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Antigua Guatemala, Page 4

Little Charms of LAG

Visitors can easily spot the Maya people dressed in rainbow colors weaving their way throughout the renowned colonial architecture of La Antigua …

Antigua’s Biodiesel Project

Antigua Guatemala is full of Quixotes who do not know about impossibles. Alejandro del Valle is such a Quixote who after careful …

Guatemalan Cuisine: Pepián

The easiest way to get authentic traditional Guatemalan cuisine is to get a daily menu special at your local diner. For instance, …

Gas Tanks are Ugly Too

This is what Guatemalans think of when you utter Tanques de gas (gas tanks); it doesn’t cross their mind the fuel tank …

Guatemalan T-Shirts for Sale

I caught this sampler of Guatemalan t-shirt motifs. I am glad to see new ideas being stamped onto t-shirts. By the way, …

Jailed Sousaphone

The more I see things through the camera lens, the more I realize how little I know and how ignorant I am. …

Obama in Antigua Guatemala

Maybe we will get it right this election. —The Brunscheon, Oregon We hope so. —The rest of the world Well, as some …

Garden Chickens for Patsy Poor

It was Patsy Poor who requested photos of Guatemala chickens. Well Patsy, you are served. These garden chickens are known locally as gallinas criollas (creole hens) or gallinas del paí­s (native hens) as opposed to the chicken grown in farms.

What’s killing La Antigua Guatemala

The cobblestone streets of La Antigua Guatemala were originally designed for horses and horse-carriages. So, it is no wonder that even light vehicles, like cars, create a lot of damage to the streets which, therefore, need constant repairing. Now you can imagine that huge and heavy trucks like the ones pictured above not only damage the streets, but the foundation of the houses and the city itself.

Having the Sun for Lunch

Yes Manolo, the weather gods are on LAG side. Above you see a group of tourist having the Sun for lunch and enjoying too. Yes the temperate weather gods have been given La Antigua Guatemala temperatures between 68 and 74 degrees Fahrenheit in the harshest Winter month. Oh boy, life is wonderful in La Antigua Guatemala…

Celebrations for the New President Álvaro Colom in La Antigua Guatemala

Even though the new Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom Caballeros, a 57-year-old industrial engineer and textile businessman, was sworn in for a 4-year term in Guatemala City in a ceremony at the Miguel Ángel Asturias National Theater, ceremonies and celebrations were held in the rest of the country too.

Buñuelos Are Another Traditional Guatemalan Christmas Food

By the way, although I have not mentioned it yet, every night as I write the daily entry I can hear the bombas (bombs) firecracker, the cohetes (firecrackers) being burnt, the church bells tolling, the canchinflines (whistle) firecracker and all kinds of unknown (to me) firecracker being burnt and creating a loud bang which I can hear as echoes through the far away streets. In additions to the smells and scents, the Christmas season in Guatemala has a soundtrack of its own.

Nacimiento Shrine Niche at Capilla de Belén

One important aspect of this particular Nacimiento is the fact that Santo Hermano Pedro de Betancourt managed to get himself in the picture of the Nativity shrine. For those who are not well verse in Catholic imagery, myself included, normally the Nativity scene shows Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus along with a few animals. No, Santo Hermano Pedro could not be present there since he was born about 1600 years later, give or take a few moons. Rather, the inclusion of his image, on the right, is to celebrate and to remember that is was Santo Hermano Pedro de Betancourt who introduced the Nacimiento and Posadas to the American Continent, to La Antigua Guatemala if you want to be precise, and from this old town, this celebration was taken to the rest of the continent.

Private Spanish Classes in La Antigua Guatemala

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the private Spanish teachers yesterday in the cornucopia of options available for taking Spanish classes in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Spanish Schools entry. Once again, take all these options with a grain of salt since many of the flyers put more emphasis in the private part of the sale of the service.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Spanish Schools in La Antigua Guatemala

In the picture above you see two foreigners taking Spanish classes in a Restaurant/School named Korea with omnipresent beer posters. Here’s the Spanish word/phrase of the day: Quiero más cerveza por favor (please, I’d like to have more beer). Life is though for the Spanish students in the Spanish school capital of Latin America.

Selling Cell Phones in the La Antigua’s Market

The transnational Spanish cell phone company Movistar enters the humble Guatemalan market; following the example set by Domino’s Pizza. So now, you can go to el mercado (market) of La Antigua Guatemala for your vegetables, fruits, spices, flowers, dishes, charcoal and cell phones. These two girls, with Telefónica Movistar t-shirts, were selling the cell phones for Q130/USD$18 with Q100 of airtime and your own cellphone number; not bad all.

