One aspect that I enjoy very much of the catholic rituals and celebrations is that there’s always food; food for every celebration. Corpus Christi was observed yesterday and included mass services, burning of firecrackers, procesion, and selling of food. Watch the video recorded, edited and published from his iPhone to get an overview of the … Read more
Today, I did some photos of orchids as part the coverage of the 1st National Orchid Exhibition in Antigua Guatemala where over 500 orchids are on displays for the next five days at the Museo de Arte Colonial, formerly the building of the Universidad de San Carlos de Borromeo. As part of the photo taking … Read more
Since we have been talking a lot about San Miguel Dueñas recently, I figured I should share with you a picture of the entrance to the town of San Miguel Dueñas, the municipality with the most plant nurseries around Antigua Guatemala. Accourding to loyal reader Luis, he jogged a 22kms route back and forth between … Read more
Believe or not, there are some benefits to the rainy season in Guatemala. For one, because the rainy season engulfs the hot weather of Spring, Summer and Autumn, our Summer is actually very comfortable to the point that most Guatemalans actually call it Winter. The rainy season also brings all the necessary water for everything … Read more
Once again the May sompopos ants actually arrived in May and on time! Are you ready to drop your jaw and say, “ah… I did not know that”? Fact #1: May’s Sompopos Ants are edible Yes, May’s sompopo queens are collected by some Guatemalans who remove the belly bottom and roast them on a comal … Read more
There are many green house around Antigua Guatemala, but by far, Vivero Escalonia is the most popular and largest nursery. There’s even a restaurant inside La Escalonia, a great place to have a herbal tea or rich cup of coffee. This picture is only a fragment of the huge areas where one can buy all … Read more
I was told by this papalina maker that in a normal town fair day he peels between one quintal and two quintals. That’s somewhere between one hundred to two hundred pounds of potato peeling to make the potato chips, or papalinas as we call them in Guatemala. So, your Spanish words for the day are … Read more
This news conference was called for just let people know about the renovations inside the Antigua Guatemala’s branch of the Procuraduría General de la Nación (Guatemala’s General Attorney Office). Honestly, I don’t know what was the big deal for even for even the General Attorney was present; that’s the man being interviewed. By the way, … Read more
I am not too sure this Guatemalan woman will be singing this popular song to bring on the rain, don’t you agree? Que llueva, que llueva Canción infantil Que llueva, que llueva La Virgen de la Cueva Los pajaritos cantan, Las nubes se levantan. ¡Que sí, que no, que caiga un chaparrón! Que siga lloviendo, … Read more
Here’s your Guatemalan Spanish word for today: Cofre, that’s what we call this type of box, chest or trunk. We continue our series of Guatemalan handicrafts with this gorgeous and colourful box painted with Guatemalan market and town fair motifs. Would you like to have one of these in your living room to keep all … Read more
Here are some samples of the typical kitchen utensils made in Guatemala. I don’t know about you, but I prefer wood and glass over the plastic equivalents; how about you?
At this fruit stand you can get three kinds of mangos: Tommy, Leche (milk mango) and Pashte (loofah mango). I am sure most people have had the Tommy mango, but not sure about the other two mango types. The mango de pashte takes its name because of the large amount of fibers which resemble a … Read more
This type ceramic heaters are used often in garden and patios to warm up the get togethers during chilly nights. It’s sort of a portable fireplace and in Guatemala we normally call them braseros or chimeneas. What are these things called in English? By the way, would you like to have one for your patio … Read more
Here’s your Guatemalan Spanish word for the day: Tinaja or water jar. They don’t make things like they used. Take this over hundred years old tinaja for example, and look at the beautiful craftsmanship and details. This was a water jar which was supposed to be kept on the dirt floor on a dark corner, … Read more
As we can see, sunbathing is among the favorite things to do by visitors to Antigua Guatemala. Why do think that is?