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Streets, Page 2

Horseback Riding Through Town

Whenever you come across people riding horses or donkeys over the cobblestone streets of La Antigua Guatemala you feel like you are …

Gas Tanks are Ugly Too

This is what Guatemalans think of when you utter Tanques de gas (gas tanks); it doesn’t cross their mind the fuel tank …

Guard at Calle del Arco

Even though Guatemala’s Independence is celebrated on September 15th and the days prior to that date, in reality Guatemala’s independence is observe …

The Show Must Go On!

Sorry for being absent the last few days. I do have the photos for the missing days and I will be updating …

Alameda Santa Lucí­a Sign

Believe it or not what you call the Santa Lucí­a Street is the biggest controversy on this 6-block-long avenue. See, most people …

Antigua Guatemala Funeral

When I was eighteen I worked for a senile old man who had been a famous race driver in the 1940-70. Very …

On the Way to the Maize Mill

The Guatemalan way of life is rapidly disappearing right in front of our eyes. Today’s entry is such a case, as the …

Bougainvillea-lined Road

This is the kind of road the motorcycle riders arriving to La Antigua Guatemala may find. Even I would like to ride …

Public Enemy Number 1: The Plastic Bag

Dot 2: The very same day, after reading the article above in my lunch hour, I walked back to the office and sure enough a plastic bag came dancing towards me, just like in the American Beauty film. So what was I to do, but to pull my camera and to start shooting this new enemy. This incident happened right in front of Doña Luisa Xicotencatl restaurant; one of LAG’s landmarks.

Supervising the Municipal Police

So you wanted to know what happened to the Indigenous singers from February 2nd, right? Well the municipal police told them that they also needed to work and that if they did not have a permit to sing on the streets their supervisor would get on their case. Sure enough, less than a half of block away, these two tourist police were stopped by their supervisors. The Indigenous singers were told to go to the ‘Muni’ to get a permit to sing on the streets. I am not sure such permit exists, not for the Indigenous people, for sure.

Weekend Scene at Calle del Arco

The two blocks from the 5a avenida norte (5th North Avenue) that separate El Parque Central (Main Plaza) and the La Iglesia de La Merced (church) are known as the Calle del Arco (the Arch Street) and the weekends this strip becomes a pedestrian’s throughway. In my humble opinion, the whole city should turn the streets in pedestrian only walkways before it’s too late.

What’s killing La Antigua Guatemala

The cobblestone streets of La Antigua Guatemala were originally designed for horses and horse-carriages. So, it is no wonder that even light vehicles, like cars, create a lot of damage to the streets which, therefore, need constant repairing. Now you can imagine that huge and heavy trucks like the ones pictured above not only damage the streets, but the foundation of the houses and the city itself.

Repairing the Cobblestreets of La Antigua Guatemala

As the new mayor took office on January 15th, he launched a new campaign to rescue the streets for the lent celebrations begin in February. Right now there are crews of cobblestone street workers almost everywhere and many streets are closed for repairs. Let’s hope they can meet their goal since Lent or Cuaresma in Spanish is approaching soon.

Guatemalan Indigenous Singers

I find the singing of the indigenous people extremely haunting and touching, even though, they are singing evangelical hymns. To me this singing has another layer of pain and denouncing which is above the meaning of the words they sing; something much older and more mystical than the religious hymn brought by the European Christianity.

Street photography or voyeurism?

I believe that I do tend to be a voyeur or obsessive observer when it comes to capture the most natural street life scenes. My goal is to capture the intriguing split-second scene. I do not like posed photograph, especially posed street photos because once the subject is aware of the lens the natural feel is lost; the window that I open for you into the daily life of La Antigua Guatemala is broken.

Ice-capped Volcanoes in La Antigua Guatemala

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 sticking 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).

Watching the Watchers Watch

Watching the Watchers Watch is what we call in Spanish a trabalenguas or tongue twister.

What kind of stories do you see in this picture?

Public Water Distribution System

Central America and Guatemala especially have an abundance of water resources, many are groundwater. La Antigua Guatemala is located in a valley irrigated with over six months of a rainy season per year. La Antigua Guatemala is surrounded by mountains and volcanoes that collect even more water. Much of this collected rain ends up as groundwater.

I’m Ready to Fly!

