It is official: The California avocado if from La Antigua Guatemala. I had mentioned a couple of times the antigüeños are known as Panzas Verdes (green bellies) because of all the avocados they eat (see trivia 2) and that one Wilson Popenoe took the antigüeño avocado to California (see trivia 3).
And in front of the door that I hadn’t crossed in so many years, I remembered the small key, short and round, and how to turn it to open; the tiny hand of the door knocker, the mail box, the wood, the cord to open the door without knocking. At the end of the street, … Read more
In 1492 the Spaniards came to the Americas and traded their tiny mirrors and beads for all the wealth available in gold, silver and precious metals and stones. The kings of Spain at the time never visited the “new” world. In 2007, today to be precise, the Kings of Spain, Don Juan Carlos (Charles) and … Read more
We don’t love our land because of its great size and power, because of its weakness or tiny size, because of its snow and white nights or its solar rain, We love it, simply because is ours. — Luis Cardoza y Aragón Luis Cardoza y Aragón is another great Guatemalan writer, born in La Antigua … Read more
Frijoles colorados or red beans is the second best dish after black beans, of course, in the Guatemalan kitchen. Here you have frijoles colorados with pork ribs, rice, tortillas, fresh-fruit drink. This is a typical lunch for many Guatemalans with the variation on the main dish which in this case is red beans. Here is … Read more
Guatemalan author Miguel Ángel Asturias, Nobel Prize in literature, wrote a book called Week-end en Guatemala (that is the title in Spanish). I have enjoyed the reading of this novel and its “novel structure” where there are series of stories that are happening all at the same time and they all have the weekend as … Read more
Entrance to the Popenoe House, originally uploaded by rudygiron. This is the entrance to the Popenoe House, a colonial mansion restored by Wilson Popenoe from the United Fruit Company. An intimate glimpse into the house and its rich history and rebirth was done on the May issue Revue Magazine(page 10) as PDF download. The house … Read more
According to the entry on Guatemala on Wikipedia, 40% of the population of Guatemala is Amerindian. I believe the figure to be closer to 60%, yet you would not know it by looking at the pictures in this site. I have try to skip the most obvious photos and that is why just last week … Read more