With November come the strong winds (Vientos fuertes would say Miguel Ángel Asturias). With the strong winds come the kites. With the kites come the celebrations of the day of the dead and all saints day. With the day of the dead celebrations comes the fiambre, the food to share with our dead. Stay tune for background information on the kite flying rituals and its me
Okay with this last photo of people carrying umbrellas we can now declare the rainy season of 2007 officially over. Okay everyone, you are welcome to the most beautiful weather in La Antigua Guatemala; come on over now!
Helados Sarita, on 5a calle poniente, is the meeting place for these three kids and their joyful smiles. Sometimes life can be beautifully simple and full of joy (even for adults).
Guatemala’s real culture is syncretism and thus death plays an important role in traditions and culture. Guatemala is the real ‘melting pot’ and the final product is called mestizo. A mestizo is an individual that comes in many shades of brown and she is made up from a combination of AmerIndian, European, African, Asian and Arab. Syncretism and mestizism go together well and that is why there is no conflict with including some or many Mayan rituals, including death rituals, in a everyday Catholic or Christian service. Obviously, a single entry is not enough to describe such a complex human being, but we have to start somewhere and since Patsy Poor mentioned that recent studies showed that the U.S. will be brown (mestizo) in 50 years. 😉
There are three cell phone companies in Guatemala (4 according to Wikipedia). Tigo is the mobile phone brand of Millicom International Cellular. Claro mobile telephone operator is owned by the Mexican group América Móvil, which in turn is the umbrella name for the mobile telephone division of Telmex, owned by Carlos Slim (estimated fortune of US$67.8 billion). Carlos Slim’s empire also owns the Guatemalan National Telephone Company, Telgua, and Telgua’s division of cellphone Claro brand. Movistar is the mobile division of the Spanish transnational Telefónica telephone company. Believe it or not the Telmex/América Móvil and Movistar/Telefónica are probably bigger than AT&T.
The making of these processional carpets is such a community-forming and bonding activity since in the process participate many, if not all, of the neighbors and family members. These traditions, festive calendar dates and special celebrations mark very strongly what makes a normal human being into a hard-core Guatemalan. You break the link or access to these experiences and you only have a person that was born in Guatemala; a fact as worthless as the fact of having had a pair of boots once.
Ferris wheels are another element of the Guatemalan fair. There is at least one Ferris wheel, but more often two or three of different sizes. The Ferris wheel is known here by these names rueda de Chicago(Chicago Wheel), rueda de la fortuna (wheel of fortune) and vuelta al mundo (around the world). Fairs are made up by all kinds of ambulant stands. Fairs are like accordions, they grow or shrink depending of the size of the community or town. All these photos belong to the San Pedro Las Huertas, a small village just outside and belonging to La Antigua Guatemala. At the end of July, La Antigua Guatemala will have its massive fair in honor of Saint James or Santiago.
June 17th is the date when Father’s Day is celebrated in Guatemala, always on the same date every year. Many Guatemalan families come to La Antigua Guatemala on the weekends to have breakfast or lunch in one of the many fabulous restaurants around town and to pass a relax day with the family. One the … Read more
All work and no play makes for a very dull day the saying goes and that is why these shoe-shiner kids take a break to play and do some outdoors rock climbing on the walls of the historic building of Compañía de Jesús, former house to Bernal Díaz del Castillo. What I learned from these … Read more
This reckless image can be seen often in La Antigua Guatemala, where motorcycles are fast becoming the most popular vehicle (thanks to Mr. Bush). I have seen four people, or even five people, in a single two-wheel motorcycle; two adults and two or three children. So as you can see in the photo above, a … Read more
Back on Ash Wednesday, February 21st, 2007, I said that in the Catholic Realm the Holy Week celebration had begun with Ash Wednesday. Around Antigua, this means the commencement of all kinds of religious rituals like processions. Above you see a children’s procession caught by my viewfinder on Saturday 17th. For many people not used … Read more
Thanks to a comment by Sarah from San Antonio Daily Photo, I noticed the opposing stripe patterns weared by this couple on my entry of Love is in the air. Have an unexpected striking day! Countdown side note: Today’s entry is number 295 so far and we continue with a countdown to post 300th. I … Read more
I was lucky to capture this couple and their new baby just taking a rest and enjoying the beautiful light and atmosphere around Parque Central. This young family seemed to be at peace and taking pleasure of each other; judging, of course, by the additional photos (click to view the supporting image 2, image 3, … Read more
Okay, enough of guns and cowboys. I leave you with an interesting portrait a little cowboy kid. Children always represent the hope of a better future. Tomorrow, there will be a photo about Guatemalan Adoptions since it seems that lately there is a lot of traffic coming from the Guatemalan Adoptions Resources sites (even though … Read more
Okay, welcome back from an ease going weekend. It is Monday and you want things to be mellow, so I am not going to complicate things. The rules of the game are very simple: You look at the photo, You pick one single color and You leave a comment tell us what color you picked … Read more