Guatemala’s public educational system is divided as follows: Pre-Primaria (Pre-primary also known as párvulos and kindergarten), Primaria (Primary school 1st to 6th grade), Secundaria (Secundary school, 3 years known as 1st basic through 3rd basic or Básicos) and Diversificado (3 years corresponding to the last years of High School; also known as Preparataria in other … Read more
Maybe we will get it right this election. —The Brunscheon, Oregon We hope so. —The rest of the world Well, as some of you may already know, my birthday falls on September 11th and like everyone else, I like to receive presents. I was very lucky to have received sweet and nice wishes from many … Read more
If you have been following La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo (LAGDP) for at least a year, you would know that the patron’s day celebrations fall on 25th of July for La Antigua Guatemala, also known as Santiago de Guatemala (Saint James of Guatemala), short for its original name La Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad … Read more
If you are in Guatemala this weekend, you can visit all public and most private museums for free. May 18th is the International Museums Day and what better way to to celebrate these wonderful institutions that with free entrance to today’s special activities. Don’t let this opportunity go by, especially if you are a tourist, … Read more
Through our mothers’ safety zone we learn to crawl, walk, run, swim and fly! It is only fair that we assign one day out of the year to celebrate their unconditional support and the safety zone they provide for us. In Guatemala, it is on May 10th that Mother’s Day is celebrated as “Día de … Read more
In Guatemala and many countries in Latin America today, May 3rd, is celebrated the Day of the Holy Cross and also the Day of the Construction Worker. The Day of the Holy Cross is known in Guatemala as Día de la Santa Cruz and you can see many Albañiles (construction workers) placing an adorned cross at their current construction site.
Below you can find a fragment of the text I published last year regarding this celebration:
Today’s is Earth Day and to celebrate it, I am posting a desktop wallpaper photo for your computer which shows the harmony between the human habitat and nature. Wow, what a pompous description for an old-looking wall and the bougainvilleas and jacaranda trees that crown it. Today’s entry is the desktop wallpaper number 9 which … Read more
Valentine’s Day in Guatemala is known as El Día del Cariño. Cariño and caress share the same etymology and it means affection. The Day of Affection would be a close translation for El Día del Cariño, thus it is much more than Valentine’s Day because it is the day to show your affection, love and appreciation to your co-workers, neighbors, friends, family, and of course, your girlfriend or girlfriend; whatever the case may be.
New Year’s Eve Celebrations in La Antigua Guatemala:
For starters there are many things that make New Year’s Eve similar and different than Christmas’ Eve. If Christmas’ Eve is celebrated with the family at home at your parents’ home; New Year’s Eve can be celebrated anywhere: a discotheque, a park, the beach or La Calle del Arco, a popular venue in La Antigua Guatemala
With the help of a little tripod and an out of focus shot, you can turn even the most banal and commercial Christmas tree into an awesome Christmas card. I hope you like it even though it is not to easily distinguishable as a Christmas tree.
In La Antigua Guatemala, religious celebrations draw together all kinds of heterogeneous people and the feast day of Virgin of Guadalupe is no exception. In the day of La Virgen de Guadalupe, Our Lady of Guadalupe, you can find gringa mamas, indigenous mamas, ladino mamas and white mamas all taking their children dressed with indigenous clothes to visit the altar of La Virgen Morena. In many cases you have grandmas and the whole family taking part of the visit to Virgin of Guadalupe inside Iglesia de la Merced.
For those who would rather break a piñata than playing around with fire, I present to you the Lucky 7 Burning of the Devil Piñata for you to fill it with all your frustration and negative vibes and virtually burn it or break it with your mouse, trackball or tablet until your let it all out. Happy Burning of the Devil everyone!
As of 22 hours local time of Sunday 4th of November, Guatemala’s Electoral Supreme Tribunal or Tribunal Supremo Electoral (TSE) in Spanish has declared the Socal-Democrat Alvaro Colom as the new elected president of Guatemala.
I don’t know why the word salad brings all kinds of vegetables to mind. Fiambre is a salad, but it mostly has meats, all kinds: sausages, hams, chicken, sea food, meats pork and beef. It is Domino’s or Pizza Hut that has a meat lover’s pizza with a mere 5 meat. Move over meat lover’s pizza; fiambre has over 25 meats.
I haven’t seen the film yet, but the title alone is hauntingly enough, for me, to make me want to see it. Live and become could be the short answer for those searching how to make a Guatemalan from a newly adopted baby. With that in mind, I leave you a short slide show and a video clip of the activities around the Guatemalan Independence Day.
I dedicate these photos, video and sounds to all my Guatemalan readers living abroad; may these vistas bring you home for a little while.