Guatemala English language Magazine
Once seen in the hundreds and even thousands, manatees are now only found in isolated enclaves along American coasts. text and photos by Thor Janson Three months after Columbus’ arrival in the Caribbean, on Jan. 9, 1493, the ship’s log recorded: “On the previous day when the Admiral went to the Rio del Oro he saw three mermaids which rose […]
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On our cover this month is the majestic Ceiba pentandra. It is the national tree of Guatemala and was revered for thousands of years by the ancient Maya as the sacred “world-tree.” In one of our feaure articles Dr. Nicholas Hellmuth describes the ways that the ceiba influenced Mayan art. The influence of man on Manatees is the subject of […]
Read moreby Erol Reyal In the first few week of October 2005, the Pacific Coast of Central America was affected by severe winds and rains of Hurricane Stan. The heavy rains took the communities of Guatemala completely by surprise and created massive landslides and floods. This catastrophe not only caused material damage but it also took the lives of hundreds of […]
Read moreChildren dance to raise scholarship funds by Nancy Hoffman Niños con Bendición is a group of 16 children ages 6-13 who perform folk dances before various audiences to raise money for scholarships for their schooling and to help cover daily living expenses. The group was founded in 2004 to give children in the village of San Antonio Aguas Calientes a […]
Read moreby Marcia Foxx No, I’m not dyslexic, I really do mean dog Chilly Willy is the dog in question and how he came to be ours is quite a story. My daughter, Kika, and I were walking our only dog Koko (a well-behaved, totally trained 10-year-old rescue dog from a beach in Belize) when we came across a young boy, […]
Read moreDozens of civic leaders, arts aficionados and business executives helped launch the XI annual Paiz International Festival of Art and Culture at a reception Thursday night, Feb. 10, at the Casa Santo Domingo in La Antigua. Guests mingled and listened a series of speakers at the hotel’s Galería Quiroa, where a retrospective of works by Guatemalan artist Carlos Mérida (1891-1984) […]
Read moreby Liz Ballantyne-Jackson Exposure to smoke from cooking fire kills approximately two million people worldwide every year. Globally, nearly three billion people use polluting, inefficient stoves or open flames to cook their food. The result is deforestation, carbon emissions and often-fatal illness. Inhaling the toxic fumes while preparing tortillas and frijoles puts rural Guatemalan women and children at risk of […]
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March 8 The second annual Antigua Masquerade Ball, a colorful, Venetian-style charity event, is coming to the ruins of San José El Viejo on Fat Tuesday, March 8. In addition to costume contests, the ball will feature dining, cocktails, music and raffles. There will also be an auction of four unique pieces of art, which the artists will “speed paint” […]
Read moreThe 11th annual Paiz International Festival of Art and Culture—a nearly year-long series of music, dance and art—opens in spectacular fashion on Friday, Feb. 11, when two legendary groups perform together for the first time in more than a decade. The Guatemalan rock group Alux Nahual and Éditus, the Grammy-winning jazz group from Costa Rica, will reunite in a not-to-be-missed […]
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February 3-6 The Guatemala Orchid Association presents the XXXVII National Orchid Exposition, featuring a colorful array of orchids and informative workshops, from Feb. 3-6 in Guatemala City. The event will be at Cervecería Centroamericana, Salón José Mariano Arzú Castillo, 3 ave. 17-16, z. 2. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is Q25. Guatemala, the Land of Eternal Spring, […]
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A chronicle of conquest written by Ana Lucía Ortiz & Pierina Piedra Santa Its size is as great as its content is complex. The Lienzo de Quauhquechollan reveals to the viewer amazing feats of both the winners and losers in the conquest of Guatemala. This masterfully created canvas records many valuable details of an important event. Painted with natural pigments […]
Read moreGuests packed Ocelot, the blues and tapas restaurant in La Antigua, for drinks, food and fun to support a good cause on Thursday night, Jan. 20. The fundraiser supported the Education for the Children Foundation, a Britain-based NGO that just opened a modern, new school for up to 510 children in Jocotenango. Several teachers from Escuela Proyecto La Esperanza were […]
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For the Love of Art & Education 2011 may turn out to be the year for culture in Guatemala. The 11th biennial Paiz International Festival includes an unprecedented inaugural concert with Central American superstars, Grammy nominees performing with a beloved student orchestra, a major retrospective of an artistic giant and a fun, popular dance in La Antigua’s own Parque Central. […]
Read moreRevelers enjoyed fireworks, music, dance and drinks as the New Year arrived. In La Antigua, visitors packed Parque Central to hear live music and dance. Restaurants and bars rocked as champagne flowed to usher in 2011. Happy New Year!