Mickey Mouse Kite

Cross-culturization is happening so fast that Guatemala may seemed foreign to those Guatemalans who have lived a few years outside its borders. Walt Disney figures and just about any comic hero like Spiderman, Superman, Wolverine, et-cetera are being absorbed by the popular culture and mixed with their own traditional icons like kites and parades for town fairs. But this cross-culturization is happening at all levels and not only with U.S. trivial merchandise, but with Mexican culture, music, food, novelas (soap operas), et-cetera. For instance, a few year back, I took a photograph of menu board in Panajachel, Lake Atitlán, which advertised the Desayuno Chapí­n (Guatemalan breakfast) with eggs a la Mexican style

Guateflora: Chichicaste Hedge

Poison Ivy is without a doubt the most famous ivy in the family; especially after Drew Barrymore gave it human traits. I am not sure if we have poison ivy in Guatemala since I am not familiar with the plant. But, we have our own poisonous plant: Chichicaste. The scientific name is Chichicaste grandis and it belongs to the Loasaceae family, but here we just call it chichicaste. The chichicaste plant is used often in hedgerows and if you have followed this blog for a while, you will know that this is not the first time the chichicaste has entered the viewfinder. I know of two kinds of chichicaste, the regular kind and chichicaste de caballo (horse’s chichicaste), which has a leaf about three times the size of normal chichicaste.

Farmacia Roca Sign in La Antigua Guatemala

Signs, signs, signs I sure do like them. If you browse the Signs category you will find 27 different samples of the many signs that adorn the walls of La Antigua Guatemala. Almost a month worth of signs.

For those of you who have visited La Antigua Guatemala, do you remember this sign and can you tell us more or less where it’s located?

Guatemalan Flag at Municipalidad de La Antigua Guatemala

There is a missing flag on the other staff; all you have to do is name the missing flag and describe the colors of it and why. Both answers are in the archives of La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo. The first complete answer gets five post cards made from photographs from this site sent via Guatemalan regular post mail. Let the game begin.

La Antigua Guatemala’s Webcams

Believe it or not, in over 451 entries or 442 days, which ever way you prefer, not once I have mentioned that there are some public webcams in La Antigua Guatemala that you can use. I found the webcams around La Antigua and Guatemala City over three years ago, but the web site that publish their output was awkward and difficult to use, to say the least. So I pick the output of four webcams that I liked, two for La Antigua Guatemala and two for Guatemala City and put them in a webpage in the Revue Magazine website. There is still the problem that the cameras go offline often, but I have no control over that. Here is the link to the web page that collects the output of the four webcams.

What’s in a name? That which we call La Antigua Guatemala

The English-language speaking community refuses to recognize the official name of La Antigua Guatemala because it is too long or lack of knowledge or poor Spanish-language skills; who knows really?. They just want to call it Antigua. But Antigua is a Caribbean Island. Yet, they refuse to call it La Antigua Guatemala, which, by the way, simply means the former Guatemala City.

To add to this confusion, many Guatemalans just call it Antigua too, although more often they say La Antigua. This error is even published by newspapers and magazine. Worst yet, the road signs just say Antigua Guatemala. Even Wikipedia just have it listed as Antigua Guatemala, which by the way means Old Guatemala.

Walter William Road Monument in Antigua Guatemala

Believe or not, the monument plaque says that this monument was erected in the memory of Walter Williams who happens to be present on the date of inauguration for the the road. I guess that back in 1925, Guatemala was still a jungle and foreign visitors were scarce, so they needed to erect a monument to celebrate such an important event.

Not All the Roads in Antigua are Cobble-stoned

Not all the roads in La Antigua Guatemala are cobble-stoned, some side roads that travel the distance between villages or coffee plantations could be simple dirt path like the one shown above. But even this dirt road can sometimes lead you to jewels like that one I found the other day tucked, as Suzanne pointed out, between Santa Ana village and San Cristobal El Bajo. Thanks to Suzanne, now I know that the name of the ruins is Santa Isabel. The view you see in the photograph above is looking towards Santa Ana village from the Santa Isabel Ruins.

Tuk Tuk Meeting

Is it motorcycle or automobile? The meeting of the tuk tuk drivers and the police was to define the tuk tuk as …

Every Corner is Different

If I walk around Antigua Guatemala and photograph all the street corners, I could do a series for a long while just …

WI-FI Around Antigua Guatemala

La Antigua Guatemala, despite its name (Old Guatemala City) and its architecture, is a modern city with cutting-edge technologies like Wireless Internet …

Antigua Guatemala Map

On August 3rd, I have said that La Antigua Guatemala is a very small town (about 10×10 block grid), but there is …

Jamtigua 2006 for all

Jamtigua is a music festival, now in its second year. Jamtigua is the merging of the words Jam and Antigua and the …

Texture through color

To follow up the texture in yesterday’s sign and to get you prepare for this coming week series about color, here is …

A Place to Rest

Inspired by Pamela’s A Place to Rest, which shows a lovely resting area, I decide to follow up with a resting area …

