A Weekend In Guatemala - Pt6. The Poem After The Pictures

"ANTIGUA"


First,
I found
Her's to be a timeless air
That robs you of your breath as it
Moves you back centuries

Then,
I found myself captivated,
While capturing her timeless antiquities and
Enjoying her sensual energy,
Hypnotic orchestration of vibrations, and
Majestic bouquet of hues and tones

Delighted by her"imperfections",
    In awe of all her "flaws",
        Highlighted by the vast selection
            Of moments given to me to pause...

...Her lines all instersected,
In the perfect places
                ...Her horizon flowed endlessly,
                Between the heaves and the earth

There was sunlight beaming
From her native's faces,
                Shining into my soul and proving
                Her's a priceless worth

Perfection was embraced by
Her arches and crowns,
    With blue heaves and green fire mountains
    Screaming as backgrounds

In the bat of an eye,
    Without any delays,
        Submerged in her beauty and
            Drowning in her display!

Consumed by her vision,
    held firm by her charms,
        I drank up all her beauty,
            & embraced her without arms,

In her windows
I saw sunshine shining on me
While I played as a child

On her streets
I saw pieces of me that I lost &
A future I might one day find again

I found myself
Lost in what she showed me
And realized that the captor had been captured by the captivating

...And this is why the pieces of me that I lost are still there




- Bsomb4

A Weekend In Guatemala - Pt5.2. Shooting Antigua

Hello and thank you for checkin' out the Bsombin' blog. I always say, mind over matter... If you don't mind, it doesn't matter! ...Such was the case, with the 6am alcohol poisoning I woke up to on Sunday morning, after all the drinking I had done since Friday. ...Never a good thing, when you get woken up by your legs trembling violently and uncontrollably. Not my first rodeo, however, so I knew what I had to do. After some projectile vomiting, I drank a lot of water and went back to sleep for a bit before waking up to start my day...

When I woke up 2 hours later I still felt a lot shitty. But I was too excited about going into to sleep. My Abuelita's house is in a small community on the outskirts of Antigua. So, while I waited for everyone else to wake up and get ready, I walked around the neighborhood and shoot a little. After a lot of comedy watching everyone wake up, we all cleaned up our messes, loaded up the cars, and drove out together. On his way back to Guatemala City, my brother dropped my cousins and I off in the center of town so we could meet up with my Auntie.

We wandered the streets for a bit, while trying to get a hold of Auntie, after getting dropped off. Cousin Mark and I took the opportunity to shoot, as we tried to get a call through on the cheap burner phones they bought for the trip. We finally got through to Auntie who told us to meet her at a restaurant a few block from where we were. We found her in a little "Mexican" spot eating nachos and drinking a beer. I couldn't even look at the beer, but the nachos were a welcome site! We sat down for a bit and told her the stories from our Saturday night adventures, as we finished off the nachos and had a few drinks. I stuck with the H2O, but cousins went for some "hair off the old dog's back" (I don't know how). Once the cups were empty, the plate was clean, and the bill was paid, we headed out to see some more of the city. We walked around shopping and shooting, for a couple of hours, before getting hungry again and deciding to enjoy a Guatemalan tradition... Pollo Campero! For those who don't know, Pollo Campero is one of the biggest fast food chain in Guatemala specializing in fried chicken. The place was a mad house, when we got there! You would think they were paying people to eat their food, the way people were cramming into the place. Since we couldn't even squeeze in the front door, we went through the drive-thru. And that took for ever too! But after a long drive around the Pollo Campero drive-thru, we finally got our pollo! What Auntie did next blew me away!

From the time we had driven into Antigua, Mark became fixated on shooting an old church that was in the middle of the jungle just outside of the city. The church had been abandoned for decades, if not more. It is fenced off and there is no were to park for a mile or more. So it isn't the first place I would have thought to go and have a picnic with our pollo. But Auntie thought otherwise. She pulled up right in front of the church, parked in the middle of the street, and said, "I hope you're good at climbing!" We all got out, climbed the fence, and took a seat on the large steps to eat our chicken. There was a grounds keeper who lived behind the church and his dogs quickly came out to see who was on the property. But, after I tossed them some chicken skin, we became friends. The grounds keeper came out and didn't know how to react to us (or the fact that his killers were too busy beggin' for chicken to chase us off the property) so he just went back to his hut after a long confused stare.

