AntiguaDailyPhoto.Com

It’s time for the umbrellas and you probably should buy one in you plan to visit Guatemala for the next 180 days or so. Sorry, it’s like that and there is no way around it. Heck some people, like Eric from Boston, have never seen the beautiful and dry Guatemala; can you believe that?

Sometimes it pays to be present at the right moment with the camera ready to capture a fleeting instance. Such was the case of man paying for his order of chiles rellenos. By the way, did you know that chiles rellenos are normally sold on Sundays, so it was a surprise to see the sign of Hoy Chiles Rellenos on the door on a Wednesday.

When was the last time you had Guatemalan chiles rellenos?

“I have everything I ever wanted, nothing I ever really needed,” I read in Twitter.

In Guatemala is quite the opposite most of the time for most Guatemalans. Often I see Guatemalans, young and old, have so much fun with so little. Kids buy an inexpensive colorful plastic ball or natural membrane ball and have an informal foot ball match, and I mean real foot ball, not what North Americans call foot ball; a chamusca pues. Adults can spend a few hours playing cards at the park.

The image above brought back memories of a family spending quality time at the green areas of the ruins and where I wrote “the best things in life are free or nearly free as Claudia said it, “… simple times, simple pleasures, family, friends, nature… ” feel her heart with nostalgia.”

And that image triggered this comment from Claudia, a long time reader of AntiguaDailyPhoto:

“No helmets, no amber alerts, no Wiis, just a plastic ball or if lucky a real soccer ball…”

“… I feel one component that I loved of living down there was that you knew everyone and everyone knew you, or of you, do you know what I mean? You spoke to your neighbors, you knew their names, where they worked, etc. Heck, you could even have refaccion together, at night you could hang. . have some decent conversation about everything and nothing…”

Oh such is life deep on the highlands of Guatemala and just about any country of the infamous “third world.”

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!

Mother’s Day always falls on May 10 in Guatemala. Thus, today is a holiday for mothers in Guatemala and many mamás get the day off from work.

I’d like send a very special Gracias to my own mother for teaching me how to be a fairly decent human being (most of the time; maybe?!). I am glad I was able to spend some time with you recently. Let me share with you the Guatemalan classic marimba Un vals para mi madre (A waltz for my mother) and wish you a very happy Guatemalan Mother’s Day!

It’s good to see the natural drains for Volcán de Agua sort of clean since the rainy season will soon begin discharging enormous amounts of water all around Guatemala and Water Volcano is a natural formation that accumulates lots of water, thus its name, and often the excess water runs down the natural drain channels. When these drains are blocked, we end up with lahars and lots of destruction in San Miguel Escobar and Ciudad Vieja.

It had been a while since I visited Ciudad Vieja, the town about two miles from Antigua Guatemala. I was surprised to see all the changes and improvements made around Ciudad Vieja.

Ciudad Vieja is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Sacatepéquez. According to the 2002 Guatemalan Census, the municipality has a total of 25,696 people. Ciudad Vieja was the second colonial capital of the country. Many of the recent photos have been taken in Ciudad Vieja and/or in San Miguel Escobar, a community of Ciudad Vieja.

San Miguel Escobar is the modern name for the district that contains the ruins of the second colonial capital of the Guatemala region. The Spaniards founded their capital here in 1527, after their previous capital at Tecpán Guatemala became untenable. The city was destroyed by a catastrophic lahar from Volcan de Agua in 1541, and the survivors had no choice but to abandon the site. The capital was again refounded several miles away at Antigua Guatemala in 1543. (source: Wikipedia)

Make sure you pay Ciudad Vieja and San Miguel Escobar a visit next time you come to Antigua Guatemala.

If Antigua Guatemala means the Former Guatemala City, then Ciudad Vieja (Old City) would mean the former former Guatemala City.

For a while now I wanted to do a backlit fountain shot and the opportunity appeared the other day when I paid a visit to Ciudad Vieja, the former former Guatemala City. I was also able to include a couple kissing on the same frame to make the photo more interesting.