Requiem for the rain

“Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain.” —Pradip I found two great quotes about the rain at …

Guatemala’s favorite vehicle

For some reason, mini trucks are Guatemala’s favorite vehicle. Toyota and Nissan are the preferred brands in Guatemala. What would you say …

The long wait for…

… Equal opportunity. Related entries: Selling folk-art on the park Where are the Maya women going to? Let’s go mija, we’re are …

Little old man

Eric, from Paris Daily Photo, has been publishing a series of photos linked by a ‘walking’ theme. We do not have traffic …

Tuk Tuk Police

Tuk Tuk police, arrest this man, he talks in maths He buzzes like a fridge, he’s like a detuned radio Tuk Tuk …

Antigua is a romantic town

Somehow, not by conscious intention, I have managed to avoid the common references and photos of Antigua. For better or for worse, …

The Avocado Lady

Selling avocadoes, originally uploaded by rudygiron. Ever since I came to Antigua about four years ago, I often come across this lady …

Antigua’s main entrance

Antigua’s main entrance, originally uploaded by rudygiron. On my post Welcome to La Antigua Guatemala, I showed what you see first as …

Ermita de la Santa Cruz Ruins

Ermita de la Santa Cruz Ruins, originally uploaded by rudygiron. On June 29th I posted a photo of Charly Garcí­a on concert …

Live flowers for the innocent

Live flowers for the innocent, originally uploaded by rudygiron. Today’s photo is dedicated to the dead and the innocent victims of the …

Natural paint textures

Old window, originally uploaded by rudygiron. Because the high levels of humidity around Antigua, people have to paint their walls often. Not …

Antigua’s street sweeper

School bus and street sweeper, originally uploaded by rudygiron. Street sweeping is still done manually in Antigua. You can see the street …

Guatemalan Cuisine: Pache

Guatemalan Cuisine: Pache, originally uploaded by rudygiron. Tamales are an ancient American food, made throughout the continent for over 5000 years. How …

Rusted plant pot

rusted plant pot, originally uploaded by rudygiron. On the opposite wall, the plant has taken over the whole wall. I do not …

Plant pot at Posada del Ángel

Plant pot at Posada del Ángel, originally uploaded by rudygiron. Yesterday I brought to you a metal plant against a wall. I …

Antigua’s craftsmanship

Muebles y hierro forjado sign, originally uploaded by rudygiron. Antigua is known to Guatemalans as a great place to get high quality …

Antigua’s street from Cafe Sky

Antigua’s street from Cafe Sky, originally uploaded by rudygiron. Here is another shot from Cafe Sky roof-top bar. Between this view and …

There’s nothing like a sunset

Cafe Sky roof-top, originally uploaded by rudygiron. Sunsets in Antigua are something special and even more so when you watch them from …

The bubble maker

The bubble maker, originally uploaded by rudygiron. The people need to survive which way they can. Here you see a woman making …

Charly Garcí­a in Antigua

Charly Garcí­a in Antigua, originally uploaded by rudygiron. PLEASE NOTE: this site has a new address, would you please update your links …

Wireless knife sharpener

Unplugged knife sharpening, originally uploaded by rudygiron. Antigua is a modern city with cutting-edge technologies like wireless internet, satellite television, direct tv, …

Exotic flowers for exotic Lu!

Exotic flowers for exotic Lu!, originally uploaded by rudygiron. The slogan of this blog says that Antigua has flower farms, but I …

Mac and Windows in Antigua

Mac and Windows in Antigua, originally uploaded by rudygiron. Something ‘light’ for the weekend. I know I am really stretching it with …

Panaderas’ arch in Antigua

Panadera’s arch, originally uploaded by rudygiron. On the west side of the Central Park in Antigua you can find the Portal de …

Antigua’s color palette: red

Antigua’s red, originally uploaded by rudygiron. The restaurant La Fonda de la Calle Real is another of Antigua’s landmarks. You can find …

Antigua’s color palette: green

Antigua’s green corner, originally uploaded by rudygiron. This corner has appeared in two previous photos: the street lamp on Antigua’s rush hour …

Antigua’s color palette: zapote

Wood Window works, originally uploaded by rudygiron. The wall’s zapote color takes its name from the fruit Mammea americana, known here as …

Antigua’s color palette: yellow

The Antigua’s color palette only accepts about 12 colors. Here you see the antigüeño yellow. This week’s photos will be about the …

Antigua’s electric wires

Antigua’s electric-wire web, originally uploaded by rudygiron. Spiders are not the only animal that creates webs: humans do too, and all different …

Lock, stock & a two-leaf door

lock and stock, originally uploaded by rudygiron. The side entrance to the garden of Hotel Porta Antigua is guarded by this very …

Entrance to the Popenoe House

Entrance to the Popenoe House, originally uploaded by rudygiron. This is the entrance to the Popenoe House, a colonial mansion restored by …