After about a half an hour, we finished our picnic, took pictures, said good-bye to the doggies, climbed back over the fence, and made tracks back to Guatemala City. When we got back, we were all exhausted and just rested the rest of the night....      

A Weekend In Guatemala - Pt5.1. Noche en Antigua

Hello and thanks for checkin' out the Bsombin' blog! ...After I climbed down off the roof, I started to clean the mess the my cousins and I had made when we got home from bar hoping. I couldn't understand how we made such a disaster in the couple of hours that we were there before going to sleep. But the condition my room was in made me wonder how many people came home with us the night before? I couldn't remember much and my cousins had already left. So, I had to wait until after my trip to Antigua, to talk to my cousins about what we did and who the people were in the pictures that I took...

We had a busy schedule, that morning, since Abuelita's party was that afternoon. After cleaning, showering, and getting dressed, I had just enough time to eat and pack my things before my Auntie arrived  to pick Abuelita and I up. We loaded up my Auntie's rental and brother's car with our stuff and the food and drinks for the party, before getting on the road. We left around 10AM and drove out of the city in heavy traffic. Because of the traffic delay, it took us about an hour and a half to get to Antigua. Once we got there, the small one way streets and heavy tourist traffic brought us back to a crawl, as we made our way to my Abuelita's country house. Once we arrived, we were greeted by family and friends that I hadn't seen in years. Some I literally hadn't seen in decades! It was a little embarrassing not remembering some of them and getting other's names mixed up. But everyone was understanding about my forgetting and confusing people and everyone was happy to see one another. It was the first family reunion that my dad's side of the  family had ever had. So, for a few of us, it was our first time meeting each other. It was a great time sharing stories, drinking, dancing, singing, taking pictures, eating, and catching up with family. My Abuelita had a great time. But, once the sun went down, she (and just about everyone else) went home. My brother, cousins, and some of my cousins' friends were all that was left. So we decided to head out for a night of partying in Antigua! By this point, we were all at least 8 beers in. So, once again, the memories are foggy and the pictures are few. I do remember having a great time and laughing a lot, though...

Guatemala Part4 - Antigua

Unfortunately, our trip to Guatemala was short. We didn't get to see all of my family and it was over before it really got started. We did get to spend a few days in Antigua, though! ...Ever since the first time I went back, after moving to the U.S., it has been my favorite part of Guatemala. I was excited to take the lil' ninja there! Antigua is a small town that's about an hour's drive away from Guatemala City. It's one of the oldest towns in Guatemala, and was established by Spanish missionaries. There's a lot of culture and history in Antigua. The streets are almost exactly the same as they were hundreds of years ago! It still has cobble stone streets and dirt roads, through out most of the town. Many of the churches and buildings in the town are over 400 years old, are protected by the historical preservation societies, and have been made national monuments.

The town is full of old churches, tourists, and ghost stories! ...It's said the whole town is haunted and that ghosts have been seen walking in the streets late at night. It's supposed to be the most haunted part of Guatemala. There are a lot of old folk tales about strange creatures and poltergeists that have been seen walking the streets and country side, late at night, by the locals! ...Some of them good and some evil. From devil dogs (that protect lost drunks on their walk home) to female poltergeists (that kill men and rob them of their souls), Antigua has stories about all kinds of things that go bump in the night!! ...The only strange creatures that I saw, though, were some of the drunk tourists. ...No devil dogs though.

Antigua is also surrounded by volcanos! ...But only 2 of the 3 are active. Anyhow, here are some images from my time in Antigua...

After leaving Antigua, I went back to the city for, a day, to visit with family and do some shopping. Crime in the city is pretty out of control, though. People get killed, everyday, over their cell phones and jewelry. Stick-up kids and car jackers are everywhere, and armed robbery is common. I've actually lost a few relatives to stick up kids and car jackers. So as a result, every time I tried to pull my camera (or phone) out, whoever I happened to be with would freak out and tell me to put it away. Everyone lives in fear of being held up & shot down. Because of this, I wasn't able to get any images around the city, unfortunately. I did record a lot of great memories, though. It was a great time, for both my daughter and I. But, I did get home sick, on my short trip, and couldn't wait to get back to L.A. I'm planning on going back to Guatemala, later this year. So maybe I'll be able to get some city captures then... But, for now, I'll keep busy capturing images in, and around, the City of Los Angeles!! Thanks and check back soon for more Bsombin'!