With the Ash Wednesday religious ceremony begins the 40-day period known in Spanish as Cuaresma, Lent, which ends with Semana Santa, Holy Week, by far the most affluent event in Antigua Guatemala. I read in Prensa Libre, Guatemala’s main newspaper, that one million and a half are expected to visit Antigua Guatemala during the Lent/Holy … Read more
Ordinarily, I begin by asking readers to recall their earliest memories to provide a context for corpocratic historians of the future… Could you describe this annual “Carnival” ceremony? The Tuesday before Ash Wednesday was the culmination of carnival, a festive season which occurred immediately before Lent, in the territory then known as Guatemala, where these … Read more
The never mind the lack of seat belts, comfortable seats, handicap access ramps, clean fuel burning engines or thread-less tires so long as you can watch the latest reggaetón videos out of New York City. These are the priorities for the rural public transit buses in Guatemala. C’est la vie!
There’s nothing like on-the-spot-freshly-cooked tortillas to accompany your Guatemalan meals. If you grew up eating freshly-made tortillas, the aroma near a tortilleria (tortilla-making place) can be as haunting as the one coming from a panaderia, bakery; just ask Guatemalan or Mexican for the matter. Tortillas, in case you don’t know, are maize or corn based … Read more
Interesting enough, Parque Central or main plaza is a great place to not only watch people, but also to enjoy the light of the sunsets during the dry season. The murmurs of the people and the running water of its fountain and the filtered light through the many leaves of branches of the canopy and … Read more
This wonderful clay pottery was brought all the way from Totonicapán; that’s near Xela in case you didn’t know, to be sold in Antigua Guatemala and its surrounding villages. Believe or not, many people still use clay pottery to cook. Just the other day while researching about leña, firewood fuel, I learned that some families … Read more
This silver-painted miner is the most recent show I have seen at Central Park. People were fascinated by the frozen stand of this performer who only moved when people deposited a tip a on his collection box. Children, of course, were the most interested during the performance.
The izote tree, yucca guatemalensis, is the Mesoamerican cousin of the yucca tree or Joshua tree and one of my favorite plants to photograph. Simply take a photo tour through the archives for izote. Izote is can be found in almost all gardens and fences here and everywhere in Mexico and Central America and the … Read more
Only when you get a close-up and pay attention to the details on the façade of the church you realise how baroque it really is. I also like to colour of the stucco and the texture and contrast provided by the wear and of the stucco. To top it off, the bells of top gives … Read more
Everywhere in Guatemala you can find fresh fruit ready to go inside a transparent plastic bag. Often you can can these fruit portions with lime juice, ground chilli and/or pepitoria (roasted squash seeds) and salt. The transparent bag portion normally goes for about Q5. Have you had fresh fruit in this presentation?
Last night was the presentation of Vocal People at Ermita de la Santa Cruz ruins, Antigua Guatemala’s concert venue, as part of the XII Festival Internacional de Cultura Paiz. Voca People brought a musical show featuring popular songs by the only means of a cappella and beatbox, sans any other musical instrument. The Saturday night … Read more
The night of February 1 was chosen as the inauguration of XII Festival Internacional de Cultura Paiz to be held for ten days in Antigua Guatemala. The night was filled with the sounds of the big band music of the Bob Porter’s Orchestra and happy rhythms of pop, rock, latino and ska by the Guatemalan … Read more
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 … Read more