With November come the strong winds (Vientos fuertes would say Miguel Ángel Asturias). With the strong winds come the kites. With the kites come the celebrations of the day of the dead and all saints day. With the day of the dead celebrations comes the fiambre, the food to share with our dead. Stay tune for background information on the kite flying rituals and its me

Alto, watch this corner…

Anyhow, I really like the rhythm of the image above. I like all the different actions of the people, almost totally unaware of the camera. Honestly, I am very happy with this particular photograph. I feel it captures, very well, the essence of an usual street scene in La Antigua Guatemala. For those of you who visited this colonial town, what is your opinion?

Hotel Arizona Doorway

The La Antigua Guatemala city ordinances requires that the name of businesses be in Spanish. Some business have dual names like Rainbow Cafe which was forced to change to Café Arcoiris (although they kept Rainbow Cafe at a smaller size within the sign). Backpackers Hotel became Mochileros Hotel and so on. For the most part, I agree with this city ordinance because the La Antigua Guatemala is protected by national and international laws since it was declared by UNESCO as World Heritage.

Nightly Parade on Independence Day

A simple snapshot of a nightly parade on Independence Day in La Antigua Guatemala. I have lots of photos and videos to process and not much time to write a lot at this moment. Stay tune for the full coverage of the Independence Day in Guatemala.

Guatemalan Flags in Banco Industrial

The photo above was taken on August 31st, which was a payday and that is why you see all those people were queuing to get their salary from the banks. Tomorrow, Guatemalans will be queuing again to cast their vote. Also, this was the first time (this year) I noticed the Guatemalan flags that will adorn the buildings through September, which is the independence month. Guatemala’s so called independence from Spain is celebrated on September 15th. Check out the Independence Day Slideshow from last year.

I read recently (I don’t recall where at the moment) that to be truly independent a country must have sufficient wealth as to not have to depend on an outsider (duh!); well, let me break it to you guys, Guatemala has not been an independent country for the last 500 years or so. When I was teenager, I remember reading a Mafalda anthology where Mafalda was reading a history book and all of sudden she screams: You mean we were part of Spain, who the hell had the bright idea of independizarnos (freed us from Spain)! Back then, I laughed so hard at the comic strip, but just now I get the joke. Thanks Quino. 🙁

Guatemala’s General Elections Will Be on September 9th

This coming Sunday Guatemala will be holding general elections for president, vice-president, congress curule seats, and city mayors throughout the country. It is sad to read the news feeds and news headlines regarding Guatemala. It seems like this tiny ‘paradisiac’ banana coffee republic has an innate quality to generate bad press. Like Tarzan, Guatemala jumps from bad stories to worse stories. It is a true jungle out here.

In the meantime, Guatemalans will cross their ballots to exercise the democracy Mayan ball game. But, before that, they must know where exactly they will cast their vote and for that, they have to go to one of the many citizens’ registration booths; like the one pictured above in the entrance to La Antigua Guatemala.

Theme Day: One Way to the Decisive Moment

As I negotiated my acrobatic skills over the stone, looked back so I don’t get ran over or splashed by one of the uncivilized drivers, looked at the camera so I don’t ruin it with the running dirty water, composed the shot to include both elements, I took a couple of shots to get the best composition. As I was ready to put away the camera and moved away from the center of the street because two vehicles were using their horns to alert me that they were close and they had no mercy; this lady entered the frame; I did see her with my own eyes as I was looking down to the twist-out viewfinder paralleled to the floor; I had but fleeing second to take the shot and this fraction of a second my mind went through all countless photographs warehoused in my memory so fast that I must remember over thousand images until my brain did a full stop at one my favorite images ever: The Decisive Moment by Henri Cartier-Bresson. With that image in my head, I pressed the shutter release. Next, I pulled away from the centre of the street just in time as the vehicle behind me went by making a big splash (I did not get wet), pulled my eye sight to see that the lady did not fall and was already walking away in the opposite direction.

Chicken Buses are The Second Life of School Buses

Unless you have taken the path of La Marche de l’empereur, you haven’t heard about how everyone is living a virtual second life through a community web site. Well, old and retired school buses from the U.S. get to live a real second life as camionetas (the street name for public transit buses in Guatemala). Revue Magazine had an in-depth article about The Birth of a Camioneta (available as a PDF download) which detailed step-by-step how an old retired school bus became a powerful camioneta ready for the curvy roads of the mountain ranges of Guatemala.

