Gorgeous Light Lovers Wanted!

Hurry, we only have a few more weeks of gorgeous light left before the rainy season begins. I wonder why Guatemala does not use the enchanting light along the temperate weather are selling points to potential visitors who might not where Guatemala is located. I am sure there are people out there who do not know where Central America is in the world. That’s not Kansas by the way. In some cases, they don’t know that between North and South America there are the youngest land of the world. Sometimes they put Guatemala in South America; other times, they think that Guatemala is part of Mexico.

Share with us what was your first memory of learning about Guatemala and what were your thoughts about this exotic land of the eternal Spring?

22 Responses to "Gorgeous Light Lovers Wanted!"

Willy says:
February 1, 2013 at 8:05 am
Rudy, love your photos and blog. I thought the rainy season in Guatemala was late summer. I was there last August for plenty of downpours. Still, let’s keep Antigua a secret. There’s already too many tourists and expats there!
Reply
1. Rudy says:
  February 1, 2013 at 9:04 am
  Yes Willy, the rainy season spans the entire Summer, but also part of the Sprint and Autumn; it begins either late April or early May and ends around the beginning of November. 🙁
  Reply
El Canche says:
February 1, 2013 at 11:50 am
Fantastic picture Rudy! That light raises the level of definition of every object in the picture… no blurred edges. The only other place I’ve “seen the light” like in Guatemala, was in the glacier lake region of Bariloche in southern Argentina. You feel like you’ve just had radically successful laser eye treatment! Incredible that light is invisible but gives and defines visibility itself.
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NYChapin says:
February 1, 2013 at 11:56 am
where are you from amigo?
I am from Guatemala mister !
very nice, what part of Mexico is that?
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1. Rudy says:
  February 1, 2013 at 2:13 pm
  Cabal NYChapin, I have heard that a few times myself. 🙁
  Reply
Luis says:
February 1, 2013 at 2:35 pm
Beautiful color and well maintained wall. I noticed that there is no house number. Is this the corner house on 5th. Avenue near San Jose El Viejo?
Reply
1. Rudy says:
  February 2, 2013 at 8:54 am
  Actually Luis, this façade belongs to a house in San Juan del Obispo.
  Reply
Tom de NY says:
February 2, 2013 at 6:07 am
I knew almost nothing about Guatemala until 1998, when I came across it in an internet search for Spanish language schools. It was far less expensive than any of the better known destinations, so I made my reservations. The U.S. State Department’s website made Guatemala sound like a very dangerous place, but, having grown up in New York City in the 60s and 70s, I wasn’t scared off.
When I arrived in Guate it was already dark, so I couldn’t see much as we drove to Antigua. My hostess (I was staying with a local family through the language school) showed me my room, gave me my keys, and informed me that breakfast would be at 7 a.m. on Monday. It was then about 11 p.m. on Saturday.
The next morning I got up just before the sun, and stumbled out on to the balcony to see what I’d gotten myself into. In front of me, Agua loomed off in the distance, below me the sun was trying to reach into the narrow, cobbled streets, and all around me I heard the sounds of a city waking up, punctuated by the cries of birds I’d never heard before.
After a quick but cautious encounter with the infamous Guatemalan Suicide Shower I dressed and slipped out into the dawn to explore this strange new world. At the nearest intersection I found myself on the map, and headed off.
That was January 31st, 1999, and it was love at first sight.
Reply
1. Rudy says:
  February 2, 2013 at 8:58 am
  Hi Tom, what an amazing recount of your first encounter with Antigua Guatemala. Thanks for sharing it.
  Rudy
  Reply
  1. Tom de NY says:
    February 2, 2013 at 1:00 pm
    And then there was that second morning.
    The guy next door suddenly and quite inexplicably decided that the best way to greet the new day was to play, outside and at full volume, “La copa de vida” by Ricky Martin.
    I heard no exotic birds that day, just that driving beat, a kicking brass section, and young Ricky, belting out “tu y yo, ole, ole, ole!” loud enough to wake the dead.
    But then, about halfway through the song, this mysterious neighbor just as suddenly turned off the CD player and went back inside.
    Fortunately there were no further outbreaks of random weirdness from this neighbor, but that night I became acquainted with the charming local custom of setting off fireworks for people’s birthdays.
    Fireworks. In the street. In front of the person’s house.
    Invariably between the hours of 1 and 4 a.m.
