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Guatemalan Cuisine: Rabo Guisado

Okay, get your Guatemalan notebook handy, we’re about to learn a few Guatemalan words and concepts. Rabo Guisado translate roughly as ox …

Guatemalan Cuisine: Tacos

Tacos is yet another word shared by the Guatemalan and Mexican gastronomy. If you’re accustomed to Mexican dishes, you have to be …

Play it with Pride (Part I)

Regardless of how I may feel about the marimba, this instrument and its waling sound are very important to Guatemalans all over. …

Wear it with Pride (Part 4)

I know that Guatemalan Danzas and Bailes Tradicionales are an integral part of the folklore and culture of Guatemala, but I must …

Wear it with Pride (Part 3)

Sure, you say, the traje indí­gena is a far out outfit, but are there really symbols encoded in these garments? Once again, …

Wear It With Pride (Part 1)

Last week, as we watch the delegations parade at the Beijing 2008 Olympics Inauguration, I was thinking how wonderful it was to …

Copyright Infringement Sign

Signs: They come with all kinds messages; some with weird information too.

If you’ve been visiting La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo for a month or longer, you will know that the sign category gets a lot of attention from my viewfinder. You can browse the sign category to see 48 samples of the different signs capture thus far.

Guatemalan-style Salt and Pepper Shakers

eck, sometimes we even do some local recycling too. For instance, all those empty hard liquor bottles can have a fulfilling second life as salt and pepper shakers.

What I like about the people of Café No Sé is that they know when they are onto something; at once they apply the Café No Sé branding, and just in case, they make sure it is registered. These are my kind of hippies! 😉

Multimedia Section at the Compañí­a de Jesús Library

So it took us about a week to finally enter the Multimedia zone at the Compañí­a de Jesús Library, as Lessie suggested. Now I would be extremely happy if the film section had the complete works of Woody Allen, Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock and Emir Kusturica for starters. Or better yet, I would be in film-heaven if they only had the 1001 movies you must see before you die. Sometimes I wish I was a Slacker.

Computer Terminals at the Compañí­a de Jesús Library

Computer stations are also available at the Compañí­a de Jesús Library in La Antigua Guatemala. Patsy mentioned that many people opt for the computer instead of grabbing the old-time-tested book. Well, the times are a-changing, you know and everyone needs help with a new system. If you don’t believe me, just take a look a the video clip below that show us how difficult it was for the book to get accepted as the new medium for holding texts.

Reading Area at the Compañí­a de Jesús Library

From the reception desk, we move to the reading area, immediately to the left, to check out all the recent magazines (mostly European and Spanish). This gray granite table with its bright illumination is the perfect work area to do your Spanish classes homework; even more so if you take into account the great dictionaries and thesaurus available the

The Library Tour: the reception desk

We will begin a mini tour of the library at the Compañí­a de Jesús building under the care of Cooperación Española NGO or Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional as it is called in Spanish.

But first the disclosure: I love libraries; even chicken bus libraries! 😉

Transnational: Eat fresh

I think this Subway franchise will have to use its second slogan: The Way A Sandwich Should Be because the Eat fresh may not work in a place like Antigua Guatemala, where most places serve REAL fresh food. With all of these transnational fast-food restaurants in La Antigua Guatemala, we still have to make a run for the border or drive to Guatemala City if we’d like to think outside the bun while enjoying a bean and cheese burrito.

Exiting the San Lázaro Cemetery

It is so peaceful to walk on the tree-lined cobblestone street with benches on the side in your way in or out of the San Lázaro Cemetery. I guess a visit to this cemetery could be a much needed break from the ‘hectic’ strolls around La Antigua Guatemala.

The Solorzano Najera Mausoleum

It must be nice to know your resting place it’s taken care of by a family mausoleum. In the picture above you get a close-up view of the Solorzano Najera family mausoleum. Who are they? Who knows; a random pick by the viewfinder on the way out of the cemetery.

