Archive for November, 2011
What Will I Do with the Gold?
“My name is Thompson because da Vinci was already taken,” Al quips in his typical, quick humor. In fact, there are similarities between the 15th century artist and Al Thompson, born in 1928. Both justly claim a diversity of talents: painting, sculpting, inventing, writing, to name a few. An exhibition of Al’s most recent creations [...]
Day of Joy and Fun for the Entire Family
Third Annual CasaSito’s Art Festival. by Maritza Ortiz. CasaSito will host its Third Arts Festival on December 3 at La Cooperación Española in La Antigua Guatemala. Over 100 Guatemalan children and youth will enchant locals and visitors with their artistic talents. The festival will delight everyone with a wonderful art exhibition, music shows, and [...]
Cultural Festival in Mexico Highlights Harry Diaz Exhibit
The Caribbean Cultural Festival was held in Quintana Roo, Mexico this year. One of Guatemala’s foremost photographers, Harry E. Díaz of Quetzaltenango, was invited to present his impressive exhibit Luces de Xelajú. “Because of its magnitude and relevance, this festival could be called the Pan American Games of Art & Culture, to give a comparison,” [...]
PHOTO OP – Monterrico
by Andrea Pennington www.andreapennington.info Crowds gather on the beach in Monterrico during this sea turtle nesting season to make sure the hatchlings make it to the sea.
Casa Quinta Inauguration
The magnificent Casa Quinta Boutique Hotel in La Antigua Guatemala (5a avenida sur #45) recently hosted its official inauguration with an evening press conference that included Walter Fischer, regional director of INGUAT (Instituto Guatemalteco de Turismo); Ana Lucía Fernández, representing Conde Naste Johansens for the Americas, the Pacific and Caribbean; and Licenciado Luis Méndez, who [...]
XIAN Inauguration
November 18, La Antigua. Last night was the inauguration of XIAN’s new showroom of exquisite home furnishings and antiques from China, Tibet, Mongolia and India. With one established location in Guatemala City, owner Norma Rodas has remodeled and created a beautiful second showroom 3 blocks from the main park in Antigua (4a calle oriente #23). [...]
Local ATM’s compromised
Alert, Alert. This past year there has been much written about the bank fraud here in Guatemala with visitors using ATM cards from the US, Canada and other countries. Literally millions of dollars were stolen from accounts all over the world after using ATM’s in Antigua at many of the local banks, especially the BAC [...]
Carrera de Las Charolas
Today waiters and waitress from many restaurants ran with trays in hand in the 10th annual Carrera de Las Charolas (Race of the Trays) at the central park in La Antigua (photos by Luis Toribio)
Handel’s Messiah
A rehearsal hall in Guatemala City has been filled with the sounds of Christmas since mid-September as the Guatemala Community Choir prepares for its annual performance of Handel’s Messiah. The production, now in its eighth year, will feature U.S. soloists J.J. Hobbs, Liz Cass, Sam Lowry and, making his Guatemala debut, baritone Phillip Hill from [...]
Jazz / Blues Cruise Atitlán
Featuring great music and food at three of Lake Atitlán’s top hotel restaurants, the first Atitlán Jazz/Blues Cruise and Gourmet Food Festival will take place on Saturday, Nov. 19. Limited to just 150 patrons, the cruise departs Panajachel, with a troubadour aboard, at 11:30 a.m., bound for Santiago Atitlán and La Posada de Santiago for [...]
Migratory House
For most people, home is where the heart is, but for Gerri and George Chester, home is where Guatemala is—whether they’re in Florida or in La Antigua Guatemala. Tired of moving around every few years for work, the retired Foreign Service officers decided to set up house in Florida just over 10 years ago and [...]
Photo Op
Where we love is home, Home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts. —Oliver Wendell Holmes Photo by Thor Janson: The town of Ixchiguán
ITEMP Offers Fresh Start for Entrapped Women & Children
María, 21, mother of four, fled dire poverty to come to La Antigua Guatemala hoping for a better future. But she didn’t find the tranquil, colonial paradise that makes Antigua so appealing to travelers worldwide. Instead, she and her older daughter were forced to work long hours for the owner of the house she lived [...]
Crocodiles, caimans and alligators in Mayan art & mythology of Guatemala
There are two species of crocodiles and one species of alligator in the Mayan regions of Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and Mexico. Caiman crocodilus is a caiman, but considered an alligator (not a crocodile) despite its name “crocodilus.” The pattern of scales on this creature is very distinctive: no spikes or sharp spines but lots of [...]
Lured to La Antigua
Mystery tantalizes the memory of Amelia Earhart, who disappeared somewhere over the Pacific during her attempted flight around the globe in 1937, piloting her twin-engine plane with only a navigator aboard. The world watched and waited as communication broke, came again, broke again and eventually fell silent. In the early days of aviation, Earhart’s gutsy [...]
The Nance Tree
Seven Macaw is the False Sun deity, featured in the Mayan myth of the Popol Vuh. His name in the K’iche’ Mayan language of Guatemala is Vukub-Cakix. The perch and favorite food of Seven Macaw is specifically identified as a nance tree in most translations of the Popol Vuh. “This is the great tree of [...]
What is the National Council for the Protection of La Antigua Guatemala?
I am so pleased and honored to be receiving the gold “Orden Diego de Porres” this month in a ceremony celebrating the Consejo’s 42nd anniversary. I am so excited!
Brown
Brown gets bad press. People feel bad and say they’re in a brown mood. When one U.S. president wore a brown suit, his staff knew they were in for a tough day. But watch some of the street artists under the golden-brown arch in La Antigua Guatemala as they mix their oils to make a [...]
Antigua International School
Teaching kids how to think, not what to think As the founding director of a new, international school in La Antigua Guatemala, longtime educator Jim Pastore is confident that the 21st century curriculum will launch kids on a lifetime of learning that will prepare them for the jobs of the future, those that may not [...]
Festival de la Tortuga
Nesting season for sea turtles is in full swing along Guatemala’s Pacific beaches, where from July to December, the olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) comes ashore to lay eggs. To raise awareness of this endangered species, the third annual Sea Turtle Festival will take place the weekend of Nov. 18-20 in Monterrico and nearby Hawaii. [...]

















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