As always, I feel lucky to be able to share with you quotidian vistas from Antigua Guatemala and its surroundings. Next Tuesday AntiguaDailyPhoto will be celebrating its 6th year anniversary of everyday life images, stories, art and news from Antigua Guatemala.

I read somewhere that the relationships among siblings are the longest of all. In this case, these two brothers are building a very strong relationship from the start. I like how the older brother wraps his arm around his little brother in a sort of protection way.

This is just another daily life stamp from Antigua Guatemala, I hope you enjoy it.

By the way, next Tuesday AntiguaDailyPhoto will be celebrating its 6th year anniversary of bringing you everyday life images, stories, art and news from Antigua Guatemala.

Every time the Barça and Real Madrid football clubs Antigua Guatemala and Guatemala for the matter go crazy with uniforms of each team, sometimes just t-shirts or anything with the official colors of each team. Restaurants and bars offer special menus and drinks to accommodate the fans. And regardless, which team wins, either the Real Madrid like today, or the Barça from Barcelona, there are people passionate about their team.

The photo above was taken near Casa Escobar restaurant which always have gimmicks such as colonial-time looking Spaniards inventing you to try the delicious charbroiled steaks or other things on the menu. Today, the colonial-time looking Spaniards were wearing the uniforms of the now most famous classic match of football.

By the way, do you want to know what the final score was for today’s match between the Barça and Real Madrid?

I was told once that in Guatemala if they are lucky coffee plantations can harvest twice a year. But, most of the time, there’s only one harvest season, which begins in February or March.

Do you know when is the other harvesting season in Guatemala?

The traditions of Guatemala are kept alive by the faith and fervor of the people and that’s exactly what Nelo wanted to show with this slide show. People fully committed to their passion, believes and faith. People participating in all aspects of the Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala, the largest manifestation of its kind in the world.

Nelo shared with me an interesting trivia: the only reason they don’t build bigger processional floats, andas precesionales, is because they can not turn in the narrow streets of La Antigua Guatemala. Of course, as Eric would say, where there’s a will, Guatemalans will find a way… so, stay tune.

In the meantime, enjoy the Semana Santa slide show that Nelo has prepared for us and if you’re looking for additional photos and in-depth information about the world famous Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala, take a tour through the Holy Week and Lent categories.

Come on everyone, let’s give Nelo an up-standing ovation for having shared with us his marvelous and unique perspective on the Holy Week in our beloved Antigua Guatemala.

All photos for this entry by Leonel [Nelo] Mijangos

Even though mister Leonel Mijangos, simply Nelo for those us lucky to him, is doing an fantastic job with series Holy Week photographers, after looking at the cucurucho with the camera, I believe we should ask Nelo to bring us that perspective next year. I mean for to carry the heavy float and take pictures at the same time. Actually, now that I think about it, I am sure that’s how Nelo started photographing the Semana Santa in Antigua Guatemala. We should ask him to show us some his first Holy Week photos taken over decade ago, what do you think?

Nelo is also sharing with us other stamps from Semana Santa in Antigua Guatemala that are not commonly shown, such as people having chupete candies or the fleeting expression of a woman in awe. Make sure you click on the thumbnails below each entry to see the large images.

If you want to see hundred of Holy Week photos and read about all the aspects of Semana Santa, browser the Holy Week and Lent categories.

All photos by Leonel [Nelo] Mijangos

As shown the other day, many cucuruchos are also photographers, a trend which seems to increase as more people use mobile phone cameras and point and shoots. But, the professional photographers will always be there with all their gear, ready to capture a fleeting gesture or the laughs of kids watching from window sill.

All photos by Leonel [Nelo] Mijangos

We continue the series Antigua Guatemala Holy Week Photographers with portraits of three photographers, two of them friends and partners in Antigua Guatemala photo club. In the picture above, you can see how several photographers manage to take photos of each other without them realizing it.

The Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala has to be the most photographed event in Central America. Photographers come from all the corners of the world to see and be part of the Holy Week celebrations. I can’t think of something larger than Semana Santa in La Antigua Guatemala, can you?

All photos by Leonel [Nelo] Mijangos