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There are three public spring-water pools inside Finca El Pilar. One pool for kids, less than one meter deep, a medium size pool which is about 2 meter deep and a large three-meter deep pool, or tanques, water tanks as they are called there.

All three pools are filled once or twice a week completely with mountain spring water from a spring located about 300 feet away. Although I believe the pools are continually filled since I noticed the water valves were running the entire time I was there. The water is chilly and refreshing, especially in hot days like we have had this week.

Entrance fee for the pools is a mere Q15/$2 for an entire day of fun (7am to 6pm). Finca El Pilar is located about two kilometers up the hill from San Cristobal El Bajo, one of the Antigua Guatemala villages south of El Calvario church; a good 45-minute walk from Parque Central. Besides the pools, you can hike and take nature walks among the trails of this farm-turned-into a nature reserve.

Here’s your Spanish word of the day: Nacimiento, birth, is the word most often used for water springs.

I don’t know about you, but I like the design of most things done before 70s. I mean just take something as mundane as a refrigerator and back in the 1950s the design was better. Obviously cars are the best example of that. Take the 1953 Ford coupe above, come on, cars back then had style, personality. Nowadays, most modern cars look the same and you have to look for the brand to realize what they are; there are some exceptions, but most modern cars look generic to me. Of course I’m being simplistic and make some broad generalizations, but you get the general idea, right?

What do you think, am I crazy to think designer really use the Gestalt theory and principles before the 70s?

Video trivia: Guess where “El Gordo” who is actually “flaco” is playing at?

As in previous years, once again I had the opportunity to attend one of the jazz recitals of the 12th International Jazz Festival at the Compañía de Jesús atrium. The Edgar Dorantes Quartet from Xalapa, Veracruz ignited the chilly night with a wonderful performance, a mixture of tried-and-tested classic pieces, latin jazz pieces and original material. This year the Festival Internacional de Jazz expanded to include performances in the cities of Antigua Guatemala, Cobán, Guatemala City and Quetzaltenango (Xela).

As some of you might recall, I love photographing concerts because of the colorful spot light and the play of light and shadows.

I took about 36 photographs and a few video clips, I am sharing three more images below and the closing Thelonious Monk piece. If you’re in Xela this Saturday (March 17), make sure you go see the Edgar Dorantes Quartet at the Teatro Municipal; the entrance will be free.

If you’re in Guatemala right now, don’t miss the remaining performances for this upcoming week. The 12 Festival Internacional de Jazz will close on Saturday, March 24.

As every Friday at 4 p.m. the municipal band delighted us with a recital of live music. Also, every time I watch or listen to the municipal band I am reminded of the film The Band’s Visit, a co-production between Israel and Egypt. I recommend that you watch the film if you get a chance.

Of all God’s creatures, there is only one that cannot be made slave of the lash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve the man, but it would deteriorate the cat.
—Mark Twain

Once again Antigua Daily Photo is participating on the theme day organized by the DailyPhoto community on the first of each month. Animals is the theme chosen for February 2012. I took a quick look at what photos other DailyPhoto cities around the world are posting and it seems like Cats are the big winners by far; another variation is a feline photo. It’s interesting since most of the time people share photos of dogs.

For the theme day I am sharing a photo of my cat Tito who almost everyday climbs to the second floor through the garden and then cries for us to let him in; sometimes he does his routine more than once in a day. Tito has trained us well, so he was complaining that I was taking too long to open the door. I had my photographic reasons, you know.

Are you a cat or dog person?

Guatemalan music video aside: The most famous and popular singers from Guatemala Gaby Moreno and Ricardo Arjona got together to make this wonderful video which uses many locations from Guatemala as backdrop. INGUAT, Guatemala’s Tourism Institute, should be happy for this is one of the best promotional videos for Guatemala.

