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Here’s the essence of the Guatemalan dichotomy for you. On one side, those with very strong roots to their ancestors and on the other side those who want to be anything else, but themselves; fully alienated pues. On one hand, the man explaining the details and intricacies of a Maya ceremony and on the other hand the woman, after having learned the details, explaining that the Maya ceremony is very similar to what Hindus do. That’s Guatemala for you.

On January 21, Under the name of Subida por la vida, there were over 8,000 people climbing Volcán de Agua (Water Volcano) to form the largest heart in the world at 12,335 feet as part of campaign to bring awareness and to reduce domestic violence. The event will also be a party with music and foot ball matches (the real McCoy) in different venues in Antigua Guatemala. Subida por la vida also stands as manifestation for Peace where Guatemalans want to demonstrate and let the world know that we want peace and we will not tolerate violence any longer. Read the rest of this entry »

Tax evaders in Guatemala take the risk of having their business shut down temporarily and have a sign like the above posted on their main entrance. To be able to open again a business has to pay back the taxes evaded and a fine to the Superintendencia de Administración Tributaria (SAT); this is the tax collecting agency in Guatemala. In the mean time, the business is marked with these shameful posters which basically are designed to embarrassed the owners and managers of said company.

What do you think of this procedure and posters?

Sometimes you just don’t have the time to casaquear, chit-chat, but you still need your daily dose of the best coffee in the world, from Antigua Guatemala of course, so you don’t doze off and for that you head over to Café Condesa Express where you can get your caffeine fix very quickly. If you also need a sugar high, make sure order a pastelito to go with your coffee. Enjoy!

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? Read the rest of this entry »

Guatemala has taken the concept of convenience store to new levels. Tienda is the Spanish word we use in Guatemala to refer for convenience store. The original definition of Tienda is tent as I imagine the original stores were actually tents. Tienditas, are smaller tiendas, or little convenience stores, which sometimes get to be as small as a window, must of the time is just a tiny room with just a door counter. The best thing about tienditas is that they are everywhere, almost every block has at least one, but often you can find more than two. Obviously, the most often bought products at a tiendita are junk food, soda drinks, chewing gum, canned juices and cigarettes, but you can also find chocobananos and hellos (ice creams).

What do you think is the most bought item at a tiendita?

This is just one of the many relaxing areas found inside the Antiguo Colegio de la Compañía de Jesús, now headquarters of the Centro de Formación de la Cooperación Española, CFCE for short. What I like about this patio is the fountain and green area which make it a great place to have chat. There are several other patios, even a little more private if you walk towards the Café inside the CFCE.

Make you sure add this building as a must-see and must-take photos of on your to-do list for Antigua Guatemala!

Honest, what’s not to like about the dry season? Clear skies, crisp and cool temperatures and the most enchanting light are the norm during the dry season. If you haven’t been to Guatemala during the dry season, you have been missing the best possible Guatemala. You’ve gotta fix that!

El Cristo Negro de Esquipulas aside: Every year, On January 15th, thousands of pilgrims from Guatemala, the United States, Europe and other Central American countries flock to pay homage to the dark wooden image of the crucified Christ, the most revered Catholic shrine in Esquipulas, the spiritual center of Central America. The image of the Black Christ dates back to March 9, 1595, when the Portuguese sculptor Quirio Cataño presented it to the mayor of the city. (source: Wikipediag.org)

Did you know that Quirio Cataño lived in Antigua Guatemala when he was commissioned the Black Christ sculpture? If not, read Quirio Cataño, Sculptor of the Black Christ of Esquipulas on the archives.

I never realized how much people die every day until I lived in a town where almost each death is announced by the PA system installed on the church on the main plaza. Through these announcements and the funeral processions and motorcades I have encountered I also learned that the grieving is also a communal event. When I stop to pay attention to the PA announcements often the name of the passing person is giving and the address where the mourning will be held and everyone is invited to assist.

These expressions of the strong community relationships forged through constant interactivity are often foreign to me since I have lived most of my life in big cities where often these community relationships rarely happen. I don’t know if I’m making any sense because I don’t think I have been able to seized these feelings and emotions into words. Am I?

