Often I think that Antigua Guatemala is not Guatemala. La Antigua Guatemala is a bubble where the Guatemalan reality is warped. Then, I come across vistas like this one of people carrying leña, wood fuel, or water. Or I drive over the many potholes on a 500-meter piece of road from Antigua Guatemala to San … Read more
I am surprised and at awe when I see people in Guatemala carry loads much heavier than their own weight such as in this case where this man carries a load of firewood, leña we call it here, that is a plain sight much heavier than him. Could you carry such a load? I know … Read more
After having covered the Ecoleña fuel briquette as an alternative for the leña (firewood) I decided to ask around what kind of firewood is most sold around Antigua Guatemala and how much is a tarea (perhaps twice as much as a rick of wood, which is is 8 feet long 4 feet tall and 3 … Read more
Tuesday night was the presentation of the project of Ecoleña at Rainbow Café by the foundations Fundación Progresar Guatemala and Legacy Foundation. The presentation consisted of four parts. First they presented the ecoleña (ecological firewood) and how a poor community, Sacapulas (Quiché) is empowered by its use. Second they talked about the technical aspects of … Read more
The first time I posted the use of wood as fuel here, I was against it. By the second time I shared a photo of wood being used as leña, wood fuel, I had learnt that not all instances of the use of wood as fuel were bad from an article that appeared in National … Read more
Whenever you come across people riding horses or donkeys over the cobblestone streets of La Antigua Guatemala you feel like you are for real in the 16th and 17th Centuries. One of things I love about living in Antigua Guatemala is the fact that one gets to experience different eras and lifestyles juxtaposed at the … Read more
Other colonial measurements still in use in present-day Guatemala are: Una mano (one hand or five of anything), un manojo (a bunch), una libra (a pound; this one may hurt many of you, but for sure, the civilized world now uses the kilo), una picopada (a truckload), una fila de frances (a row of french rolls), una arroba (@ or 25 pounds) un quintal (100 pounds), una cuerda (a cord equals 1/6 of city block), una medida (a measurement of whatever fits inside a small can or basket), una penca de banano (that’s a banana cluster), et-cetera or basically that’s what I can remember right now. I am sure the Guatemalans visitors will share other colonial measurements being used in Guatemala. There was a recent article about colonial measurement in Prensa Libre’s Revista Domingo under the title of Costumbres que pesan {ñ}.