Fiambre!

Fiambre de Guatemala (image by photos.rudy giron.com) image by photos.rudygiron.com

The Traditional Dish of November To appreciate fiambre imagine it is the middle of the eighth century. Until this time, All Saints Day was celebrated on May 13 and experts believed that rituals were deeply rooted in a similar pagan celebration, Feast of the Lemures, a day when evil spirits were mollified by Earth-dwellers. Pope Gregory III consecrated a new […]

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WINGS Re-Structured

Direct Services Coordinator Patty Medina speaks to men at a community charla in Alta Verapaz.

The new program is launched in Alta Verapaz The statistics regarding family planning and gender equality in Guatemala are astounding. According to Janeen Simon, executive director of WINGS, the country ranks third in Central America for the highest birth rates in adolescent girls between the ages of 15 and 19. The poorest 20 percent of women in Guatemala have an […]

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Working Together

TziminChac now operating at Lago Petén Itzá, Flores, Petén

TziminChac now operating at Lago Petén Itzá, Flores, Petén The management had a dilemma when it came time to decide where Tzimin Chac, a new tourist raft, could best operate. The raft, built on two 27-foot floats, much like a catamaran, needs calm waters in order to provide a smooth ride for its passengers. Due to strong winds, the waters […]

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Learning to Cook – Cooking to Learn

Bright futures ahead for students at KIDS Restaurant In my past life as a New Yorker, anytime a new buzzed-about restaurant or food adventure hit the street, I would trip over myself to see what the fuss was all about. I collected menus and matchbooks just as one might do by collecting stamps in a passport, using them to remember […]

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Unlocking Samajab

The Museo Lacustre de Atitlán stunningly presents an important underwater archaeological site The task of conveying the wonders and rarity of an abandoned, underwater Mayan burial and ceremonial site to dry, fully clothed museum-goers on the surface was quite a challenge for the Museo Lacustre de Atitlán, the informative underwater-themed exhibit dedicated to Samabaj. Although the actual Mayan site is […]

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Pueblo Hopping

Planning an overnight in Santa Cruz La Laguna, Lake Atitlán If you were hoping to go by car to Santa Cruz La Laguna, you will be disappointed. This quaint pueblo, separated into the lakeshore property and the Mayan village on higher ground, can only be accessed by boat. But don’t fret. This is what gives Santa Cruz its relatively untouched […]

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A Quest for Education

Open Windows Foundation creates an opportunity to learn in San Miguel Dueñas San Miguel Dueñas looks like any other pueblo bordering La Antigua Guatemala. Camionetas come in and out at a regular clip, bypassing an antiquated church alluding to a Guatemala of old. There are a handful of tiendas staffed by abuelitas selling acid orange carrots and flowers. Dueñas is […]

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Niños de Guatemala

Profit for Non-Profit: Working toward a financially sustainable future For those who struggle financially, charitable giving is usually the first thing that gets cut from the budget, often leaving non-profits and those they help in a predicament. For non-profits, there are good years and bad years; however, the unpredictability is as debilitating as the lack of funds. Niños de Guatemala—a […]

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The Mistress of Chocolate

Doña Josefa of Chocolate San Juan leaves a sweet legacy 1931 – 2013 “The ´clap-clap-clap´ I would hear in the evenings finally got the best of my curiosity and I knocked on her door. She told me they were ´torteando chocolate´ or making chocolate tortillas and invited me in. I was hooked from my first cup. Doña Josefa was a […]

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Baskets of Love

Sending holiday cheer and warm wishes this Navidad season with culinary delights The holidays are a time for family and loved ones; it’s a time to take a few moments, sit around a table, preferably sans iPhones, with a glass of wine or hot spirits, chatting about the events of the year past and exciting times for the coming year. […]

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Ponche

A Recipe for Your Guatemalan Christmas Noche Buena in Antigua—a time for family and firecrackers, midnight mass and a bounty of tamales. Festivities last long into the night and as the clock ticks closer to 1:00 (or 4:00) o’clock in the morning, many celebrants need a little splash of life to keep the party going. For Guatemalans, that little splash […]

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An Urban Healing Oasis

The goal at the new Avesa Oasis Holistic Center is to remove stress, one layer at a time, by offering a plethora of services designed to help you find your inner OM. Kira Raa, the visionary founder of Avesa and Hotel TOSA La Laguna Spa and Retreat Center, Lake Atitlán, explains the goal of Avesa is simply to help you […]

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Fiambre

A History of Guatemalan Family and Tradition To appreciate fiambre, you need a brief history lesson. It is the middle of the eighth century. Until this time, All Saints Day was celebrated on May 13 and experts believed that rituals were deeply rooted in a similar pagan celebration, Feast of the Lemures, a day when evil spirits were mollified by […]

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Open for Business

Reforma Business Centers inaugurates its Antigua branch

Reforma Business Centers inaugurates its Antigua branch There are a variety of reasons why businesses and individuals seek out ready-made office centers, ranging from needing to expand an already bustling business, wanting to improve profit-to-loss ratios, to the entrepreneur with a big idea who wants to stop working from home. If this sounds like your business, Reforma Business Center has […]

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Tapado

Coconut milk and boat-fresh seafood creates a Río Dulce specialty and the garífuna’s most beloved dish With an abundance of impossibly fresh seafood and locally grown, tropical produce—from bright green plantains to coffee-brown coconuts—it is no wonder food on Guatemala’s Caribbean coast is distinctive from platos típicos found on the interior. Aside from ingredients, the major culinary influence at the […]

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