Load of Wood Fuel

Recently while reading the National Geographic en español, I learnt that not all instances of the use of wood as fuel are bad. According the article about barbecuing wood and charcoal do indeed pollute the atmosphere with smoke and ashes, but it is a recycled-type of energy when compared to other energy sources like gas or electricity.

Wanted: New Mayor for La Antigua Guatemala

Calzada Santa Lucí­a gets overcrowded with all the stands of the 11 candidates for the La Antigua Guatemala City Hall or Muni as we call it here. They all have their booths, their chants and songs, their promises, their colors, their flyers, their visual and hearing pollution, their trash, et-cetera.

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.

La Antigua Guatemala’s Main Exit

Too bad this is the main exit street for La Antigua Guatemala if you are going to Guatemala City, also known as 4a calle oriente. If this was the main entrance, you could see the Fire and Acatenago volcanoes right above the Spanish tiles rooftops. This is the last thing you see also as you wave goodbye to La Antigua Guatemala.

I am almost sure, some of you would rather say hasta la vista, baby.

Walter William Road Monument in Antigua Guatemala

Believe or not, the monument plaque says that this monument was erected in the memory of Walter Williams who happens to be present on the date of inauguration for the the road. I guess that back in 1925, Guatemala was still a jungle and foreign visitors were scarce, so they needed to erect a monument to celebrate such an important event.

Fine for a Family of Four

This reckless image can be seen often in La Antigua Guatemala, where motorcycles are fast becoming the most popular vehicle (thanks to …

Huge Bougainvillea Tree at El Pensativo River

Believe it or not, the dry green river bed is El Pensativo River. The other day while driving on Calle Chipilapa, which takes you to La Ermita de la Santa Cruz Ruins, I saw this huge bougainvillea tree on the other side of El Pensativo River, dry now but soon it will have running water. I never seen a bougainvillea tree so big; my girlfriend and I saw a midget bougainvillea tree—about 1 meter in height— in Tapachula, Mexico.

Even the Windows Wear Violet

Back in March 6th I showed to you the entry doorway of Hotel Santo Domingo (Holy Sunday, by the way) with violet …

Tuk Tuk Meeting

Is it motorcycle or automobile? The meeting of the tuk tuk drivers and the police was to define the tuk tuk as …

Take My Photograph

Even though most, if not all, of the quick photo labs are digital now in La Antigua Guatemala, the old and traditional …

Selling Tortillas on the Streets

The informal economy is the basis for making a living for most Guatemalans. That is why you have shoe-shining boys, orchids sellers, …

Cobblestone Street Worker

Cobblestone streets are yet another characteristic of La Antigua Guatemala’s life-style (see photos 1, 2, 3). They are hard on the automobiles, …

Cycling the dogs

On August 12th, the entry about The Dance of the Giants, I mentioned that on the weekends Calle del Arco, Antigua’s most …

By bike

Many of the deliveries are still done by bike. If you recall my post about daily bread delivery service on September 24th, …

Illegal billboard

One of the benefits of living in or around La Antigua Guatemala is the lack of billboards. Isn’t weird that I start …

An old bike for an old town

Bicycles are among the most-widely used vehicles in Antigua. One the reason is that you can move faster with a bike than …

Live green fences

Twice before I have mentioned that fences are alive around Antigua. Here you can see two coffee plantation, one each side of …

The long wait for…

… Equal opportunity. Related entries: Selling folk-art on the park Where are the Maya women going to? Let’s go mija, we’re are …

Little old man

Eric, from Paris Daily Photo, has been publishing a series of photos linked by a ‘walking’ theme. We do not have traffic …

Tuk Tuk Police

Tuk Tuk police, arrest this man, he talks in maths He buzzes like a fridge, he’s like a detuned radio Tuk Tuk …

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 …

Antigua is a romantic town

Somehow, not by conscious intention, I have managed to avoid the common references and photos of Antigua. For better or for worse, …

Strolls in Antigua

Not to long ago, on July 18th, I told you about the joys of walking in Antigua. I bring to you a …

Antigua’s backstreets

Antigua’s backstreets, originally uploaded by rudygiron. If you find yourself on the outskirts of Antigua, for sure you will be next to …

Rush hour in Antigua

On the weekends the traffic in Antigua quadruples. Here, it might not seem like much. But, if you consider that Antigua is …