 View of San Pedro Volcano
View of San Pedro Volcano (about 10,000 feet tall)from the dock at the Posada Santiago, Santiago Atitlan.
|  Wash Day at Santiago Atitlan
Every day is wash day along the shores of Lake Atitlan outside the village of Santiago Atitlan.
|  Fisherman on Lake Atitlan
Early morning on Lake Atitlan.
|  Fisherman Close Up
View of a fisherman drawing in his net from his dugout boat on Lake Atitlan.
|
 Walking man
A Santiago man in the traditional striped calzones (trousers) with a a faja (cloth sash) and caites (sandals), on his way to work early one morning.
|  View from Panajachel
A view across Lake Atitlan from the dock at Panajachel with Volcan Toliman on the left and Volcan San Pedro on the right.
|  Lake Atitlan woman
A woman using her kaperraj (an all-purpose cloth) to afford her some privacy on a lancha (small boat) crossing Lake Atitlan.
|  Let's talk
Two kids chatting on the deck of a lancha during a crossing on Lake Atitlan.
|
 Posada Santiago
The restaurant and common area of the Posada Santiago.
|  Night scene
The restaurant at the Posada Santiago on a Saturday night during a folk music performance.
|  Church view
The Iglesia Parroquial Santiago Apostol - built between 1572 and 1581 - supposedly has (at the center of its nave) a hole to the underworld. This hole is only uncovered on Good Friday. On that day, a cross - bearing a statue of Christ - is lowered into it.
|  Church view with volcano
Volcan Toliman can be glimpsed behind the church. The Mayans believed that the volcanoes represent the first dry land to emerge from the seas at the time of creation.
|
 Don't do that here!
A sign on a wall outside the church prohibiting urination at this spot - unless you want to risk a Q100 fine. Hey, when you have to go...
|  Palm Sunday - Santiago
Local men decorating the cross in the church's plaza with palms early Palm Sunday morning.
|  Local women
Local women of Santiago crossing the church plaza. The Spanish imposed different colored striped clothing on each town to help them differentiate and ultimately control the indigenous people. The women embellished the striped clothing with their own distinctive and creative embroidery.
|  Mural at San Juan La Laguna
One of the many murals on the exterior walls of the lake town of San Juan La Laguna. This mural was created as a joint project between Indiana school kids and local San Juan artists.
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 Mural Detail
Read more about this collaborative project at:Arts Across the Americas
|  San Juan mural
A depiction of the horrific flooding and mudslide - caused by Hurricane Stan - that buried the nearby town of Panabaj in 2005.
|  Mural (with gringo)
Another San Juan mural.
|  San Juan mural
San Juan mural recreating a coffee harvesting scene.
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 San Juan mural
San Juan mural depicting local wildlife.
|  Volcano mural
San Juan lake scene mural of a boy flying a kite. A local boy (with cap pulled down) was captured in this photo along with the mural.
|  Washing ceremony
Once a year, on the Monday following Palm Sunday, the members of confradia (local brotherhood) wash Maximon's clothes at the lakeside.
|  Washing scene
This is the only time of the year when Santiago men can be seen doing laundry. They believe that Maximon's clothes hold the sins that were confessed to him throughout the year - as well as all that smoke and dirt.
|
 Washing ceremony
Maximon - a small wooden statue/effigy of a man dressed in western clothes - is part Judas, part Pedro Alvarado, and part unknowable. Throughout the year he is housed with a member of the confradia.
|  Washing ceremony
A local woman takes a drink (alcoholic, of course) as she watches the men wash Maximon's clothes.
|  Washing scene
The women of Santiago wear a unique hair belt or xk'op (in the local tzutujil language). The cloth is usually at least 60 feet long and wrapped tightly around the head. It has the look of a colorful thick-brimmed hat.
|  Washing scene
After the clothes are washed - on special stones carried to the site - they are ceremoniously dried by the sun throughout the following day. From the amount of alcohol consumed, the participants also needed to spend the next day "drying out".
|
 Washing scene
Throughout the year, you can visit Maximon. But make sure to bring an offering of cigarettes or alcohol. Make a virtual contribution to Maximon.
|  Washing scene
This photo - taken without a flash - shows how dark it really was at the lakeside ceremony that night.
|  Antigua street scene
Looking south - down 1 Avenida Sur - toward San Fransisco Church and Volcan Agua looming behind it.
|  Municipalidad
The Municipalidad building fronting Parque Central. The government building is decked in purple bunting in honor of Holy Week.
|
 Velacion at San Fransisco Church
A Velacion or Holy Vigil take place the day before the church's procession. A colored, sawdust carpet is laid out in the nave of the church.
|  Carpet at San Francisco Church
This colored, sawdust carpet - created by the hermandad (brotherhood) of the church - is laid out in front of the sculpture. Offerings of fruits and vegetables border the carpet
|  Velacion close up
The church's sculpture of Christ is placed in front of a large painted, paper backdrop. The following day, the sculpture is used in the main float in the church's procession.
|  Alfombra Creation - Maundy Thursday
We participated - along with members of the Colegio Americano de Guatemala and the owner of the wonderful La Casa de Los Gigantes - in creating a carpet (alfombra) on early Thursday morning. The process begins with the spreading and wetting of pine needles.
|
 Ross and Rachel
The alfombra was created on 7 Calle Oriente - in front of the Casa de Los Gigantes store and on the north side of San Fransisco church.
|  Maundy Thursday - Alfombra Creation
Business owners and homeowners - usually with the assistance of family and friends - create a carpet in the area of the street in front of their business or residence.
|  Alfombra Creation
Carpets are usually made with either sawdust or a combination of flowers, pine needles or other plant forms. Some are created free-form - like this one - while others are formed by using stencils.
|  Alfombra Completion
The name given to our carpet was "tree of life" or "arbol de la vida". The tree form (to the left) is created by flowers to mimic the four seasons. There is a wreath in the center and a white dove to the lower right.
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