This morning Guatemala is taking baby steps towards justice by having a historic public hearing of retired General Efraín Ríos Montt on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. The retired General Efraín Ríos Montt will be responding to charges of genocide and crimes against humanity done during his year in power between 1982-1983. This is just one more baby step to bring reconciliation and justice for the Guatemalan armed conflict which happened between 1960 and 1996 and was sparked by a coup orchestrated by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the 1954 Guatemalan coup d’état which produced over 250,000 victims, 45,0000 disappeared persons and over one million of displaced people. (more…)

Calle del Arco is the place to be on the weekends in Antigua Guatemala if you want to listen to live music. For sure you can find live marimba music, either Maya or traditional Guatemalan songs, but sometimes you find blues, jazz or urban rock ensembles. This was the case for the past weekend.

Below you can watch a short video clip, if you can provide the name of the song, you win a post card. Good luck! (more…)

If you want to do street photography you have to be quick and be ready at all times because you never know when and where the fleeting images will appear.

Case in point is the image above, captured on my way back home while taking an alternate route through San Miguel Escobar. As I was driving up the road, I was surprised to see a whole bunch of colorful clown running on the direction of the mobile PA system, a truck really with several speakers blasting cumbia music. Without really understanding what was going on, I grabbed my camera with a swift move and before I knew, I took just one shot from the car without lowering the windows or anything because that’s all the time I had before the colorful parade and motorcade moved away. Of course, I was not able to get the 30 or so clowns in the frame, but I was satisfied I got enough of them to be representative.

At first I thought it was a convite. Only after looking at the photograph on the computer I was able to see this was a very clever and colorful FUNdraising. I still don’t know what was the fundraising cause, but I am sure it was a success. After I tweaked the photo a little, contrast and sharpness, I realized how much I enjoy the rhythm in this image; it almost feels like everything came into place all at once. I especially like the fraction that entitled “Garrick” and I am showing as a thumbnail here.

What do you think of it? (more…)

Guatemala’s Channel 7 News, Noti7, was filming the year in news summary tonight at Parque Central and I was able to get a few shots. I also recorded a short video clip since some of you have asked to get sounds and moving pictures as well. For sure the video will give you a sense of the sounds and atmosphere that we’re experiencing in Antigua Guatemala.

Honestly, I don’t think anybody does more for the poor (yes, the poor and not the underprivileged, less fortunate nor any other euphemism one can come up with) of Antigua Guatemala and surrounding areas as Asociación Obras Sociales del Santo Hermano Pedro. From the permanent free or heavily discounted (symbolic price) medical consultations offered by the Obras Sociales del Hermano Pedro to simple things as symbolic renting of wheel chairs and crutches. The image above your can see people making a line to pick up free gifts given by the Obras Sociales del Hermano Pedro.

Now, if you feel like given a little this Christmas, then pay a visit to the web site of Asociación Obras Sociales del Santo Hermano Pedro and give them a small donation; surely they will make it go a long way!

I came across this list of Five Reasons to Spend Christmas in Antigua Guatemala, which basically mentioned the weather as top reason number 2. I would say the writer got most of it right, except the temperature can go as low as 5C/41F around six in the morning; people do give Christmas cards, except they are given personally because we don’t trust the mail system or by email; and last but not least, the winter solstice was not even mentioned. And don’t forget that the December 2012 solstice will be very important. Even if it’s not the end of the world as we know it, check out the Tikal Solstice Maya Rainforest video made by Thor Janson.

