One thing I can not share with you is the aroma of Christmas that I get while walking around town. The Christmas aroma is composed of pine-needle, manzanilla, tamales, ponche, firecracker powder, et cetera. Too bad smells can not be transmitted via de the web yet.
At the recent Fair Trade Fair in Antigua Guatemala I found these gorgeous baskets made from dried pine needles. The vendor had traveled all the way from Nicaragua to show and sell her baskets. Although, I believe these pine-needle baskets are also made in Guatemala. What do you think, are pine needle baskets made in … Read more
As I said at the very beginning of the Guatemalan Christmas Decoration series, the pine tree provides many elements of the Christmas decorations for Guatemalans like chicuyas (pine cones) as adornments, pine needles as carpets, and pine rings (cordones de pino). Cordones or cadenas de pino usually hang across the living rooms and around the … Read more
Pino is the name by which Guatemalans refer to the pine needles used as Christmas decorations, specifically, to spread around the floor and nacimientos. Pine needles and the chamomile rings provide the scent for a typical Guatemalan Navidad (Christmas).