Once again Leonel “Nelo” Mijangos is sharing his photographs with us. Yesterday Nelo showed us some his photos for the student parades serpentining around La Antigua Guatemala on September 14. Today he continues with another slide show of the vistas for the 189th Independence Day. Let’s thank Nelo for getting early and chasing down the parades for our benefit. 😉
Here’s Guatemala’s National Anthem in English and Español
For as long as there’s love, couples will feel the desire to record their names, interlocked, as proof that at one point they were in love. There’s even a famous and popular Mexican corrido song which describes one such love story in which the lovers recorded their names on a penca (nopal pad). Who wants … Read more
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Cutting a cake for an anniversary is quite commom through out the world, including Guatemala, however, here we also have an alternative: La Torta, this huge sweet bread, takes the place of the cake for many Guatemalan families. The sweet Guatemalan bread in this picture comes from a very popular bakery in La Antigua Guatemala … Read more
An hour for the Planet… An hour of no light for the planet; it was celebrated worldwide. Antigua Guatemala did its share, as a city. Some, of course didn’t. Nonetheless the care for our planet should be done 24×7, and not just an hour per year. Of course, I understand all the difficulties of going … Read more
We get a lot of things from our neighbors from the big white north like remittances, retired chicken buses, junk cars, and so on. Now, it it looks like we are also getting the eating habits and as a result Guatemala has made the top ten of the most obese countries. 🙁 Other Latin American … Read more
Anyway, in my never ending quest of bringing you the contrast of the ‘Old’ Guatemala versus the ‘New’ Guatemala, I share with you two new versions of Luna de Xelajú. The first rendition of Luna de Xelajú is by Malacates Trebol Shop. The second version of Luna de Xelajú is performed by the group Abracadabra. Next, you will find the lyrics for Luna de Xelajú in Spanish and English right below. Last but not least, you can watch and hear the Marimba of Bellas Artes performed Luna de Xelajú. Enjoy!
Yo creo que es hora de regresar a nuestras clases de español (I think it’s time to come back to our Spanish Classes). What question and answer can you invent for this photo? [gmap]
Split a life in two; then in decades; the decades in years; the years in days and so on. Life is just a string of fleeting moments; like a necklace of beads strung together. Life is good the moment one begins appreciating the brief instants that occur everyday; that bring happiness, peace or perhaps a … Read more
Christmas is such a quite and relax day in Guatemala, except for the burning of fireworks and firecrackers at noon and 6 p.m., most Guatemalans stay home watching movies, sleeping, eating and spending time with the family. How does your family celebrate Christmas?
Many Guatemalans might regard thrillers and serial killers films as light and interested pieces of fiction because we are confronted with ultra violent headlines in newspapers like Nuestro Diario and Al Día, sensationalist rags that, like mirrors, show us every day how savage we can be. Ironically, Nuestro Diario boasts the largest circulation of any … Read more
For three years I have focused on world-famous and omnipresent dish of Fiambre as the main food served for Day of the Dead and All Saints’ Day in Guatemala. I believe that has been too much emphasis on a salad, which mostly has meats, all kinds: sausages, hams, chicken, sea food, meats pork and beef; don’t you think?
Once again, I have to thank Erin who mentioned last week it was about time to begin preparing “fiambre” and the dulce de ayote. It is amusing that one needs other people to point the obvious. I say this because every year my girlfriend and I set up a Day of the Dead Altar which amalgamates the Mexican and the Guatemalan tradition with foods from both cultures and of course with plenty of desserts.
Chilacayote is basically a Guatemalan-type of squash sweet or candy. I don’t have the recipe, but I am sure Erin or other kind Guatemalan will come forward with the recipe for chilacayote, camotes and dulce de ayote… anyone, anyone?
Here’s one more dose of Sobrevivencia… A Guatemalan Mayan rock band. This time Sobrevivencia performs a rock version of “Guate caricia.” Enjoy!
If there were an unofficial anthem for Guatemala, that would be El Grito. Most Guatemalan grow hearing El Grito and even dancing the “son” in school events. Here’s a question for the Guatemalans living abroad, when was the last time you heard El Grito and what kind thoughts crossed your mind? Here’s yet another dose … Read more
These caramelized apples are a good example of the syncretism found in the Guatemalan gastronomy.
As Pascu mentioned yesterday, “I find Guatemalan cuisine unique: the blend of three cultures, each completely different. Mayan heritage brings the slow cooking stew style with thick sauces. African, the taste for deep fry food. Finally Spanish culture brought the oven, baked delicacies: bread, dough, roast, “dulces”… local fruits and vegetables mixed with 3 european basic ingredients: milk, sugar and eggs.”
Erin also added a few ingredients to stew, “It is important to keep in mind that the lists of local ingredients and dishes were enlarged and improved in many ways, during the colonial times. I am not taking out any credit to the local indigenous ingredients and methods; I am only saying that what we now know as ethnic food is a glorious combination of our past in its purest form, the colonial times, and some contemporary additions. Anyway, whatever the background in our extensive list of dishes, all of them are a feast to the senses. What a joy!”
How funny that Erin should mention Feast of the Senses since that was precisely the name of the exhibit of Central American gastronomy in which I participated two years ago. As always, follow the white rabbit to see some of the photographs that were on display at Fiesta de los Sentidos.
On a totally unrelated subject, it just occurred to me that the United States is one of the largest Spanish-speaking countries since it has one of the largest populations of Spanish speakers. Spanish has been spoken in the U.S. from a time before its independence; heck from before English was spoken there. And at the rate at which the Spanish-speaking population grows, faster than any other, you may have to hablar español sooner or después or move to Canada. 😉 Remember that you can always come to La Antigua Guatemala to take Spanish classes in the more than 65 Spanish Schools available in this tiny colonial town.
Por favor dejar sus comentarios y preguntas abajo; hay mucho espacio abajo y esta bitácora digital es ecológicamente verde, panza verde verde verde pues.
Here’s another dose of Sobrevivencia… A Guatemalan Mayan rock band. This Kaqchikel rock song is called Ruq’ojom Tat Mak (El Son De San Marcos); below you can also hear it performed in Spanish in case your Kaqchikel is a little rusty. 😉
If you want to know what plataninas, papalinas, poporopos and churros are, just follow the white rabbit!
Guatemala’s rich gastronomic heritage is “disappearing” right before our own very eyes. I try to capture and document some of it, but I am afraid I am doing it too slow.
Let me explain.
The other day I went to the tienda to buy some papalinas and I asked the girl at the counter for bag of papalinas. She looked dazed and confused and her hand kept on moving between the papalinas, plataninas and yuquitas. Finally, she admitted she did not know which was which. She solicited help to show her which was papalinas. She was about 18 years old so I inquired about her provenance; not willing to admit to myself that it was feasible for a Guatemalan teenager to not know what papalinas were.
In Guatemala, however, everyday the limits of what’s possible are pushed further out.
The tienda attendant was from a village not to far from La Antigua Guatemala.
Guatemala is certainly the land of “los desaparecidos (as).” 🙁
To counteract el olvido, here’s a dose of Sobrevivencia… A Guatemalan Mayan rock band. Enjoy and let me know if you need more doses of Sobrevivencia!