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There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are. —Ernst Haas
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She glances at the photo, and the pilot light of memory flickers in her eyes. —Frank Deford The technical definition of a photograph is: An image, especially a positive print, recorded by a camera. Sounds simple enough. Obviously the definition falls very short of what a photograph actually is. After reviewing the hundreds of photographs we received for this annual […]
Read moreThrilling the crowd below, the dancers spin around the pole as their ropes unravel with every turn, lowering them closer and closer to the ground in a death-defying ritual. Home of one of Central America’s largest indigenous markets, Chichicastenango is at its liveliest this month because Dec. 21 is the feast day of its patron saint, Santo Tomás. Festivities run […]
Read moreAs our old troubadour friend Jimmy Buffett happily lamented, “If I only had a pencil-thin mustache, then I could do some cruisin’ too.” Poor guy, he should’ve been at Monoloco, the popular sports bar in La Antigua, on Thursday night, Dec. 16, for Mustache Night. Guests had Jimmy’s pencil-thin variety, while Miss Kate had a José Quervo flair. There were […]
Read moreBy Nancy Hoffman Niños con Bendición is a group of 16 children ages 6-13 who perform folk dances before various audiences to raise money for scholarships for their schooling and to help cover daily living expenses. Dressed in traditional traje from various Guatemala communities, the children enchanted patrons Saturday, Dec. 11, at La Peña del Sol Latino, 5a calle poniente […]
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A traditional recipe from: The Doña Luisa Xicotencatl, Antigua Cookbook (Spanish/English) 1 pineapple, cubed 1 papaya, cubed 1 coconut, grated 4 ounces raisins 4 ounces prunes 1 cinnamon stick ½ pound sugar Put one gallon of water in a pot and add the cinnamon. When the water begins to boil, add all the other ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes. […]
Read moreWhile Santa Claus and Christmas trees may be symbols of the Christmas season, nacimientos (nativity scenes) are a Christmas custom the world over. Saint Francis of Assisi built the first one in 1223 after returning from a trip to Bethlehem. It quickly became a tradition and spread throughout the Catholic world, including Spain. The Spanish brought the custom to Guatemala. […]
Read moreWe believe that theater is a path which opens us to reflection of one of the issues we consider most important: the origin of the communities and the people living on them. In other words, assume the identity from all its wealth, recognizing the value of the different cultures that make it up. The program goal is to give the […]
Read moreThe annual performance of Handel’s Messiah will be held on Nov. 30 at the National Theatre in Guatemala City and on Dec. 1 at Casa Santo Domingo in La Antigua. Both performances will begin at 7:30 p.m. Proceeds from this year’s performance will benefit Comité de Becas Mary Sue, which provides scholarships to needy children in the Chichicastenango area. Performing […]
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Mary Sue Morris, born in Amarillo, Texas, came to La Antigua in 1981 to learn Spanish. She fell in love with the country and in 1993 she came back, purchased some land and built the impeccably appointed Posada del Angel and the Joyería del Angel, both very successful businesses in Antigua. When she became very ill she chose a group […]
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This will be the Grinch’s third year in his attempt to steal Christmas, and this time he’s going to try in November and again in December. You know how he flies into the most horrible rage when he hears the sounds of happy people in Cualcuiertenango getting ready to celebrate Christmas: “No! No! No! They cannot be allowed to enjoy […]
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Weekend festival aims to preserve a natural treasure With a goal of protecting the endangered sea turtle, an environmental group is planning a weekend festival Nov. 26-28 with events centered around the Monterrico-Hawaii Natural Preserve on Guatemala’s Pacific coast. Coinciding with peak turtle-nesting season, the Festival de la Tortuga 2010 (Turtle Festival 2010) will feature turtle releases, nature tours, concerts, […]
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Regardless of its origin, fiambre, in my opinion, is the supreme Guatemalan plate. If this is not the food of the gods, it must be something very close. Fiambre is only eaten on November 1st, the Day of All Saints, and it is so complex that it can easily take as many as 50 or more ingredients.
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Written by Ignacio Ochoa The history of kite making in Santiago Sacatepéquez On November 1 and 2, a powerful force stirs in all the towns of Guatemala. Traditional markets are filled with flowers of sempa (orange marigolds), chrysanthemums, wild daisies and the smell of copal—a pre-Columbian incense made from pine resin. People clean family graves and adorn them with cut-out […]
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Oliver Thor Janson is a wildlife conservationist who uses photography as a tool to promote environmental education, his life passion. Born in Chicago, the son of a Swedish immigrant father and an Irish-Chippewa Indian mother, Thor began his career as an explorer at the age of four when he ventured out on his tricycle far beyond the home territory. At the […]
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We feel privileged and excited to be bringing you this special edition. For the past 30 years Thor Janson has dedicated his abilities, talents and resources to attain a goal that any rational human would agree with. Simply put, “To preserve enough cloud forest habitat in Central America to ensure that the quetzal may continue to be the living, legendary […]
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