TIE card and La Alpargata

 27 December, 2019

Today I went to pick up my Tarjeta de Identidad Extranjero (TIE), which is my combination Spanish Identification card and residency permit. This is a photo of the line we have to wait in to collect the card.

Finally legal! It feels like turning 21 again...

To celebrate, I took myself to lunch at a little restaurant inside the Mercado San Fernando (marketplace). Marketplaces here typically have lots of eateries inside as well as vendors. The more trendy ones sometimes have an entire floor of just eateries (like the food court in a mall, only 100x more crowded).

The one I went to is called La Alpargata, which is a type of handmade shoe with a canvas top and a rope sole, worn by both men and women.. In English I think they are called espadrilles. From the picture, it looks like they have fond memories of being whupped by abuela (grandma) with a slipper!

This restaurant is one I have been wanting to try because it has vegan versions of traditional Spanish foods. It did not disappoint. The menu is small and the restaurant was even smaller, only a few barstools and tall tables.

Here is a vegan version of one of the most popular foods in Spain, the tortilla de patata (potato omelette). The name has nothing to do with Latin American style tortillas, which are known here as "tortilla mexicana". The word tortilla translates as "little cake", so I can see how it evolved in both cases.

I ordered the albondigas de mijo con salsa de pimientos (millet meatballs with red pepper sauce). It was 100% delicious, and I used the bread to scrape up every drop of the sauce. I don't know whether that is a faux pas here or not and I don't care!

Church of Santa Inés del Monte Pulciano, Antigua, Guatemala

15 March, 2019

In addition to the rooftop area of the school Tecun Uman, the restaurant next door also allows the school to use their rooftop for daytime classes when the restaurant is not open, so that each teacher/student pair has plenty of space and privacy to work.

 

After school, I went to see the Easter decorations and market at the church of Santa Inés del Monte Pulciano, which is far enough from the town center that it merited taking a tuk-tuk (three wheeled taxi). They are so convenient.

 

 This is the Easter decor inside of the church sanctuary.

The "alfombra" or carpet is a design made from flower petals.

There are also all kinds of offerings, bread, flowers, and other items, all arranged with care around the alfombra.

The archangel Michael, vanquishing a demon.

Display of clothing that was used on the statues in past Easter processions.

The former bell of the church. I assume that a replacement bell has been mounted as church bells are still in use here rather than electronic speakers.

The facade of the church.

The "mercado" or market in the street in front of the church. So many street foods, so little time!

These fruit vendors can make a mango look like a flower in no time, it was mesmerizing to watch them.

Various fried crisps - plantains, yams, etc. There is nothing like freshly made chips!

While I was at the market, one of the fires on the mountain looked like it had gone out of control. The farmers routinely burn the stubble of their crops, but this dry season has had lots of wildfires from it. The smoke is really irritating.

Each church has a man playing a pipe and drum before a service starts.

.

Velación in San Felipe

6 March, 2019

 

My teacher, Rosa, took me on a field trip today to a nearby town called San Felipe. It is the Lent season, and in Guatemala, that means processions. (Disclaimer: most of the information is filtered through my very limited understanding of Spanish, so if you want factual details, please look them up.)

Here we are setting off on the bus (camioneta).  Not a get photo, but you get the idea. Inside, it's a refurbished school bus.  

 

This celebration was taking place at the church of San Felipe de Jesus. Most are on weekends, but it is Ash Wednesday which marks the beginning of the processions.

Prior to and during a procession, artistic offerings are made, and candles (velas) are lit. A typical example is the carpet (alfombra) of flowers or other colored materials. It is surrounded by artistically arranged offerings of fruits and vegetables. (And bread alligators. And pizza.)

  

  

It was around 8:30 in the morning and things were just beginning. The candles around the sides of the alfombra were lit. Them the congregation, which had been trickling into the poured at the back of the sanctuary, began to sing.

At the side of the church (the apse?) was a display of finery from prior years.

I was told the name of this flowering part of a plant, but forgot it. It it used to make the flower carpets, or, if not available, sawdust is substituted.

Nearby was a very small market (mercado), where I bought a pretty Guatemalan woven fabric shoulder bag to carry my schoolbooks. 

After that, we walked down the road a ways. We passed a coffee plantation (finca), but we didn't enter for a tour. I hope to visit coffee and cocoa plantations at some point. 

 Heading onward down the road toward the next town, Jocotenango.

I entered a tiny wood shop called The Apple Factory (Fabrica de Manzanas), and at the back was the store area, a little room chock fill flour to ceiling with all kinds of carved wooden items, from apples to puzzle boxes, crosses to serving platters. My favorites were some platters and bowls that still had the shape of the branches they were carved from.   

  

We came to another church in Jocotenango, the Templo de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, which was built in the 1600's, replacing an older one.

  

Interestingly, if I understood the docent right, the new church was never finished due to lack of funds, so the far end of the church, which never got a roof, has fallen to ruin.

  Here is the chapel on the other side of the church.

In front was an open paved area where a lit odd kids were playing, and beyond that, trees and a very old fountain. 

Beyond the fountain you can see our ride home, a plain Blue Bird school bus with little embellishment.