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The other day on my way to the office I came across these interesting signs. The sign that pulled me in was the Facebook, Twitter and Youtube sheet glued to a near-by post as way of saying we provide internet access service. Nowadays, I guess, most people who need internet access will probably do it to check or update Facebook or Twitter, but Youtube? That was interesting. So, I began looking for the place that provided internet access because the post was in the middle of the road, near El Calvario church, and that’s when I found the zaguán business across the street selling chocobananos, chochofresas, chocomelones, chocopiñas, internet access and bathroom services. This one is going directly to the Only in LAG category.

Do you want to know what is a zaguán business? follow the white rabbit for the answer.

This is a follow up to the Pearls and Pans and Don’t Put All Your Eggs In One Basket posts where I mentioned that “the wisdom of idioms do not escape the Guatemalan typical small business owner. That’s why it’s commonplace to find a zaguán shop selling disparate items. For a long time I’ve been wanting to show this with just one image; I believe today’s photo works, don’t you think so?” So, Las Conchas Jewelry and Bistro is the high end equivalente of the zaguán business where you have two disparate business under one roof. And this is quite common in La Antigua Guatemala and the rest of the country.

Is this practice commonplace where you live?

The chicken bus barely stopped while crossing over 4a calle oriente; the main artery that becomes the exit to Guatemala City. A traffic cop was there. Furthermore, the bus pilot blasted the horns. Lastly, the bus parked in front of the Cathedral, next to the Main Plaza. Three traffic violations in less than 20 seconds. Before 60 seconds had elapsed three traffic cops were on the scene and a National police woman. Sixty seconds later six traffic cops were there, the chicken bus pilot argued that he was not from here and so he didn’t know he could not blast the horn as he does everywhere else. He claimed the same for entering the main square and not stopping at 4a calle oriente. A little over half dozen passengers came down to argue in favor of the pilot. Of course, the ambulant typical textile vendors got on the act to see if they could sell anything. In less than 3 minutes we had 8 traffic cops, 3 National police officers, a pilot and his helper, almost a dozen passengers, a few ambulant vendors and several passers-by pedestrians and a bicycle rider doing much about nothing; except, of course, for one traffic police agent writing up one traffic violation.

You gotta love Guatemala where much is done about nothing!

These are my friends Nelo and Miguel. This candid portrait was taken with the iPhone and uploaded while we jested about who would play Poncherello and Jon Baker in CHiPs Antigua chapter?

Who do think will make a very convincing Officer Francis (Frank) Llewelyn “Ponch” Poncherello?

¡No pongas todos los huevos en una canasta!

Oh the wisdom of idioms do not escape the Guatemalan typical small business owner. That’s why it’s commonplace to find a zaguán shop selling disparate items. For a long time I’ve been wanting to show this with just one image; I believe today’s photo works, don’t you think so?

La sabiduría de los modismos y dichos no se le escapa al típico empresario guatemalteco. Es por esta razón que a menudo uno encuentra un zaguán vendiendo artículos desiguales. Desde hace tiempo he querido mostrar esto con una sola imagen; creo la foto de hoy funciona, ¿qué opinás vos?

Guatemala is a country of Desaparecidos (disappeared) and La Antigua Guatemala is not an exception. These colorful and friendly street vendors and their traditional carts vanished without leaving a trace or even causing a murmur. These honest and hard-working people simply desaparecieron (disappeared). They are missing… and missed.

My friend and colleague Miguel De León Soto, who’s also an Antigua Guatemala lover, send us these photos because he’s outraged the municipal government has removed these typical street carts without consultation. He believes these carts not only provide much needed services and products, such as fresh fruits, but they are also an integral part of our identity, and important ingredient of what makes La Antigua Guatemala rich and colorful.

I agree with him!

Come on, where are we going to buy these fresh fruits now?

It seems that in an electoral year, the Mayor Adolfo Vivar should be careful about the things he does and upsets. It looks like this is not the only steps backwards or in the wrong direction that Muni (short for Municipalidad or City Hall) has taken recently. Today I also discovered that they have taken a mayor leap backwards by replacing their nearly usable and friendly website which I reported back on August 2010 with a horrendous and user unfriendly flash website.

We live in a world that moved forward, away from the horrible and unusable flash websites, which gave us the Web 2.0 back in 2002 and then the Social Media Networks back in 2005. We are humans and we love to communicate and share and that’s why websites that provide the tools and the means for these basic needs are very successful, websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Flickr, just to mention a few examples. On the other hand, most of the time flash websites are unusable, unfriendly, horrible to navigate and inhibit communication. The prevention of a dialogue should be reason enough to take down a flash website right away, especially if it’s a government office which is incompetently serving its constituents communication needs.

