Proyecto Biodiesel Antigua Guatemala

by

This is what I shared with you before about the Antigua’s Biodiesel Project: Antigua Guatemala is full of Quixotes who do not know about impossibles. Alejandro del Valle is such a Quixote who after careful consideration decided to take on the gigantic enterprise to convert the burnt cooking oil from all those restaurants around La … Read more

The Recycling Truck of Antigua Guatemala

by

Recycling the recycling truck of La Antigua Guatemala. Keep reading and I promise the previous sentence will make sense. My dear green friend Kara Andrade had this to say about recycling in La Antigua Guatemala: For weeks I’ve been asking different people about recycling centers, pickup services, anything to stop the madness of the trash … Read more

Guatemala Green: Recycling Hi-Tech Junk

by

I have always believe that Green should be the color of Guatemala; green should be the flag and all other national iconography like money. Guatemala is green, green, green… So today we begin a mini-series to show you some of the “green” initiatives are available just around Antigua Guatemala. I will not try to be … Read more

Tuk Tuk Toy

by

Believe it or not, the tuk tuk motorcycles which are used as short-run taxis, tourist police patrols units and grocery delivery vehicles are now part of the Guatemalan traditions and culture; so, now the three-wheeled motorized vehicles are showing up in unexpected places. In the pictures above however, the tuk tuk has its revenge against … Read more

Guatemalan Cuisine: Sancocho

by

First of all, I am going to request the help of my dear epistolary friends Erin and Manolo for this entry. Erin can help explain how this meal is prepared and perhaps some background information about gallina criolla and tips. Manolo can really explain in full detail the implications of Criollo and La patria del … Read more

Give Me A Hand

by

You know what I mean! 😉 Okay, let’s review the recent events of the last four days: 1. Fast jolt by an earthquake 2. Pacaya volcano erupted 3. Tropical storm Agatha drowns Guatemala 4. Floods and landslides 5. Massive sinkhole in Guatemala City 6. Guatemala soccer teams loses 5-0 against South Africa (Well, this one … Read more

Agatha’s Aftermath

by

Agatha's Aftermath

As the new figures and images keep pouring in it becomes obvious that the tropical storm Agatha has caused more damages in Guatemala than Hurricane Stan in 2005 or Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

By the end of Sunday, May 30, these were the figures 82 dead, 111,964 evacuees, 29,245 in shelters, 13 bridges collapsed, [many] roads blocked by landslides or floods (via webO_o). Climaya calls Guatemala the country most affected but also Honduras and El Salvador were affected by the storm Agatha in Muerte y destrucción causa Agatha en Centroamérica. HablaGuate reported about 15 houses that were destroyed in San Pedro Las Huertas (the village I live in) and all the houses lost in Ciudad Vieja, Sacatepéquez. The list of damages caused by tropical storm Agatha just in Guatemala is an endless river of updates in Twitter and Facebook.

Below I share with you just a few samples so you can get an idea of the current state of Guatemala; not a terra firma country any more but an archipelago of isolated communities. 🙁

Read more

Stop Agatha, Stop!

by

Stop Agatha, Stop!

Guatemalans urgently need a break!

First we experience a short but strong jolt cause by an earthquake. Right after Pacaya volcano began erupting and spewing black volcanic sand and ash over Guatemala City, which cause the closing of the main international airport of Guatemala. People were still cleaning up the black sand and ash when we got hit by tropical storm Agatha, which behaves pretty much like a hurricane.

We urgently need a break!

Of course the tropical storm Agatha is the worst of all evils because it hit hard the entire country with a heavy downpour which caused floods and land slides in many places, including La Antigua Guatemala. Many people have lost their houses and many more have been evacuated and are now living in temporary shelters. A flood of tweets and Facebooks updates keep inundating the timelines with the hash tags #Pacaya, #AgathaGT, #CenizasGT, #ApagonGT, etc. You can look at all the photos from tropical storm Agatha that people are uploading at http://is.gd/cvbam and http://is.gd/cvbak.

Don’t you agree that we need a break from Nature’s catastrophes? 🙁

Read more

Typical Guatemalan Breakfast

by

I have shown you the typical Guatemalan breakfast at least three times and each time has been somehow different, how so? Well, what can I say, there are a series of ingredients that can be assorted to make breakfast taste very Guatemalan. The typical Guatemalan breakfast must include, however, black beans, fried plantain slices, fresh … Read more