(Bilingue) Sprained ankles in La Antigua, Guatemala/ Tobillos torcidos en las calles de La Antigua

This beautiful city is going through an administrative crisis for the past several months (years?) and the city is looking the worse for ware because of the lack of leadership and responsibility.

Guatemalans agree that one of their greatest defects is to complain and not to anything.- When things get really bad there may be protests or violence, sadly.

In this beautiful and dear country corruption is rampant. The separation of powers is in its infancy.
The latest news I seem to understand from the local newspaper is that the congress or some other political entities have sworn in the countries supreme court judges...

But back to the ankles/ de vuelta a los tobillos

Local sidewalks are by their very -colonial/ancient- nature problematic; many are of stone, stones of different shapes and sizes. Steps up and steps down have no pattern and are unpredictable; stones that can be flat or uneven.-

Las banquetas son peligrosas y facilmente se puede torcer eyyl tobillo. por su naturaleza- colonial y antiguas, las piedras son de diferentes tamanios y formas. Hay bajadas y subidas repentinas sin ton ni son, las piedras pueden ser lisas o onduladas, o curvas...

No local authority has taken charge of that -as far as I know; there is little money to be made -or ripped off- out of providing good sidewalks to the citizens and visitors.

La Merced, La Antigua, Guatemala (BILINGUE)

LA MERCED, LA ANTIGUA, GUATEMALA

To the northwest of the city lies the historic La Merced Church and neighborhood. We were visiting a small property in the area, 125 thousand dollars, for an apartment in off the street passing through a shop; one bed, one bath...small and no views; "paso"( I pass) as they say in Mexico. We were able to chat with the local priest who is a Catalan; the Mercedarios have been at this parish since the Conquest excepting a hundred years or so when "The Reform" = separation of Church and State with the religious orders been expelled and their properties confiscated. They came back again and continue at this parish. Their original mission was to rescue captives in foreign countries and give their lives in exchange. We took a moment to visit the ruins of the original convent -which is said to have the largest monastery patio fountain in Latin America -judge for yourself!

La ruina de la Merced se gloria de tener la fuente de patio interior mas grande de American Central...?Que le parece?
Al noroeste de la ciudad de La Antigua, encontramos la parrroquia y la vecindad de la Merced .
La parroquia fue fundada por los Padres Mercedarios, una orden muy antigua cuyo apostolado original fue de rescatar a los cautivos en las guerras y cruzadas y si fuera necesario dar su vida en rescate de los peregrinos. 
Los padres vivieron en la parroquia hasta la Reforma politica de Guatemala, siglo XIX? cuando fueron expulsados. Cuando se levanto la prohibicion volvieron a lo que quedo de su parroquia y reconstruyeron la Iglesia. Actualmente la iglesia sigue fungiendo como tal y los padres siguen administrando la parroquia. Las ruinas del monasterio original son muy grandes y se pueden visitar. La reconstruccion del recinto esta a medias, seguramente porque el gobieron local no ayuda y los padres carecen de recursos para devolverlo a su estado original.

Tuk-Tuk, Transportation in Antigua, Guatemala

Guatemala tuk tuk, rickshaw

One of Guatemala forms of transportation is called a tuk tuk or in Asian countries a rickshaw. Guatemala is loaded with these little three wheel vehicles running around taking people from place to place. A Central America form of a taxi.

In Antigua this is best way to get around besides walking. Present rates as of today at Q15 = 2 dollars a ride, mostly fixed price for around Antigua. Taxis are more expensive; we have not taken one yet -and we have been here a months.

ANTIGUA AN EMINENTLY WALKABLE CITY.... more about this later.

Motociclistas sin casco/ no helmets for motorcyclists in Antigua

We were curious at first and then waxed cautious: one, two, three people on motorbikes, a man, a woman and a child in her arms but no helmets....Do they have a lot of head injuries in local hospitals? Not that traffic is going very fast on the cobblestone streets of La Antigua

  Como un sentido de descuido  La Vida no vale nada, o poco...


Al principio se ve curioso pero despues de un rato uno se pone a pensar....one, two, three poeple on a motorbike and nobody wearing a helmet; could be a father, a wife and a child in her arms -but no helmets.

Kind of like a lack of precaution....who cares? Death happens when it happens....