• Christmas in Antigua Guatemala Reason #1 – Low Crassness Factor

  Antigua Guatemala keeps a light hand on the Christmas throttle. It’s not like the in-your-face fake and be merry season, which starts before Halloween and is endured in our more Northern climes… Overall, there’s less tinsel and more gentle feeling as citizens and visitors alike coast into the season…

• Christmas in Antigua Guatemala Reason #2 – The Weather

  … Antigua Guatemala is a yuletide paradise. Even during the December days when daylight is at its shortest reign of the year, it’s usually about 75 degrees F (24 C) during the day and about 55 degrees F (13 C) in the evening…

• Christmas in Antigua Guatemala Reason #3 – No Christmas Cards

  It seems that sending Christmas cards is not a tradition here… After, I’d gone to the third stationary shop (duh) it finally sunk in that this is not the done thing here…

• Christmas in Antigua Guatemala Reason # 4 – Christmas Festivals

  December 7 kicks off the season with the burning of the devil… Our Lady of Guadeloupe brings solemn as well as merry folk through the calles and agendas… “Las Posadas,” which reenacts Mary and Joseph looking for a room in the inn…

• Christmas in Antigua Guatemala Reason #5 – Its Really a Family Time

  …when it comes down to it, December 24 is really family time where church, a great meal and modest gift exchanges happen… families go back home and eat and party until 3 or 4 in the morning. Christmas Day is very quiet here with people sleeping off the festivities of the night before… continue reading the COMPLETE Five Reasons to Spend Christmas in Antigua Guatemala

Simply awesome! Check out the Tikal Solstice Maya Rainforest video made by Thor Janson:

Refacción can be roughly translated as simple snack time; but it’s much more than that. Refacción is the time where workers get together to gossip and catch up with the chismes. Refacción is the time when couples in love get together for a quick snack along with hugs and kisses; such was the case of the man and woman in the foreground crossing the street that arrived in horse-pulled carriage (see refacción can also be romantic). Refacción is also a family time. For instance, the lady from shown in this photo was there with her children, parents and their grandchildren to have a snack before attending the mass service. Refacción is a friendship time too; as often you can ask your friends to meet with you for atol and tostadas at El Calvario, La Merced, o La Escuela de Cristo, just to name a few of the refacción venues.

I am so happy that in La Antigua Guatemala we still have moments that bring us together as family, friends or community.

Here’s another beautiful performance by Guatemalan artist Gaby Moreno singing about The wrong way to celebrate Christmas Day. Enjoy!

Poinsettias or Flor de Pascua are in full bloom in The Land of the Eternal Spring for the Christmas season. The most common color is red, but now you can find yellow, white, pink and mixed at your local nursery and shops. Pascuas are an integral part of the Guatemalan decoration for the Christmas season and beyond. They are also given as gifts quite often.

An archived article at Prensa Libre entitled: Pascuas que cambian de colores (Poinsettias of different colors) I read that, according to industry statistics, Guatemala is the top grower of poinsettias in the world. Guatemala produces 60 million poinsettias which represents 80% of the production in the world.

I believe life should be about giving instead of receiving, especially so around Christmas, thus here are my first offerings for the season. First a video clip from my favorite Guatemalan artist Gaby Moreno singing about Christmas time. Next you will find a link to download a wallpaper for your computer, iPad, tablet or mobile device. Enjoy!

If you would like to have a yellow poinsettias wallpaper for you computer, download it from here.

The Guatemalan presidential elections are finally over and we can go back to building a better country and let the new President elect and his team do whatever it is that they do. Below, there’s a screen shot of the almost final results with 53.78% of the votes going to the Partido Patriota and 46.22% to the Partido Líder. You can visit the web page for Tribunal Supremo Electoral (Supreme Electoral Tribunal) for the final results.

Compared to the first voting round, today there was almost nobody there. Compare the photos from the September 11 election process and with today’s photos. Nevertheless, I wanted to experiment with a time-lapse video, so I shot 1,800 photos to create the time-lapse video of the voting center at the cultural center César Brañas. As you can see in some parts of the video, there’s almost nobody; that’s how efficient the voting process was this time. I hope you enjoy the time-lapse video, please, let me know either way.
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Oh I want one of these classic Volkswagen Beetles with white tires and chromed bumpers. Who wouldn’t really. Anyway, to finish the work week I am sharing the happy song Carcachita by Roberto Carlos. There’s also a short video clip of a 360 degree vista around Parque Central this morning. Enjoy! (more…)