Saints for Sale – Countdown to One Year Anniversary
Many artisans come to La Antigua Guatemala to sell their crafts. The streets are for anyone who wants to sell, just watch for the tourist police or they might confiscate your work, give you a ticket and send you home with empty hands. On the streets you can buy tortillas, handicrafts, textiles, furniture, watercolors paintings, orchids, ice cream, charcoal broiled meats, ceviches (shrimp or sea food salad) and a very long et-cetera. Please, make this old man happy —buy his wood-carved saint.
Countdown side note: Last year on May 1st, the La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo was started as a way for me to express my opinions about this particular colonial town embedded in the Sierra Madre mountain range in Central America. Inspired by the fabulous work of Eric (a friendly Parisian —yes, they do exist!) from Paris Daily Photo and others around the world who choose to document life as they see it in their home towns and cities.
The challenge seemed overwhelming since I can barely keep an activity for a week (yes 7 days is often too much for me). But I decided to give it a try figuring I could probably hold on for a month. It was also a challenge because La Antigua Guatemala is a tiny town (about 10 x 10 blocks) and I did not know if I could find enough material to keep up with the big cities like Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Los Angeles, et-cetera.
There are over two hundred and forty-six cities now in this world-wide community, yet La Antigua Guatemala remains the only city in Central America (yes most people did not know about Central America). La Antigua Guatemala DP was also one of the first in Latin America, even before Mexico City or Santiago de Chile.
I am happy to say that I only see friends in many of those 246 cities and to me Lisi is Hong Kong, Pamela is Tenerife, Lessie is Anderson, Jing is Shanghai, Edwin is Kuala Lumpur, Dsole is Madrid, MarieMc is Alexandria just to mention a few names.
Also, there are the regular visitors and commentators who enrich the whole experience for all, like Sompopo and Jerry. Sorry, I wish I can name everyone here, although I am very grateful for all your wonderful feedback, but this side note is already longer than the post (it almost feels like the post-signatures of Sub-Comandante Marcos).
Anyhow, please, I urge you to come along this ride of seven days before the one-year anniversary. If you are one of those SM Guatemalans who visit this site regularly, please stay away on May 1st, I will have a photo that might make you wish you had an airplane ticket in your hand.
Can you still see monks in your home town?
© 2007 – 2020, Rudy Giron. All rights reserved.