You think Antigua Guatemala is just processions for the Semana Santa? Wrong. There is more… there are also plays, like this one. This play was being performed parallel to the procession of La Merced this past Sunday. Can you tell what’s the play all about? text and photos by Arturo Godoy. Check out Arturo’s portfolio … Read more
I confess that you have to click on the image above to understand the title. I confess I have never in my life seen so many cucuruchos together. I confess I never been surrounded by so many violet or purple robes. I confess that I should have waited another 10 minutes to take photographs of … Read more
As Semana Santa, the Holy Week before Easter, approaches, the historic colonial town of Antigua sees almost daily processions. These processions include music, colors… and most importantly floats… that don’t really float, but are heavy wooden depictions of the life of Christ. Because of how heavy these floats are, they often need to be carried … Read more
Transference: the action of transferring something or the process of being transferred. With these processions not only the heavy floats are being transferred, but also the culture and the religious fervor. If we delve into the realms of the psychoanalysis, we could talk about transference neurosis; however that’s way too deep and complex for a … Read more
I have honestly tried not put as many Cuaresma/Lent and Semana Santa/Holy Week photos here. I could, in theory, have a Lent/Holy Week photo each day since Ash Wednesday, but this is not a religious website: it is rather a blogumentary of La Antigua Guatemala and as such I try to cover all aspects of … Read more
Oh yes, I had also forgotten to mention the superabundant crowds that you will find in La Antigua Guatemala during the Holy Week. The normal peaceful and tranquil ambience of Antigua Guatemala completely disappears during the Semana Santa and instead, a noisy, crowded, chaotic, and stressful atmosphere can be perceived. The crowds arrive from all … Read more
It doesn’t matter if the processions in the villages and communities around La Antigua Guatemala are more authentic, more kitsch and with less finances behind them; at least once in your lifetime you must come to Antigua Guatemala to see the massive and numerous processions during the Holy Week or Semana Santa as it’s known … Read more
click, click, click, click click click, clicks, click. See, if it does NOT matter how much effort I put into documenting the Holy Week in La Antigua Guatemala for you, I always miss something important. Can you believe this the third year I am covering the Semana Santa in Antigua Guatemala and I have not … Read more
Interestingly enough, Erick was commenting yesterday how impressive was to see the massive float make a U-turn as he was watching the 5-minute video of the following of a Semana Santa procession. Well, I said interesting enough because I had planned to publish a photo of the huge float’s pilot, the cucurucho you see wearing … Read more
The Holy Week in Guatemala is a full five senses overwhelming experience. As you follow the processions all five senses are bombarded with maximum stimuli and you are carried into a mystical experience. It is so difficult to convey these feelings when I am only presenting you with static photographs. But you are going to … Read more
Last year, on March 15th, I first introduced you the Broom-head Romans soldiers; I believe it was Domingo de Ramos or Palm Sunday as it is known in English. Below you can find my introductory text: … it’s impossible not to publish photos like today’s. Talk about the idiosyncrasy of Guatemalans, have you ever seen … Read more
You normally see men carrying the big heavy processional floats or andas as they are known in Guatemalan Spanish. You can browse the Processions category to see the huge Holy Week floats for which La Antigua Guatemala is famous for. However, behind the massive floats there are, almost always, smaller floats carried by women. Today’s … Read more
This old man and the band are the tail of the procession. There goes Semana Santa 2008… we are at end of the Holy Week in La Antigua Guatemala. Just one more day!
Gringos are now an integral part of La Antigua Guatemala and therefore many of them participate of the preparations of the world famous alfombras de Semana Santa (Holy Week carpets) made from colorful sawdust, flowers, fruits, and anything the imagination allows. From this shot, I particularly like the framing of the tourist with his backpack … Read more
Just like the Christmas Season comes with its own set of smells, flavors and color palette, so does the Holy Week celebrations. I can bring to you still photos, slide shows, video clips and sounds. But I can not bring you the smells. Like I said back in the Virgin of Guadalupe Day, … the incredible power of the sense of smell can detonate nostalgic memories… if only the smells could be seized like Patrick Süskind suggested in his masterpiece Das Parfum (Perfume). How could one go about imprisoning the mixture of the smells of copal incense, corozo palms, fireworks, pine needles, moisten saw dust, fresh tropical fruits, palm flower arrangements and sweat into a digital format readily available to download onto your own computer?