MORE ON ANTIGUA

Hiking the giant ruins of a monastery

Well, my daughter the athlete came to visit from the US bringing with her those treasured goodies I cannot find here, among those my preferred shampoos, conditioners, deodorants and such. Also brown sugar, which cannot really be found here except in molasses form.

Hallway of Biblioce in Antigua

I'm really into Aveda and Redken and while a limited array of these can be found here, they are triple the price than in the US. To be honest, there are perfectly good beauty and bath products here, both local and imported from the USA and other parts, but there are some things I am particular about, and one of those is shampoo. I may not care about what brand of jeans I wear or that the fruit I eat is properly washed ... but hair? Hair I care!

Gardens of Biblioce in Antigua

My daughter, known as "The Bear," accompanied me for a visit to Antigua, where I went to pick up my card from Biblioce, the immense--immense!--and beautiful research, library and educational compound established by the Embassy of Spain's Cultural Affairs office. It is a restored monastery and the walls inside maintain, as much as possible, the original wood and stone work, which is breathtaking in its loveliness.

My card from Biblioce allows me to use their audiovisual and computer technology, and borrow books for several weeks. VERY cool.

I am not sure, however, if their stuff is as scholarly or academic as CIRMA'S. It might or might not be, but I cannot vouch for it either way and since CIRMA is supported by a US university, they might be more geared towards academic research.

Fountain and gardens of Biblioce

Biblioce is not only truly beautiful and tranquil, full of lovely details all over, but it is also all wired for wi-fi, so the corridors and gardens are full of people peacefully reading on a bench or working online. while it is open to the general public, the books and computers, however, may only be accessed by card-carrying members. I strongly recommend a visit. You can go to their website by clicking here.

Garden view of El Sitio

We also visited El Sitio, another cultural space provided by the Spanish cultural affairs office, which has a beautifully appointed auditorium, cafe, gallery, library, and garden open to the public. By the way, we lucked out and were able to greatly enjoy Hans Namuth's black and white photographic exhibit, Los Todos Santeros, photographs taken in a remote Mayan village in the 1970s. AMAZING. It is a must for anybody visiting Antigua.

Photo of Los Todos Santeros by Hans Namuth

By the way, I have written about CIRMA in a previous post, but recently I have had reason to feel somewhat iffy about CIRMA, for I have talked to trustworthy people who have told me that CIRMA has tried to charge them up to US$50 for a bad quality copy of any photo in their photo library. Others have been charged US$10, which is still too much.

This is ridiculous, especially since they are not paying royalties for these photographs. At least, as far as is known. Thus, the nature of these fees is mystifying, as is the variance in the fee amount that different people are charged.

Second floor gallery
Old Cabildo of Antigua

Talked to a scholar visiting Guatemala City, and he told me that he has not been able to find anything useful for his line of research--on a colonial Central American country. Talked to a sociologist from Florida, too, and he did find some things of great interest and assured me that he enjoys visiting the place but that he hasn't looked for specifics, just more "perusing" some of their publications. As for myself, I did find a couple of books I can definitely use and have found nowhere else, but not a great many.

So there have been both positive and negative comments from others and this has been reflected in my own personal experiences. Either way, I find the photo charges truly excessive, especially for scholars who are more often than not on some stipend. I hope that enough people have protested so that they really re-assess their mission and the nature of these fees.

Elderly men napping at the plaza

I also find that their system is cumbersome in the sense that you cannot look through their books and photographs at will, because there is a lot of gate-keeping involved and you get only the few books that you specifically request. Photocopies are not cheap, either, and photographing the books are not allowed, so it is a real stain on the wallet to do serious research there.

I have to say, though, that their space is absolutely lovely and their computerized cataloging system is a blessing in these parts. The library is open free of charge to everybody. Anyhow, I offer here the good and the bad, so that those interested in visiting their research center know what to expect.

Detail, ruin of Convent of Santa Clara

We went to a church there and were amazed to find many penitents on their knees, I mean, walking on their knees, from the door of the church all the way up to the altar and then crawling backwards, on their knees, back again to the entrance. My own knees were hurting just to look at them do this.

I felt uncomfortable photographing them, but took a covert one, without flash and without showing her face. One woman made me sad, because she was praying loudly and demanding emphatically "Lord, look at me, I am here, I ... am ... here!" and there was such a sense of desperation in her broken plea that it made the hair on my neck stand on end.

