GuatemalaDailyPhoto

This is how we saw the Lunar Eclipse last night here in Guatemala. Weather gave us a brief window of time before clouds dominated the skies again.

The Moon and Spica.

Lunar Eclipse

Last week I went to Huelga de dolores and bought myself a copy of the University’s news paper wich I found hilarious.
This is Spanish, si you’ll have to try your skills. .

Or Huelga de Dolores for short, is a long standing Guatemalan tradition since 1898. It is a parade mocking, insulting government, public figures and anything or anyone that deserves it.

Now days it is a drinking fest, where drinking is not just allow, in fact, it is encouraged!
A lot of the themes and slogans are only understood under a local context, but they still fun and entertaining. No reservations or censorship going on here, anything goes…

Today is Guatemala City’s Desfile Bufo, a parade by San Carlos University students.
The parade is a social protest against the establishment and the oligarchy that has controlled this country since colonial times.
I’ll have more phoyographs at the end of the parade.

Aren’t Guatemalans very clever!?
If you are tired of standing up watching the many religious processions going on these days, you can rent one of these for Q5/$.70 cents.

I’ve always complained about the lack of authentic regional food at our supermarkets, where most of the food available resembles an U.S.A. supermarket’s
Surprisingly, I found this supermarket version of a Guatemalan Deligt, you top these fried plantains with sour cream and sugar for a simple and yet tasteful snack. And they are lpcally made! I hope to see more ideas like this one..

More on how the streets of Guatemala look before Holy Week.

Semana Santa, Holy Week is areound the corner and this qould be a common sight here on the streets of Guatemala.

A recently created Big Band from Guatemala opened the annual Jazz Festival, a month ago.  This years festival it’s almost over, a few concerts are left for this week, both in Antigua and Guatemala City.  If you are in Antigua today don’t miss Eliana Burki at CFCE (Centro de Formación de la Cooperación Española)  Yesterday we had the chance to see her in a marvelous concert, in the main picture she plays the alphorn.

I write this as I listen the new Ishto Juevez album, and you can as you read:

I wrote about him more than a year ago, and just last week he launched his new album in a fabulous concert.  If you’re curious. this is more like a concept album, the ongoing latin american migration.  But that’s not all, I really like the poetry, spiritual messages and sharp observations.

By the way, do you have an idea about what “ishto” means in Guatemala?  have you heard this word in other hispanic countries?

I came to know Sergio as a client, and today I want to share some of his work with all of you.  One of the greatest satisfaction of carrying a camera has to be the people you meet, the artist you admire or a brief moment that you want to capture.  This was not the exception.  Sergio was always kind and open, even sharing life-related wisdom, here and there.

Gandarias’s work has been shown in more than a dozen solo exhibitions, also his work is in several private collections and museums, he says he has exhibitions every two years or so.

Find out more in his website.

Guatemala City’s Playa Mayor becomes like a town’s fair on Sundays. Lots of different foods and local beverages available.