The reason I checked the Muni’s website in the first place was because I wanted to grab the mayor’s email address so we can write to him and let him know we are not happy with the removal of the traditional street carts as suggested by Miguel de León, but believe or not there’s no contact form or email for any of the offices or branches of the municipal government. In fact, the only email address available anywhere on the website is for the web developer.

I promise I will get the mayor’s email address so we can write to him. Stay tune, I will update this entry with his email address.

This is what reported on August 24, 2010:

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.
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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.

Photos by Miguel De León Soto. Check out Miguel’s Flickr gallery where he shares with us so many beautiful and touching images of La Antigua Guatemala.

It is sad and tragic that in Guatemala some people have to take their body guards with them everywhere they go.

Okay, enough I say; it’s been way too long since I gave away free wallpapers; since December 23, 2010 to be exact, it was the Christmas present from AntiguaDailyPhoto. Honest, I should give away free desktop/laptop wallpapers at least once a month, don’t you agree?

Download the three free wallpapers from Antigua Guatemala from here:

1. Yellow wall
2. Chipped wall
3. Zapote wall

Enjoy and share them with your family and friends. Moreover, if you want to download all the free wallpapers I have shared with you previously, feel free to browse the Wallpapers category and if you like what you see, share this link with your family and friends as well.

Also, it is time to feed the Only in LAG category and what better way to do it than with a Cucuruch’ants procession video produced by Guy Howard and his wife, which they entitled “Cucuruch’ants.” Enjoy!

Normally the Christmas light decorations are put up on Parque Central before the Burning of the Devil on the first week of December and they take them down on Día de la Candelaria (Candlemas) on February 2. This time, however, I believe the Christmas lights were up even before Thanksgiving and they were taken down until this week. This is how the illuminated tree branches look at twilight and at night.

Below there are two additional photos to add context and so you don’t get the wrong idea about the photo above.

Guatemalan fresh milk home delivery. It doesn’t get any fresher than this!

How much does cost a drawn-on-the-spot glass of milk? The answer is in the archives.

Well, it was only a matter of time and natural that someone in La Antigua Guatemala would try to make a coffee jelly spread.

Now imagine a toasted bagel with cream cheese and jalea de café spread on top and, of course, a big mug of freshly brewed genuine coffee from Antigua. I am glad I am not you because I don’t have to imagine anything, I just have that for breakfast a couple times a week.

Of course, now it’s only a matter of time before the cafes in La Antigua Guatemala will begin offering toasts or bagels with coffee spread. Heck why stop there, I am sure jalea de café will go well on top of waffles and panqueques (pancakes) and even champurradas, don’t you think?

Make sure you take a few jars of Valle de Panchoy’s Jalea de Café so you can enjoy, like me, the flavorful and unique coffee jelly from Antigua Guatemala. I know I would!

I have honestly tried not put as many Cuaresma/Lent and Semana Santa/Holy Week photos here. I could, in theory, have a Lent/Holy Week photo each day since Ash Wednesday, but this is not a religious website: it is rather a blogumentary of La Antigua Guatemala and as such I try to cover all aspects of what is like to live in one of the most enchanting towns of the world. However, sometimes it’s impossible not to publish photos like today’s. Talk about the idiosyncrasy of Guatemalans, have you ever seen a more convincing set of Roman soldiers in your life?

This is the third year I share with you a photo of the broom-head Roman soldiers. Click the two link to Roman soldiers to see the previous images. This is what I wrote last year about the Roman soldiers of Guatemala:

So, I come out of the closet now and tell you I really find delightful the excessive garishness of the costumes of Guatemalan Roman soldiers, the clothes of the Holy Week figures, the golden-painted floats, in short, everything about the Holy Week celebrations in the villages and municipalities around La Antigua Guatemala. You may have to click on the photo above to see the fine or kitschy details of the Guatemalan-Roman soldier costumes.

Now guys, if given the opportunity, would you find an exhilarating experience to go out in public wearing a broom-head helmet, a bright-red cloak and a kitschy-looking Roman costume, wouldn’t you? Come on, live a little!

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Guatemala is a gun-crazy country. Everywhere you look there are men with guns. There are even signs forbidding to carry the naked guns inside businesses. Even delivery trucks always have a guard carrying a shotgun. No wonder Guatemala is among the most violent countries.

When you go to Héctor’s restaurant you are surely getting the freshest al dente fettucini pasta in La Antigua Guatemala. I chose fettucini alfredo; it was delicious!

With kind of sauce do you prefer for pasta dishes?

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The classic image of the old man with his “chiribisco” broom sweeping parks and streets of La Antigua Guatemala is vanishing. The Municipalidad of La Antigua Guatemala has created these new make-shift street sweepers designed for cobblestone streets.

What’s the first image that came to your mind the moment you saw today’s photograph?