Sompopo: The Giant Guatemalan Ant

Enough about pondering the big questions!

Sompopos are now here and thus we are now “officially” in the rainy season.

Sompopos arrived on Thursday 22nd, May 2008 which was also the celebration of Corpus Christi in La Antigua Guatemala. In Guatemala, May 22nd is also Día del arbol (Tree Day) which could be a very good excuse to watch The Fountain; a film by Darren Aronofsky.

The Crazy Guatemalan Seasons Side Note:
Keep in mind that since Guatemala is located in the northern hemisphere, Guatemala is in the middle of the Spring season at the beginning of the rainy season which will last through the entire Summer and part of the Fall seasons.

Guatemalans will tell you otherwise… do not believe their words. Guatemalans will try to convince you that the Winter season just began… these people are cunning, believe them not! Guatemalans will even tell you that this is The Land of the Eternal Spring. Guatemala does not have the normal seasons as the rest of the northern hemisphere. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter get blurred in Guatemala which only have two real seasons: The Rainy Season and The Dry Season. That’s right folks, no Spring season in Guatemala… just the wet and dry seasons are enough to provide a million shades of green and flowers in bloom all-year-round!

Oh yeah! this post was about sompopos… oh well, come back tomorrow if you really want to have the Sompopo’s Revenge.

14 Responses to "Sompopo: The Giant Guatemalan Ant"

Kim says:
May 23, 2008 at 3:58 pm
You are far braver than I! In the portal thumbnail this looked like a wasp. Well, San Juan Capistrano, California has its return of the swallows, and la Antigua has these giant winged ants, and thus the seasons come and go. Super image!!
-Kim
Seattle Daily Photo
Reply
Danilo R. Quinonez says:
May 23, 2008 at 4:27 pm
wow! i have a vague memory of a friend telling me he used to eat these grilled.
Reply
Gina says:
May 23, 2008 at 7:56 pm
So this is what we can expect in the rainy season.
I will be in Antigua for a wedding in August … hope the ants are gone!!!
I absolutely love your daily blog. Kudos for giving the rest of the world a birds eye view of life in Antigua, Guatemala. You are the best!!!!
Reply
javier says:
May 23, 2008 at 10:00 pm
I don’t think I know Danilo, I tried the sompopos once when I was like 10 yrs. old. Believe me they are ok. I also used to have them fight with other sompopos; the winner kept the others sompopos. Thanx Rudy.
Reply
sompopo says:
May 24, 2008 at 4:52 am
That is a great picture of me,LOL. I think I will use it for my wallpaper the rest of the month. 🙂
Reply
sompopo says:
May 24, 2008 at 6:33 am
The wife just told me something interesting. She said there was another red ant in Guatemala without wings that are around all the time and they are mean. She also told me that when she was little they would actually take the winged ones and cut them in half and fry the back end and eat them. Some like them rolled up in tortillas. They taste like butter.
Have you heard of this?
Reply
babooshka says:
May 24, 2008 at 11:14 am
What an amazing close up. Had no idea what this was in portal, but it really jumped out at you.
Reply
Manolo says:
May 24, 2008 at 11:15 am
I was just commenting to my girlfriend about how Guatemala indeed is the land of Eternal Spring (particularly with the changing weather we are having this year for Spring, beautiful nonetheless). Spring is rain, and luscious green, and sunny days, and ice cream and nice walks, and raincoats, and weird animals coming up their hibernation or coming back from the South. Ergo it is just like Guatemala for a few months at least.
Reply
Walter says:
September 7, 2008 at 4:10 pm
This are call Sompopo de Mayo ” May sompopo ” 😉 they only show on the first few days of raining season on May thats why we call them sompopo de mayo, after that who knows were they go maybe we eat them all LOL.
And tho owner of this blog made a bad coment about Guatemala and Guatemalan people and that is not good.
I guess if you don’t know nothing about the people’s culture it will be nice not to see this type of post.
And every contry are beautifull 😉
Reply
gabby says:
August 31, 2014 at 11:45 pm
That’s because it’s not his/her culture. Please next time think before you make your comments.
Reply
1. gabby says:
  August 31, 2014 at 11:52 pm
  Not you Walter the owner of the blog.
  Reply
2. Rudy says:
  September 1, 2014 at 12:30 am
  Hi Gabby, actually I am Guatemalan and this is my culture. Please, do read the post carefully and thoroughly, even the linked information to really comprehend the meaning of it all. 😉
  Reply
  1. Itzul says:
    September 2, 2014 at 6:33 pm
    I guess Walter is not familiar with the concept of being sardonic. And Gabby, bless her heart….
    Anyway, yes, “zompopos de Mayo” show up at the beginning of the rainy season. And they indeed taste like butter. Almond butter to be exact, although my cousin used to swear that like everything else in life, they tasted better only with salt and lemon. They are an acquired taste, for the most part. And despite their fearsome appearance, they are not aggressive, unlike their non-winged, regular “zompopo” relatives, which are more closely related to the fire ant and will eat you alive if given the chance (only a slight exaggeration, I am Guatemalan after all!) 😉
    Reply
    1. Rudy says:
      September 2, 2014 at 7:22 pm
      This sums it up pretty much: “only a slight exaggeration, I am Guatemalan after all!” 😉
      Reply

Sompopo: The Giant Guatemalan Ant

Related

Leave a Reply Cancel reply