I always wondered where do Roman soldiers and cucuruchos [coneheads] refuel for the tremendous amount of energy required to do a full procession. Well, the mystery is solved. Whenever they can, they stop by a tiendita to buy tortrix and pop sodas. I imagine that if they can find panes con chille relleno or frijoles, … Read more
Here’s one last picture from the Semana Santa. In this case, I got really close to a cucurucho, a teenager really, to capture his look. Guess how close I was to him when I made this picture?
The Holy Week Is Officially Over! Yes, it’s official, the Semana Santa is over. Now, it is time to ponder over the good, the bad and the ugly of the Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala. The Good It is incredible how much good energy one can feel from so many people having an awesome time. … Read more
I don’t know how it happened, but nowadays many cucuruchos, the cone head float carriers, are also carrying cameras to photograph the processions within. I guess there are no regulations within the brotherhoods yet because some cucuruchos even brought along monopods and selfie sticks to get even higher shots. Some even bring speed lights or … Read more
It is such impressive vista these massive floats, andas in Spanish, being carried by 80 to 100 cucuruchos through the different streets of Antigua Guatemala. At least once in your lifetime you must come to Antigua Guatemala to see the massive and numerous processions during the Holy Week or Semana Santa as it’s known in … Read more
As I’ve said before, the creation of precessional carpets from sawdust, fruit and vegetables, pine-needles, flowers, etc. is a community-forming tradition. The colourful and aromatic processional alfombras or carpets are among the most creative and colorful elements of the Holy Week in La Antigua Guatemala. Usually, people meet up by block or near-by neighbors to … Read more
As I have said before, the Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala is an equal opportunity celebration. Sure, cucuruchos take the majority of the clicks of cameras and most of the video recorded, but children, women and dogs have a place in the Holy Week celebrations as well. The children’s float or andas are a bit … Read more
Another typical vista of the Holy Week is all the street food stands around town. I mean almost everywhere you walk you find people selling food on the streets. Of course, this is necessary, I mean how else one is to feed the thousands of people that come to be part of the Semana Santa … Read more
Once again it is Domingo de Ramos, or Palm Sunday, in Antigua Guatemala. Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the Semana Santa [Holy Week] the in Catholic realm. I’ll be covering again the Antigua Guatemala Holy Week Vistas with the goal to cast new light on the subject. Stay tuned! Best wishes for Holy Week/Easter … Read more
Here’s your Holy Week Spanish word for the day: Timonel The timonel is the person at the front of the processional float that steers the float on one direction or another. In Spanish the word for timón means steering wheel. As we can see in the picture, the timonel basically pushes to the left or … Read more
As I walked the streets of the Antigua Guatemala villages I noticed the neighbours sweeping aways the carpets from Palm Sunday since the Tren de Aseo, cleaning train, only works on the main processions of Antigua Guatemala. I have decided to bring you a couple of pictures of the cleaning crews, known as tren de … Read more
As I explained with the corozo palm aroma, I can bring to you the colors, the imagery, the sounds and even video clips, but I can’t transmit or transfer you the smells and aromas of the world-famous Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala. The pungent scents of copal incense and corozo palms, so you will have … Read more
With this selection of the hermanas cargadoras, the women who carry the smaller floats of the Virgin Mary or other virgins for the matter we conclude our coverage of Lent and Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala. Our gratitude and huge round of applause goes to Nelo Mijangos who goes the extra mile, literally, to bring … Read more
In many places of Guatemala on Holy Saturday an effigy of Judas Iscariote is burned. For those who don’t know who Juda Escariot was, according to the New Testament, he was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. He is infamously known for his kiss and betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the … Read more
As I have mentioned before, Lent and Semana Santa is an equal-opportunity tradition. As you can see here, even little girls get a chance to carry a float, small, but still their float. By the way, the male carriers are called cucuruchos and the female carriers are known as hermanas cargadoras. I call the little … Read more