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Photos of Guatemalan “Alfombras:” Street Decorations for Holy Week

Posted on April 6, 2012 | 11 Comments

Jesus is my Shepherd Alfombra Guatemala- Kid World Citizen

"Jesus is my shepherd" Antigua, Guatemala. Photo credit: Nancy Hoffman.

This week in Guatemala, hundreds of adults and children are staying up all night or waking up early to work on street “alfombras,” in preparation for Holy Week processions.

These special alfombras, the Spanish word for “carpets,” are elaborate street decorations made of colored sawdust, flowers or flower petals, pine needles, sand, rice, or even fruits or vegetables.

Nancy Hoffman of GuatemalanReservations.com, a travel agency specializing in family travel and personalized trips to Guatemala, shared these wonderful photographs with us of the 2012 procession on Palm Sunday in Antigua, Guatemala. All photos are taken by Nancy Hoffman, and have been used with her permission. Enjoy these beautiful images of Antigua, Guatemala! Continue reading →

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Posted in Arts and Crafts, Celebrations, Guatemala, The Americas

Tagged Easter, indigenous, Mayan, spanish

“Honey for the Maya,” a Short Film on Mexican Honey and Mayan Beekeepers

Posted on February 21, 2012 | Leave a comment

“Deep in the rainforest of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, in the shadow of his ancestors’ great stone pyramids, one of the last Mayan beekeepers guards an ancient secret. It was passed on to him directly from his fathers in the Mayan language from long before the time of Cortez. He is one of very few modern Maya upholding the beecraft skills of keeping stingless bees. All is unveiled as Emmy award-winning cinematographer Keith Brust (Planet Earth, etc.) takes us deep inside the bees’ hidden world and this ages old Mayan tradition for the first time.”

Check out this short film (~7 minutes) that shows Mayan, stingless bees up close and in their fascinating roles as guards and pollen gatherers. A feature-length documentary should be released in 2013: