the process of actually acquiring the new DPI.

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In La Antigua Guatemala we are so lucky to be able to get excellent coffee just about everywhere. Cafetenango in Finca Filadelfia is such a place where one can drink an amazing coffee grown, harvested, dried and roasted in the premises. At Cafetenango there are baristas on site who like to draw all kinds of figures over the milk foam. I really like the views available from Cafetenango with all three volcanoes, Agua, Fuego and Acatenango, breaking away from La Antigua’s skyline. If you come to Finca Filadelfia for the Antigua Canopy Tours, make sure you make time for coffee; you won’t regret it.

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Christmas Eve or Noche Buena in La Antigua Guatemala is celebrated by staying up all night burning firecrackers and fireworks, eating tamales, turkey, or roasted pork leg, and drinking real fruit punch or hot real chocolate, visiting family, friends and neighbors for the respective abrazo de Noche Buena and buenos deseos (Christmas Eve hugs and best wishes); many even go to midnight mass. At midnight the presents under the Christmas tree, around the nacimiento (nativity scene), are opened and everyone laughs and hugs indiscriminately everyone around.

These celebrations rate the highest on the nostalgic memory scale; everyone who is living abroad wishes to be in Guatemala for this season and for this night in particular.

A todos los chapines en el extranjero, y en especial a mi familia, les envío mis más sinceros abrazos de Noche Buena y mis mejores deseos. Les prometo que por ustedes, este día no haré dieta alguna. ¡Qué tengan unas felices fiestas!

Best wishes and Noche Buena hugs to all the visitors to La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo.

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San Felipe de Jesús is just a small town next to La Antigua Guatemala, which has its own particularities. San Felipe’s church is gothic, its market is cozy, there are many options to have some delicious food… So, why not pay a visit to San Felipe on a Saturday or Sunday? I guess I am becoming a bit obsessed with Sundays, as there is plenty to do Don’t forget to tour around all the villages of La Antigua Guatemala; there’s more to come. Stay tune!

text and photos by Arturo Godoy

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It was only last week that I told you that often during December or the Christmas season, there are several free concerts around La Antigua Guatemala. La Antigua Guatemala’s cathedral is use as backdrop for concerts and recitals. By looking at the larger version of that day’s photo one can agree at the excellent choice.

Well, it seems like the Palacio de los Capitanes building is also often used as backdrop for concerts and recitals. Remember for World Aids Day, Palacio de los Capitanes was used as backdrop for the marimba concert.

Wow, I wonder how many free concerts and recitals there have been already since December 1. I love all the Free Culture available in La Antigua Guatemala year round, don’t you?

I taped a little clip of the Christmas Carol of this afternoon. Enjoy!

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I love the possibilities of street photography in La Antigua Guatemala. Almost every day you can go out and come back with good material if you keep your eyes wide open, your mind without filters and your finger ready on the shutter button.

How often you can capture the first steps of a baby, really? I call it luck, pure luck. I am big believer in chance, chaos and randomness; synchronicity and serendipity are probably better terms. What do you think, am I lucky or what?

Ephemerides Aside: Today was the first day of Posadas in La Antigua Guatemala. I have 8 more chances to take some photos of posadas before Christmas. Are you interested in seeing photos of posadas and learning about this important Guatemalan tradition?

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Often during December or the Christmas season, there are several free concerts around La Antigua Guatemala. For instance, the photo above was taken on December 11, the eve of Virgen de Guadalupe Celebrations and there is another concert programmed for December 12.

Often La Antigua Guatemala’s cathedral is use as backdrop for concerts and recitals. By looking at the larger version of today’s photo one can agree at the excellent choice.

I really like the dramatic façades of the spot illuminated churches and ruins around La Antigua Guatemala.

Can you tell me what are those white dots on the top right corner?

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One of the goals of AntiguaDailyPhoto is to bring you new fresh vistas from the same hackneyed places. Today’s is an example of a new perspective for the overly-exposed Iglesia de La Merced, quite possibly Antigua Guatemala’s most photographed church.

Even I have already shown you the façade, the dome, the atrium, the main doorway, the baroque details of Iglesia de La Merced. I have tried not to show you the most obvious places and the most often photographed sites unless I can bring a new fresh vista or a different angle. Remember, this is not a tourist-oriented site (well, at least I try not to make it one).

Have I succeeded, please, let me know your thoughts?

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All year long he hides under the bed or in the junk piled up in the corner, casting misfortune or worse on helpless mortals. But on Wednesday, December 7, at 6 p.m. sharp, the Devil gets his comeuppance, as he is tossed out of the house along with the trash and set ablaze in the Quema del Diablo (Burning of the Devil), a tradition in many Guatemalan towns that literally sparks the beginning of the Christmas Season.

The origins of the Quema del Diablo in Guatemala can be traced to colonial times, when the well-to-do adorned the fronts of their homes with elaborate lanterns on the eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, explains historian Miguel Álvarez Arévalo. Unable to afford lanterns, poor denizens instead lit bonfires made of kindling and the trash from their homes. The practice over time evolved into the Quema del Diablo. (Quoted from Juan Carlos Ordoñez’s article The Devil Gets His Due in Revue Magazine—click the link to continue reading the article.)

It occurred to me very late on December 7 that perhaps this year I should do a time-lapse video of the Quema del Diablo, Burning of the Devil. However, since I have never done a time lapse video, I had no idea how to do it. So, a slide show with a few photos of the climax of the Burning of the Devil will have to do this year. I promise, I will learn how to do time lapse videos as soon as possible and I will bring you some interesting videos pretty soon. Stay tune!

Please, take you time to let me know what you think of the slide show of the Burning of the Devil in Antigua Guatemala?

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What’s the relationship between Guatemalan filmmaker Diego Combi, Carlos Fuentes’ Constancia and Other Stories for Virgins and Clint Eastwood’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil?

The answer is one word. The first person that comes up with the right answer will receive one of the following LAGDP’s Christmas cards via regular snail-mail with postage stamps from Guatemala. The game is on!

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The last meeting of the Club Fotográfico de Antigua was quite a blast with some very interesting guests like Iván Castro, James Rodríguez and Diego Colombi.

First, my good friend Iván Castro, founding member of FlickrGuatemala, decided to pay us a visit to see what’s exactly happening at the photo club. Check out Iván’s most recent photos of Lake Atitlán to see how a bacteria is killing the most beautiful lake in the world.

Next, James Rodríguez from MiMundo.org, came to talk about his photography, his world and tell us anecdotes from this photo-taking process in the remote villages of Guatemala. Check out James’ amazing photojournalistic work!

Last, but not least, Diego Colombi, a Guatemalan filmmaker, based out of Savannah, Georgia, who recently directed and produced A’plas; the story of Father Stanley Rother. A’plas is already bringing home the accolades. I promise I will do a review of A’plas as soon as Diego puts it online. I have already seen A’plas, but I want to share the documentary with you.

The Club Fotográfico de Antigua is becoming a wonderful hot spot for photography and art lovers in La Antigua Guatemala. See the benefits of gardening at night.

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La Antigua Guatemalal joined the other cities in the world that, on December 1, observed World Aids Day, Día mundial del sida, with cultural and awareness-promoting activities.

There was, of course, the omni-present marimba music, speeches, parades, skateboarding, rollerblading, et cetera. Red ribbons and white t-shirts bearing the red ribbon stamps and information about Día mundial del sida were handed out by the Human Rights Commission and the Minister of Education.

All in all, there was a great relax atmosphere around La Antigua Guatemala’s Central Park.

How was World Aids Day observed in your city?

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Roller skaters and skate-boarders using the Central Park is something you don’t see very often. There are plenty of skaters in La Antigua Guatemala, but they are not allowed to use Parque Central. The exception was made on December 1 as part of activities for Día mundial del sida (World Aids Day).

I also took advantage of the relax atmosphere I took quite a number of jumps. Check out the slide show. Enjoy!
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Since La Antigua is the wedding capital of Guatemala and very often used as wedding destination for couples the world over, it comes as no surprise that often there is plenty of waiting going around. Waiting for the bride, waiting for bridegroom, waiting for the photographer, waiting the parents, waiting for… you name it. Such was the case in this particular instance where this 1950′s old automobile was waiting for the wedding party.

I wonder what is the brand and model of this vehicle, do you know?

Like many firsts of the month, AntiguaDailyPhoto is participating in the theme day of the City Daily Photo community around the world. To see how others in the City Daily Photo community have interpreted today’s theme please click here to view thumbnails for all participants around the planet.

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