Penitent in Mayan attire, walking on her knees

Interesting also that they bring offers of fruit and flowers, placed at the feet of a Jesus statue, same as they do with the Maximon (also known as Saint Simon, but not really a saint in the usual sense of the term) and other saints and idols born from the amalgam of Catholicism and Mayan religion. I don't see how placing fruits and flowers is significantly different than lighting candles, and it looks very colorful. Churches here seem very "mystical" ... dark, redolent of incense and flowers, floors often still lined with flagstones...

Fruit and flower offerings at feet of Jesus statue

What my daughter and I liked best was this giant painting. The statues are breathtakingly lovely, carved in the 1600s. More fascinating still is that it depicts hell and there are all these monk-like or priestly characters burning in hell. We were very intrigued!

Giant painting of hell with 16th century statues

I anybody knows why these monks are supposed to be burning in hell, please tell me! Dying of curiosity to learn the story behind this here. This church is part of a huge monastery, so it may have been a warning to the monastery residents not to misbehave, or else.

Close-up of monks in hell

For lunch we went, as usual, to La Cuevita de Los Urquizú, a family-owned restaurant where for about US$10 you can have a main serving of steak, chicken or one of the stews of traditional Guatemalan cuisine, plus 2 side dishes and a tamalito. It really is more for the locals than the tourist trade.

Selection of side dishes at
La Cuevita de los Urquizú

There is something for all tastes at La Cuevita. Somebody brave might try the revolcado (made with pork or goat's head) (I shall never be that brave!). I tend to stick to a stew such as hilachas, shredded beef in stew. Delish! I also recommend the Fonda de la Calle Real, beautiful place, pretty good traditional food, laid back ambiance. Meson Panza Verde used to be good, but haven't gone in a while after I was sorely disappointed on my last visit.

Hilachas with rice, tamal
and piloyes (red bean salad)

To get to La Cuevita de Los Urquizú just walk by La Merced church and ask any local how to get there. Next time, however, I am going someplace else to eat. There are many places I know in Antigua, but many new places I haven't gone to yet. Life is too short not to go check out new places, says I.

Talking of new places to check out...

Small cannon in Armory Museum

I had never been to the armory museum, and I am told it is somewhat new. I have been to pretty much all the church and monastery ruins, and most of the museums of Antigua (and quite a few pubs) but this one I had missed. The space is beautiful and a well-preserved relic of colonial government. It is right in front of the central park, by the entrance to the Municipality.

Engraving on a large cannon

There are a few Mayan weapons, but mostly it is muskets, Spanish swords, cannons of different sizes ... a set of furniture made from old swords and muskets ... rifles too, and other colonial military paraphernalia from the time of the Conquest and afterward. Some beautifully worked.

The only thing is that it was full of tourists. They crowd people out and make lots of noise. One older gentleman from the US, on hearing us speak in English, sort of attached himself to us and was loudly admiring everything. We reached the torture chamber and he said admiringly "Wow, these really used to exist way back when, huh?"

I wish people wouldn't make those kinds of comments, sometimes. I was like, What did you think? That they didn't? (sigh!)

The alleged torture chamber

We were commenting later with my daughter that we should have actually said "Well, we have some in Guantánamo, way back now, you know" but ... I really don't care to argue with strangers all that much. I used to. But one gets tired and really, to each her or his own.

Frankly, seemed like he was only trying to make conversation. And he seemed nice and so happy to have found English speakers! As if Antigua weren't full of US retired expats! It's starting to look like an American retirement community, y'all. And that, by the way, IS a bit creepy. Not because of the old people per se, I actually like old people, but because... it is Antigua but now it is also this surreal US retirement community ...

Anyhow, I am not sure if that particular "torture chamber" was for real or staged as some sort of tourist draw. I am not a weapons fan by any means, but the museum has some very interesting elements. By the way, most of the museums charge a Q.5 to enter, which is much less than US$1.

Coat of Arms, Armory, Antigua

So, that was about it for that day, at least as concerns to culture. The rest was spent shopping. Great thing that now there is this very cool and comfy shuttle service that comes by the inn and takes us to Antigua in a jiffy!

I have been commissioned to write an article for a limited-edition history and photography book. Deadline in two days and I have written about 4 sentences! Story of my life. Always rushing towards some looming deadline.

This commission came right when we had the inn filled to the gills with several groups one week and the next, with groups coming from across the border in several directions for the Metallica concert which was, by the way, ginormous. The venue was packed with thousands. Very cool.

Upcoming concerts coming are POD, Guns and Roses and, I hear, Aerosmith too. Not too bad, wouldn't you say? Nevertheless, there is some melancholia floating around, as always, after The Bear went back home ...

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