AntiguaDailyPhoto.Com

Once again, you write the caption in a similar manner than yesterday’s Thinking Boy. What’s the little girl deliberating about?

Okay today you write the caption. What’s the little boy thinking about?

… now you see me, now you don’t…

At the closing of the 31st of December, we’ll be saying our goodbyes to 2011 and I want to take this opportunity to thank all the wonderful people who have left comments or sent feedback. I want to send a big THANK YOU to all of you who supported my efforts. A very special THANK YOU to all the guest contributors who made AntiguaDailyPhoto a richer, polyphonic resource for all things Guatemala.

We close the year 2011 with 2099 pages, 11,005 comments and 2,869,115 visits (at the time of writing).

Please, let us know what were your favorite entries, your favorite series, or your favorite photos of the year. THANKS!

I took over one hundred photos for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, but by and large the portrait of this tender Guatemalan Guadalupano is my favorite. Follow the white rabbit to look at the photographic slide show of Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Today’s theme for The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12 in Antigua Guatemala will be photographic backdrops and photo stages. In the slide show below you can find find examples of the Guatemalan kitsch at its best.

As I have shared with you in previous years, in La Antigua Guatemala, religious celebrations draw together all kinds of heterogeneous people and the Feast of Our Lady of Virgen de Guadalupe is no exception. On December 12 celebrations of La Virgen de Guadalupe, Our Lady of Guadalupe, you can find gringa moms, indigenous mamás, ladino madres and white mamás all taking their children dressed with indigenous clothes to visit the altar of La Virgen Morena.

I am not sure whether now there are more people celebrating Halloween in La Antigua Guatemala or if I am just more aware of the alienation of Guatemalans in general. Although it is kind of difficult to use the word alienation for a town like Antigua Guatemala where most people are not locals. Perhaps, that’s why unconsciously I only photographed Guatemalans kids; who knows really. Anyway, it is what it is or as we say in Guatemala, lo hecho, hecho.

Here’s another day trip away from regular school day. Boy, when I was a kid anything to get me away from a regular school day, especially if it was for a theater play, concerto, or philharmonic recital, even visits to museums were good. So I guess a visit to a church is just as good when you’re a kid, even if it isn’t politically correct for the adults.

Just like the separation of State and Church is not an issue in Antigua Guatemala, taking students from a public school to visit a church for mass service is not an issue either.

To be honest, it’s quite difficult to separate religious rituals and festivities from culture in Guatemala. Often times the boundaries that separate religion and culture, traditions and identity are very fuzzy, out of focus really (pun intended). I believe even atheists participate in some religious rituals and feasts like Cuaresma (Lent), Semana Santa (Holy Week) and Navidad/Noche Buena (Christmas/Christmas Eve). In fact, I remember reading the chronicle of an atheist and leftist poet and author who had became a cucurucho (float bearer) for Lent along with some of this friends.

What do you think about taking students from a public school to mass service inside a church?

The kites on the skyline mark the end of the rainy season, the beginning of the cold and dry weather and the arrival of the winds from the great white north. The kites also mark the approaching Día de los Muertos celebrations and that is time for the world famous fiambre from Guatemala.

By the way, in Guatemala we use the word Barrilete for kite while Papalote is used in other parts of Latin America.

Los Bomberos Voluntarios (Voluntary Fire Deparment) were giving demonstration of equipment outside of the Capuchinas Ruins this weekend. It looks like the kids were having a blast with the water hose, although the little boy seemed a bit reluctant to take charge of the water hose all by himself.

By the way, in Guatemala there are two fire departments entities: Bomberos Municipales and Bomberos Voluntarios. Bomberos Municipales receive some of their funding from the municipal government while Bomberos Voluntarios receive their funding through “crowd sourcing”; that’s web talk euphemism for “donations from the people.”

Photo by guest contributor Darrin Brown

Guatemala celebrates its Independence on September 15 and through the entire month student marching bands and parades are quite common. Students begin practicing for these parades as early as July.

By the way, I found this video with Guatemala’s National Anthem as sound track and over view of the country in moving images. If you would like to read the lyrics, follow the white rabbit to Libre al viento tu hermosa bandera found in the archives.

One week after I started AntiguaDailyPhoto on May 1, 2006 I pointed out how kids should be in school instead of working on the streets. The entry was entitled Tourists and shoe-shining boy.

Only two weeks later I presented you a little boy no more than 5 years old with a shoe shining box in his right hand walking the wet streets of the rainy season in Antigua Guatemala. This is what I wrote then in Antigua’s child labor:

The future of a society is with the children and their education and preparation. What kind of future awaits for Guatemala when its children are on the streets working to survive today. What kind of education and preparation will its labor force have in ten or twenty years? I posted another photo of a child at work on May 7th.

It is very disturbing to me to see children working to survive today instead of being in school and have the minimum provided to them. By the way, child labor is illegal in Guatemala and school is mandatory for children under 16. As you can see, neither is enforced by the government.

Almost a year later, on May 29, 2007 I touched the issue again with All Work And No Play Makes For A Very Dull Day:

What I learned from these kids is that rock climbing is possible in La Antigua Guatemala; child labor still present in Antigua and I don’t know if ever it will be eradicated; regardless of the labor conditions, kids will find a way to play. Good for them!

How can we expect a better future as a country if our future is on the streets working instead of in school preparing to make a better nation?

This past weekend the municipal government promoted the work of the artisans from the villages around Antigua Guatemala through handicraft fair at the Plaza Mayor and what better sound track than to have live marimba music.

That’s why the Kaqchikel Marimba played at the Main Plaza; normally they are found at Calle del Arco on the weekends. I was walking by while they were taking a break and ask if I could take there portrait; they said NO and then they laughed. I guess they are so used to having their picture taken that they were surprised that someone actually asked permission.

Here’s a sampling of their live performance at Calle del Arco. Enjoy!

On the first day of AntiguaDailyPhoto, May 1, 2006, I shared with you a School beauty contest parade with Volcán de Agua in the background. It was truly the original Little Miss Sunshine since it was a sunny day; too bad the film Little Miss Sunshine had not come out yet otherwise I would have chosen this catchy title.

What drives us to have little girls competing in a beauty pageant?

This photograph was taken at the entrance of El Hato village, located about 5 kilometers from La Antigua Guatemala. El Hato villages belongs to La Antigua Guatemala municipality, but if you decide to visit, you will find the typical Guatemalan village embedded in the highlands. The road between and Antigua Guatemala and El Hato is very picturesque with plenty of panoramic photo opportunities. If you decide to visit El Hato, take the road that takes you to Cerro de la Cruz and just continue driving past the entrance of El Cerro de la Cruz. You won’t regret it!