    And in the neighborhood where I was staying, it appeared that nearly everyone had been born in February.
    I very quickly found out why Guatemala is famous for its coffee, as I needed copious amounts of it to get through each day. I suppose it’s a marvel that I speak Spanish as well as I do (or so they tell me), for I think I learned much of it in a state of semi-consciousness.
    But true love doesn’t care. Me encanta.
    Reply
    1. Rudy says:
      February 2, 2013 at 1:52 pm
      Viva la vida loca pues…
      Reply
      1. Tom de NY says:
        February 2, 2013 at 3:56 pm
        Si pues
    2. NYChapin says:
      February 2, 2013 at 2:04 pm
      H i Tom de NY, I think you got enough material to start working on an ” Antigua Memoir” If not already written. Great stuff !
      My brother has a tradition of burning fireworks in front of the house, minutes before taking me to the airport to fly back to NY. It seems that with each explosion I make up for every year that I have been absent. Charles Lindbergh ( the aviator) once commented that he was not afraid of his engine exploding mid-flight while crossing the Atlantic, he explained that the explosion of the engine “would be inseparable from the beat of my heart. As I trust one, I shall trust the other.” I get a similar feeling from the fireworks in Guate.
      Reply
Clara says:
February 2, 2013 at 8:23 am
Cuando yo estaba en la escuela primaria, esto fue en Honduras, tuvimos que aprender los himnos nacionales, geografia, capital y moneda de todos los paises centro, norte y suramericanos. Yo me aprendi una estrofa del himno nacional de Guatemala. Esa fue mi primera experiencia con Guatemala 🙂
Luego, en el 2009 fui parte de un grupo misionero, en el cual apoyamos a otros misioneros ubicados en Huehuetenango. Recorrimos muchos quilometros, comimos algunos platos tipicos Guatemaltecos y visitamos algunas ruinas y volcanes. Antigua Guatemala me robo el corazon con sus parques, sus calles, comercio, color, internacionalidad, arquitectura, etc! Es por eso sigo tu blog.
Guatemala es colorida (sus flores, mercado y vestimenta de su gente) con un clima perfecto. Tiene fronteras con Honduras, El Salvador, Belize (al NE). Al Norte colinda con Mexico.
Thanks for sharing Antigua with the world!
Reply
1. Rudy says:
  February 2, 2013 at 9:00 am
  Gracias Clara por compartir tu experiencia. Podríamos decir que Guate está bien ubicada al tener frontera con cuatro países y dos océanos al mismo tiempo. 😉
  Reply
  1. Clara says:
    February 2, 2013 at 7:00 pm
    Cierto.
    Reply
Clara says:
February 2, 2013 at 8:25 am
I like the deer on the roof 🙂
Reply
1. Rudy says:
  February 2, 2013 at 8:53 am
  Dear Clara, that deer is coming down today, since today’s the last day of the Christmas season. Today’s Candlemas or Dia de la Candelaria as we call it in Spanish. Incidentally, in the U.S. they celebrate Groundhog Day.
  Reply
  1. Clara says:
    February 2, 2013 at 6:58 pm
    I didn’t know, thank you for explaining. I learned something new today!
    Reply
Eric says:
February 2, 2013 at 9:00 am
My little brother…who is almost 40…is fond of saying, “I can’t wait to go with you to Guatemala…I LOVE South America !!!”. I just sigh, and tell him where it is…AGAIN…
I took notice of Guatemala when news reports of the civil war appeared (briefly) on the news in the U.S. in the early 1980s. When I mentioned to friends that I wanted to visit, to see the place for myself, I got “Are you crazy?!”, usually followed by “Let me tell you about THOSE people..” It was strange that people who had never been to Guatemala were experts on guatemaltecos.
Finally, in 2006, I was taking a university course on Mesoamerican civilizations, and one of the course websites contained a ‘pop-up ad’ for an NGO near Lake Atitlan. They offered to show any visitors a grand tour, and I decided to take them up on it. And I’ve been in love with Guatemala ever since.
Honestly, Rudy, with fotos like this, you’re making me cry. Just don’t post any pictures of the lovely tortilla ladies, whatever you do…PLEASE no fotos of lovely tortilla ladies… 😉
Reply
1. Rudy says:
  February 2, 2013 at 9:13 am
  Hahaha Eric, I hear you, photos do the lovely tortilla ladies coming up soon. I’ve heard that winter has been especially cold in the northeast region of the U.S. this year, is that correct?
  Reply
  1. Eric says:
    February 4, 2013 at 9:17 am
    I don’t know that the temperature is any different, Rudy; what is especially difficult this year was the sudden change. Normally, the temperature slowly makes its way down to -10C or so, then slowly warms up. This year, we had snow in October, warm in November, snow, then more warm (5C for us, in December, is warm), then a week of furious wind and -12C. Somewhere in heaven, God is flipping a switch ‘on’ and ‘off’, and laughing at us here in the northeast.
    Reply

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