Saint in Niche in San Lazaro Church

One aspect I forgot to mention was that there is full-size church inside the San Lazaro Cemetery in La Antigua Guatemala which I believe goes by the same name. There are some niches in the church façade, just like in many churches around Antigua Guatemala.

Family Mausoleum in San Lázaro Cemetery

JM Magaña, La Antigua Guatemala’s second conservator and the pen behind the architecture column in Recrearte Magazine, pointed out that until 1976 La Antigua Guatemala was painted all white too. At the time the cemetery was created in the 1800s, there were a couple waves of plagues and thus every thing was white-washed with live limestone to disinfect and maintain the town virus free. This coincided with the introduction of coffee in 1875 (more or less) and thus an abundance of wealth which provided the necessary fund to build all those mausoleums. There was a massive earthquake that hit Guatemala in 1976 and destroyed a great deal of buildings and houses in Guatemala. In fact, it is said that the 1976 earthquake changed forever the look and feel of Guatemala. La Antigua Guatemala was not saved and thus reconstruction began after the quake and with it, the color lime-stone paint came. This change in color did not reach the cemetery.

6-column Façade Mausoleum in San Lázaro Cemetery

When I decided to enter the cemetery of San Lázaro I was expecting a very chaotic cemetery full of the antigüeño color palette with many crypts and above grounds burial chambers and perhaps some mausoleums. Surprise, surprise! The only color was provided by the many flower arrangements, there were mostly mausoleums, some nichos (above grounds crypts) and just a few crypts.

Crypts in San Lázaro Cemetery

The only underground crypts that I saw in the San Lázaro Cemetery in La Antigua Guatemala are in this green lot, located all the way in the rear of the cemetery. These crypts are in the west end of the cemetery and thus protected, somehow, from floods by the many mausoleums in the front of the cemetery. Wealth could also be factor. This lot represents a very small percentage of the size of the cemetery, so I believe, this section is allocated for the very poor. Once again, the white color is present in las tumbas (tombs) and it is very rare for a Latin American cemetery to only be painted in white. The mystery continues…

You’re Not Dead Until You’re Forgotten

Guatemala’s real culture is syncretism and thus death plays an important role in traditions and culture. Guatemala is the real ‘melting pot’ and the final product is called mestizo. A mestizo is an individual that comes in many shades of brown and she is made up from a combination of AmerIndian, European, African, Asian and Arab. Syncretism and mestizism go together well and that is why there is no conflict with including some or many Mayan rituals, including death rituals, in a everyday Catholic or Christian service. Obviously, a single entry is not enough to describe such a complex human being, but we have to start somewhere and since Patsy Poor mentioned that recent studies showed that the U.S. will be brown (mestizo) in 50 years. 😉

Niche Market in La Antigua Guatemala

No, I don’t think you were thinking about this niche market. Although these kind of niches are the origin for the concept of niche market. Well, the play on words may not work completely in English as it does in Spanish. Nicho is the Spanish term for niche and it applies to the market place, to an architectural recess, a niche can be applied to a hollow, crack, crevice, or foothold, and from there to hollow structured pictured above to receive the dead.

Welcome to the City of the Dead

The San Lázaro Cemetery mimics the La Antigua Guatemala, with its many mausoleums. Walking around feels like walking around the City of the Dead.

Tree-lined Cemetery pathway in La Antigua Guatemala

The San Lázaro Cemetery is characterized by its many white mausoleums and tree-lined pathways. I have visited and photographed several cemeteries in Guatemala and México and this is the first time I see such clean and organized cemetery. It almost doesn’t feel like a Latin American cemetery until you begin to see the Antigüeño last names on the family mausoleums. Perhaps, this is the cemetery for the wealthy families of La Antigua Guatemala.

San Lázaro General Cemetery

This photograph marks the beginning of the San Lázaro Cemetery series. I know Friday is a weird day to start a series, but since most people visit the cemetery on the weekends, I guess it’s okay. I have to warn you about the series though. This cemetery is not exceptional and quite frankly a little boring since it is mostly white. So, don’t expect any extraordinary or exotic shots.

