Ice Cream Memories

Ice cream vendors like the guy in the picture above are not only typical stamp of La Antigua Guatemala. As matter of fact, they are pretty much everywhere I visited in Guatemala; including here in Xela, where I now live; also in Huehuetenango, in Lake Atitlán, in Guatemala City, everywhere… really. On this one particular afternoon I saw this guy in front of the Central Park in Antigua Guatemala, and I started to think about my childhood. I am not from Guatemala, I am from a small southern town in Turkey. Ice cream is, however, a universal thing, that can take you all the way back in your memories, it doesn’t matter where you are in the world. He reminded me of those childhood days, when I would buy cheap and colorful ice cream in the streets when I was a little kid. I kinda miss them…

text and photo by Pinar Istek

About Guest Contributor: Born and raised in Turkey, Pinar Istek is getting her masters in photojournalism at Missouri School of Journalism. In May 2010, after she arrived in Huehuetenango, she decided to extend her stay in Guatemala to one year. Currently based in Xela, Pinar is working at a hostel, teaching English, freelancing for several publications and looking for short stories from Guatemala. You can browse Pinar Istek portfolio at her picture blog.

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