Mañana martes es día del ejército. No sé que nuevo nombre tiene ahora esta “celebración” luego de los acuerdos de Paz. Como les cambiaron a los existentes tanto e intrujeron otra docena de días festivos, seguramente es algo así como “Día del martirologio contra el sistema asesino”, o a lo mejor se puede conocer dentro … Read more
On June 17th is celebrated Father’s Day in Guatemala. On my lunch break I headed for La Antigua Guatemala’s Parque Central to see if I could capture an image with the sentiment of the celebration. I was so lucky I only needed three shots to be happy with the results. Happy Guatemalan Father’s Day to … Read more
Día de la Santa Cruz (Day of the Holy Cross) is celebrated in Guatemala and other Latin American countries on May 3rd which is also the day of the construction worker or albañiles as they are known in Spanish. Through out La Antigua Guatemala and the rest of the country you can find adorned crosses, … Read more
Day one of year four. On the first anniversary of La Antigua Guatemala I shared my goal with you: My idea was to show the good, the bad and the ugly of this colonial town. I did not want to make a touristic site for the most popular touristic destination in Central America. La Antigua … Read more
Today we had the first official rainfall of the rainy season 2009 in La Antigua Guatemala. Even though, yesterday and a few days ago we experienced some light and fast drizzle, it was not until today that we had our fist real heavy precipitation. If you are coming to Antigua in the next following semester, … Read more
pushwigh#@%&?¿… blip! Alert, alert, we break from our regular programing Details, details, details to bring you this important news update. From early in the morning, around 8 a.m., there were sightings of hundreds, no, make it thousands of people with dark markings in their foreheads. The first sightings were reported near the church of San … Read more
That’s it. As the sun sets today we will be waving goodbye to 2008. I want to take this opportunity to thank all the wonderful people who have left comments or sent feedback. I want to send a big THANK YOU to all of you who supported my efforts through donations towards the hosting bills, … Read more
The official date for the commencement of the Christmas season in Guatemala is December 8th, although many malls and commercial centers, imitating the businesses from up north, begin decorating for Christmas right after Independence Day, celebrated in Guatemala on September 15th. With the Feast for the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th, people … Read more
Okay, let me break the bad news to you guys. The Burning of the Devil tradition in Guatemala is disappearing. Even though, I read a couple articles about La quema del diablo (Burning of the Devil) in the national newspapers, when I finally decided to go out to the streets to photograph the celebration, I … Read more
Thanksgiving Day is not a tradition from La Antigua Guatemala or even from Guatemala or Central America for the matter since at the time the traditional “first Thanksgiving” is venerated as having occurred at the site of Plymouth Plantation, in 1621, La Antigua Guatemala had already celebrated its 78 anniversary as the third capital of … Read more
Here’s another quote taken from the article written by Ignacio Ochoa and published in Revue Magazine about the history of kite making in Santiago Sacatepéquez under the name of Messenges in the Wind. At 4 a.m. on November 2, everyone moves toward the cemetery with candles so the spirits can return to their celestial home. … Read more
Ignacio Ochoa has published a recent article about the history of kite making in Santiago Sacatepéquez under the name of Messenges in the Wind. Below the first paragraph of this wonderful article: On November 1 and 2, a powerful force stirs in all the towns of Guatemala. Traditional markets are filled with flowers of sempa … Read more
As read on Prensa Libre recently: According to the legend, each November 1st the God-world releases the souls of the dead from the underworld and for 24 hours the spirits are free to visit their live families, whom must provide a warm welcome, otherwise the spirits can cause harm to the crops and harvests. It … Read more
On September 15th, at 6 p.m. all over main squares and central parks of Guatemala there is a civic act known as La arriada de la bandera (Haul down of the flag). The ceremony include several solemn activities like Juramento a la bandera (pledge alliance to the flag); Canto del Himno Nacional de Guatemala (Singing … Read more
I was lucky to get some pictures of the representation of the Leaders of Guatemala’s Independence Movement (actually, to be fair, I should say Central America’s Independence). There were about twelve or so young people dressed up like in colonial times, just about Guatemala’s Independence date of 1821, who represented the Próceres de la Independencia … Read more