How are deaths, funerals and mourning treated where you live? Read the rest of this entry »

In my never ending quest to bring you unique and different perspectives of this enchanting 500-year old colonial town which we know as Antigua Guatemala, I bring you this photograph taken by one of my co-workers at Revue Magazine and fellow photograhy enthusiast César Tián. The photo above could be the facing view of the picture shown in Almost Ready for 2012. Obviously, César knows people in higher places than I do because I have never been to the roof top of the Muni building. I’ve gotta fix that! In the mean time, let’s thank César for sharing this rooftop panoramic vista of Central Park with us. Make sure you click on top of the photo above to look at a larger image.

Photo by César Tián

This niche and statue of San Francisco (Saint Francis) can be found at the entrance of the façade looking north of Iglesia de San Francisco El Grande, that’s the one on 7a calle poniente and 1a avenida, shown a few days ago on Details of San Francisco El Grande Church. Niches are among my favorite architectonic elements found through out Antigua Guatemala. As I mentioned in Casa Antigüeña: The Niches, a big part of the beauty of the Casa Antigüeña is found in its details, like the niches that can host angels, owls, figures of Santo Hermano Pedro, Jesus, Virgen Marí­a, et-cetera. It is nice to have a spot light to illuminate the niche at night, but during the day, the wonderful filtered sun light is more than enough.

This impeccable colonial style kitchen is found inside the El Sabor del Tiempo restaurant, well it’s actually located all the way on the back of the building, near the actual kitchen they use for the restaurant. This kitchen is actually set as decoration or welcoming vista as you come up to the ático (attic) where they have social or conference room. If you get a chance stop by El Sabor del Tiempo restaurant to have a fantastic meal and to visit this kitchen. Tell them you saw it in AntiguaDailyPhoto.

I have covered the typical kitchen from Antigua Guatemala in two or three occasions before, below you find thumbnails that can take you to actual entries about the Antigüeña kitchens.

Interesting enough, I have not encountered many restaurants that offer waffles; or perhaps I wasn’t looking. However, for some reason, waffles jumped at me at the menu from Café La Casaca the first time I visited and I just had to have a waffle. Of course, if you drive to Guatemala City you can have waffles and pancakes at the IHOP restaurants, but I wouldn’t drive to GuateCity just for that. Interesting enough, there’s a Casa Internacional del Waffle or just La Casa del Waffle in San Lucas, but I have not got the chance to try them there.

Do you know of other restaurants in Antigua Guatemala or nearby that serve waffles?

As I said before, it is impossible to think of the Guatemalan, Mexican and Mesoamerican diet without maize. From the Popul Vuh (Popol Wuj in modern spelling), the Mayan equivalent of the Bible, which states that humans were literally created from maize, to Miguel Ángel Asturias‘ novel Hombres de maíz (Men of Maize) which is one of the best novels to understand Mesoamerica and its people. Guatemala and Mexico share the birth place of maize, which was and is the most important crop in human history. The richest diversity of maize can be found in Mesoamerica!

Many of the dishes of the Guatemalan cuisine are based on the milpa crops. The term milpa refers normally to a maize field, but it is so much more. In a milpa field there a dozen crops at once: maize, avocados, multiple kinds of squash, chiles (hot pepper chilli), beans, tomatoes, tomatillos, camotes (sweet potatoes), jicama (a tuber also known as sengkwang, yam bean, singkamas, Mexican turnip), amaranth (also called pigweeds) and mucuma (a tropical legume). “Milpa crops are nutritionally and environmentally complementary.” said Charles C. Mann in his book 1491. H. Garrison Wilkes, a maize researcher at University of Massachusetts in Boston is quoted in the same book, “The milpa is one of the most successful human inventions ever created.”

Interested gender aside: I believe that every time I have made a reference to Hombres de maíz I have used pictures of women. So, that’s why I am entitling today’s entry as women of maize.

The callejones (alleys) found in many of the villages of La Antigua Guatemala are really narrow, passageways really created, I imagine, as a result of splitting of land through the process of inherence. These alleys are really no wider than six feet at the most. I’ve been photographing many of them found in San Pedro Las Huertas. Each callejón has something unique about it and I will do my best to capture its essence.

What kind of stories do you imagine when you see a callejón like the one pictured above?