Pope John Paul II Sculpture
What’s the relationship between Santo Hermano Pedro de Betancourt and Pope John Paul II you might be asking? Simple. Santo Hermano Pedro …
Santo Hermano Pedro Sculpture
Perhaps sculpture is not the right word, but I can’t think of a better word right now to describe this giant metal …
Merry Christmas Decorations
Even though you may seem Christmas decorations as early as September in Guatemala, the official Christmas season celebrations begins with the Burning …
Antigua Churches: Capilla de Belén
Santo Hermano Pedro de San José de Betancourt introduced the Nativity scenes and rituals to the American continent so it is only …
Can you spot the Chevere Guy?
The two most famous Guatemalan hot dogs are shucos and cheveres. I have covered Guatemalan shucos hotdogs often enough that I believe …
Guatemalan Nacimientos or Nativity Scenes
During early December, in Guatemala people begin putting up their Nacimientos (Nativity Scenes); a tradition that was brought to Guatemala by Santo …
Recycling Sewing Machines
I have talked about the recycling done in La Antigua Guatemala before with Haves and Have-Nots, Public Enemy Number 1, Guatemalan-style Salt …
Guatemalan Nacimiento or Nativity Scene
The official date for the commencement of the Christmas season in Guatemala is December 8th, although many malls and commercial centers, imitating …
Esquisuchil Tree in San Pedro Las Huertas
What’s so special about the Esquisuchil trees around La Antigua Guatemala? For starters, the esquisuchil trees (bourreria huanita) are very old and …
Gringos Making a Holy Week Carpet
Gringos are now an integral part of La Antigua Guatemala and therefore many of them participate of the preparations of the world …
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.
Candles on Sale, Candles for Santo Hermano Pedro
At the entrance of the San Francisco El Grande Church, burial home of Santo Hermano Pedro de Betancourt, you can find this stall of candles. We visited the entrance of this church before with with Monk in San Francisco El Grande Church and The Guatemalan Chever Hot Dog Cart.
Santo Hermano Pedro Park in La Antigua Guatemala
To be honest, I am not sure this is Santo Domingo Park. It is the Santo Domingo statue and it is sort of a park, so I put two and two together. If I am mistaken I sure I will be told right away by the people that know better.
Can you name the volcano in the background and give us its height?
Saint James Day in La Antigua Guatemala
Santiago was a very popular name for the conquistadors to use as they rechristen the new lands of the American continent. If you check the entry for Santiago in Wikipedia, you will there are over 60 cities and towns throught the world that carry that name and that is a very short list since you could probably find about 60 towns with the Santiago name, just in Guatemala. But why was Santiago such a popular name for the Spanish and Portuguese conquistadors?
The Guatemalan Chevere Hot Dog Cart
“Chevere” is a Venezuelan Spanish word which means cool, fine, excelent, okay, just to mention a few of its meaning. Well, about the origin of the chevere word, I don’t know; perhaps it is not even Venezuelan. Nonetheless, the word is understood and used in Central America.
In Guatemala, a company of hot dogs decided to use as its name in the late seventies or early eighties. The company did things right and it was a total hit and the Chevere brand became almost as omnipresent as Coca Cola, Pepsi and the Gallo Beer. It was everywhere.