La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo

What’s so special about the Esquisuchil trees around La Antigua Guatemala?

For starters, the esquisuchil trees (bourreria huanita) are very old and very few. Quite possibly, the oldest specimen is located in San Miguel Escobar where it was planted by Guatemala’s first bishop Francisco Marroquin in the 16th century. From the esquishuchil tree in San Miguel Escobar, the Santo Hermano Pedro de Betancourt (1626-1667) took pods and planted several trees around La Antigua Guatemala, being the most famous located inside the San Francisco El Grande Church; his burial grounds.

Most, if not all, of the esquisuchil trees around La Antigua Guatemala have plaques to highlight their importance and give out background information. The specimen of esquisuchil tree in the park of San Pedro Las Huertas is not an exception. If you can read Spanish, you can click the thumbnail below to read the plaque.

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day in Guatemala, let’s hope I can get a shot of all the mamas!

Last year, on Thursday, July 19th, on the entry I am not conTigo, I gave a little overview of the cellular telephone industry in Guatemala. It was Manolo who mentioned then how small and advanced are the cellphones in Guatemala. They are very small indeed with so many features that sometimes they forget to actually work well the telephone part.

The cellular telephone industry is one of the fastest growing industries and they just broke a new record for Latin America: 10 million 150 thousand users or the equivalent of 75% of the population has now an “active cellphone“. The key word here is: Active. This makes Guatemala one of the most connected countries in Latin America. (Source: Guatemala bate récord de usuarios de telefonía móvil at elPeriódico {ES}).

The cellular telephone companies have been able to achieve this huge numbers of active lines through aggressive sales campaigns and inexpensive telephones. If you recall the entry Selling Cell Phones in the La Antigua’s Market, back in November 2007, in which they were selling mobile phones in el mercado (the market) for Q130/USD$18 with Q100/US$12.80 of air time. In other words, they were given away the mobile phone for free.

Next time you come to La Antigua Guatemala, make sure you bring your mobile telephone with you since you will be able to buy ‘Guatemalan mobile telephone number’ through a chip or SIM card that you can swap with the one inside your telephone for about Q25/US$3.25 (Q25 stands for 25 Quetzales. the Quetzal is the Guatemalan currency {follow the link for pictures of the coins and bills} and the exchange rate is now about Q7.80 per US$1).

Un poco de todo or A little of everything could be the most appropriate description for La Antigua Guatemala’s Central Park. Interestingly enough, we call it El Parque Central or Central Park although its official name is La Plaza Mayor (The Main Plaza).

Do you know what Un poco de todo is and what they sell there?

It is incredible that one time women, nuns to be more specific, were not allowed contact with the outside world. The Arco de Santa Catarina, one of La Antigua Guatemala’s landmark was built to prevent the nuns to be seen by the outsiders, quite possibly men, while they move from side of the street to the other side where they eat or pray; don’t know for sure which one.

I am glad to know that now nuns are allowed to walk freely in search for the best Wi-Fi spot in town so they can update their blogs.

That is exactly what Guatemala needs from the new Social Democratic government: Real people making real miracles (or at least real positive changes)!

Selecciones is the name in Spanish of the Reader’s Digest magazine. In the picture above, you see a Real lady reading the aforementioned magazine in her lunch break, or was it in her siesta time?

Even though the new Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom Caballeros, a 57-year-old industrial engineer and textile businessman, was sworn in for a 4-year term in Guatemala City in a ceremony at the Miguel Ángel Asturias National Theater, ceremonies and celebrations were held in the rest of the country too.

In La Antigua Guatemala, for instance, a big television was broadcasting the swearing in ceremony of the new Guatemalan President while music was being played in front of the Palacio de los Capitanes and people began to gather around to see and hear the speeches. The live music coming out from the loudspeakers was bait enough to bring Guatemalans and foreigners alike towards the stage.

Below I leave you with short video clip so you can get a feel for the event held in La Antigua Guatemala’s Central Park:

Like these two ladies, many Guatemalans sit to talk about the future under the new Social Democratic Government that will take office tomorrow, January 14, 2008. Like these two ladies, many have esperanza (hope) in the future with a new Social Democratic president. Like these two ladies, many wonder if the new Social Democratic cabinet will be more inclusive and responsive to the needs of the masses and hope that just having one woman Ministra and one indigenous Ministro (Secretary of an executive department) in a country where 60% of the population are indigenous and at least, if not more, 50% of the population are women, will not be a handicap when the times comes to address the needs of the aforementioned people, which in turn represent the majority of the population. Like these two ladies, many Guatemalans hope for an end to the violent crimes, femicides, insecurity, discrimination on the basis of gender and ethnic background and injustice; just to mention the most pressing issues. Like these two ladies, Guatemalans just want the promised “Solid and Everlasting Peace” in the Peace Accords of 1996.

Let’s hope for the better…

Grandma and granddaughter caught while doing mandados (errands). Above we can see the close relationship between the grandparents and their grandchildren which in Guatemala is one of the strongest links between humans.

Unfortunately, I lost my last grandparent alive last year. I will miss my abuelita (grandma) very much. I am reminded of her often when I see vistas like the one above.

A group of women met at Parque Central to discuss how expensive all the útiles escolares (school supplies) are for this coming school year and to pass tips on where to get the best prices. Just like Black Wizard says, school supplies should also be free.

Sometimes you just have to ask yourself what kind of strange brew are the Canadians brewing way up north, heh. See, first they steal our bright minds; then they take our gold and buy out our postal service; they insert strange things into our antigüeño breakfast (bacon they call it); even our money is now Canadian (it reads Canadian Bank Note on the brand-new Quetzal bills); just to name a few things. In return they send salsa-dancing-craze Spanish students and the horrible and hostile weather. Come on, this is Guatemala, a tropical country in Central America, you know, the tiny land that impedes the Caribbean Island from moving over the Pacific Ocean. So what business does it have freezing-cold-ice-capping winds in La Antigua Guatemala. See, we don’t need no stinking ice-capped mountains and volcanoes in our gorgeous temperate-always-sun-shining-eternal-spring weather. Those volcanoes you see in the background are ice-capped (see larger image).

We will most definitely need stricter migration rules for all things Canadian; don’t you think so?

The photographer was capturing fleeting emotions, split-second gestures, temporary smiles or pensive introspections, passing pedestrians, et-cetera. Stealing souls, pues!

Okay, I promise this is the last shot of La Antigua Guatemala’s Central Park at night for a while. I just thought I needed to show all the angles and besides and I also wanted to show what is possible when you are walking around and the lighting conditions don’t allow for photographs to be taken without a tripod. See, thanks to the mini tripod LAGDP received from Santa Claus, a tripod is always present for those photo opts that do require a little more than a steady hand (and boy, because of all the coffee drinking I do, a steady hand is one thing I lost long time agoooooo).

But, before I move away from the night photo series, let me know your opinion of it; did you enjoy it?

I figured you would like to see the illuminated angels a little closer, so I took a few more shots. This one has a couple making up (you guys are voyeurs!) by the fountain and this next one you could use it as a post card since it is only the two angels slightly out of focus. I hope you enjoy them both!

Even smaller parks, like the one in front of the Escuela de Cristo Church, get their light dress for the Christmas season in La Antigua Guatemala. Yet the best and most expensive lighting is reserved for the Parque Central (Central Park) as you have seen in the previous days’ photos.

Christmas’ Eve or Noche Buena in La Antigua Guatemala is celebrated by staying up all night burning firecrackers and fireworks, eating tamales or turkey 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.