Blogs from Antigua, Capital Region, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 3

Los Manos Green capers fall through his calloused fingers landing bouncing dancing atop thousands of the self same berries catching morning sunlight glistening precious smooth as polished dark jade and she her hands black carbon covered pack dull black charcoal into plastic bags stacking them in neat piles and over there he chops the brown husk covered yucca revealing the bright white moist flesh within his fingers encircling the knife mamita mamita medias medias una por dos their hands dive into the stew of socks some tiny some long some white some red camarones camarones libra por vente and they are beautiful translucent dried salmon colored shrimp he scoops them into the rough tray of his balancing scale that he levels above the wide straw basket his hands dusted in shrimp bits she picks the kernels ... read more

My last day with Guise in Guatemala City was spent running errands as she continued to show me around town. We delivered some of her freshly made bread to friends of hers across town and in the evening, made homemade pizzas while drinking boxed wine. The next morning we woke up early for our mini road trip to Antigua and Guise had made fresh banana cupcakes to drop off at her church. She sent some with me as part of a care package along with a loaf of fresh-baked bread. Guise had volunteered to drive me to Antigua so that we could enjoy a farewell breakfast together and she could buy some goods to send to her daughter Jennifer in the states. We hugged each other goodbye when she dropped me off at the Central Park. ... read more

ANTIGUA: A TALE OF TWO CULTURES by Dennis Cunningham Antigua, Guatemala Brilliant white cathedrals rise in Antigua, ancient and skeletal, standing fractured and broken against an electric blue sky. Inside, their dinosaur bones are frozen in mid tumble, column leaning against wall. I can almost feel the fierce rumbles of earthquake and hear the magnificent domes collapsing high above me. I can imagine frescoes shattering, Saints and Virgins falling to the tiled floors. Apse and transept, nave and chapel, that once so classically defined these colonial cathedrals, are today bathed in intense mountain light that pours not through stained glass, but through the remaining arched openings high above me, open to the sky. Birds come and go like tiny parishioners and dance at my feet. Outside, huge black volcanoes surround Antigua like sentinels. If the ruins ... read more

January 22. Guatemala It sounded perfect. Ride a tour bus to Antigua, the colonial capital and a UN historical site. The ride was 1 1/2 hrs and we got a glimpse of the countryside and the way the locals live. This is a very poor country and the houses reflect the reality. Antigua is nestled between volcanos, one of which is active, and is at 5,000' altitude. We expected the bright sun and moderate temps. What surprised us was the chilly breeze from the north. All of Central America has been experiencing cooler than normal temps. It's Sunday and what we didn't know is the the Capital seems to empty, everyone heading to Antigua for Mass and visiting. The first thing we notice is the traffic, the second is the street vendors. Costumed in traditional dress ... read more

HE SAID... Today we were travelling southeast from San Jorge la Laguna to Antigua(with a small detour north to Chichicastenango). We said our goodbyes to Dora and her family at our home stay house in San Jorge la Laguna, walked down the steep cobblestone path to the town square at 8:30am, loaded our packs onto the roof of a waiting minibus and started out on the final leg of this part of our journey – we were travelling back to Antigua where we started 24 days ago. We climbed the steep winding road out of San Jorge, narrowly missing speeding ‘chicken buses’ and stopping briefly at a lookout to capture a few last photos of Lake Atitlan and its three volcanoes. We headed north for about an hour before pulling into the bustling mountain town of ... read more