Guatemalan Cuisine: Revolcado de Panza

Traditional Guatemalan cuisine refuses to be phased out in favor of international fast food like hamburgers, pizza, hot dogs and chinese food. Even though foreign fast food is convenient, it lacks the complexity in flavors that Guatemalan dishes have. Even a simple dish like Revolcado de Panza, a sort of tomato-based curry with spices and cow’s underbelly brings forth an avalanche of flavors, textures and feelings to the taste buds.

Traditional Guatemalan dishes take a long time to be prepared, sometimes even weeks like the Fiambre (a cold-cuts salad), so they can not compete with fast food junk food in the time of preparation. But who says they have to be prepared the moment you show up to order it? That is fine for sandwiches, but Guatemalan traditional meals are sold by having a ready-made buffet where one can go and just order portions.

Guatemalan Cuisine: Pepian

Yesterday I talked about meeting people and having lunch at La Fuente Restaurant, which is a restaurant I visit often because of …

Pick your color #5

Since the pictures for the last two days had way too many colors, I decided to make today’s choice simple. If you …

Pick your color #4

This is close-up view of the “undocumented alien” in my garden. I plan to have more strict rules for this migrant plants, …

Pick your color #3

On texture through color I introduced you to Café Concepción, a small and lovely bistro, located about half-block away from my office. …

Pick your color #1

Okay, welcome back from an ease going weekend. It is Monday and you want things to be mellow, so I am not …

Guatemalan Cuisine: Hilachas

Hilachas is the name of the dish based on shredded meat with recado (tomato-based sauce), and cut up potatoes. If you compare …

Guatemalan Cuisine: Fiambre Slideshow

In November 1st and 2nd Guatemala, like many other catholic countries, celebrates the Day of the Dead (Dí­a de los Difuntos) and the All Saints Day (Dí­a de los Santos). The cemeteries, from the most exclusive to the most modest and humble, become overwhelmed with people bringing flowers, crosses, food and even music (sometimes Mariachi music) to their dead relatives.

Transnational: Health for all

Dr. Simi is Mexico’s transnational Farmacias Similares (Similar Pharmacies) mascot. Farmacias Similares has made their business to take generic medicine to the …

Transnational: I’m loving it

The clown moves according to Antigüeño’s urban legend. Actually, there had been “sightings” of the McDonald’s clown moving through Latin America. I …

Gothic doorway

September started with Daily Photo Theme of Doorways. I am closing the door to September 2006 with another doorway. This is the …

Impossible not to admire

It is impossible not to stop and admire these motorcycles. Besides, when the motorbikes arrive with their loud roaring and begin to …

Come and see the show

It is quite a show to look at the motorcycle clubs arrive in Antigua. Many people gather around them to see their …

Guatemalan choppers in Antigua

So, the answer for yesterday’s photo is: the arrival of the motorcycles. I told you before that Antigua is only 45 kilometers …

The Dance of the Giants

On the weekends, Calle del Arco, Antigua’s most famous street, becomes a pedestrian strip. There is live music, tourists and locals walk …

Who waters all those plants?

It is very common to see plants above the walls and doors in Antigua. The Land of the Eternal Spring is Guatemala’s …

The Arab vein runs deep

You may ask yourself, what are those Arab style doors doing in a Spanish colonial town in Central America? Well, if you blow the dust away from History 101 books or read the Wikipedia entry on Spain, you may recall that all the Iberian peninsula, was under Muslin (Moors) control since 718 CE.

Maid and door in Antigua

We can derive three facts about Antigua from this photo. 1: Maids wear an apron all day long. 2: Many doorways in …

Guatemalan Cuisine: Pache

Guatemalan Cuisine: Pache, originally uploaded by rudygiron. Tamales are an ancient American food, made throughout the continent for over 5000 years. How …