Page 9 | OkAntigua | Travel Guide to Antigua Guatemala

Open Windows Foundation

It’s no secret that Guatemala is among the poorest countries in the world, with 40% of its city-dwelling population living in poverty – subsisting on about $1.50USD a day. Rural communities have it even worse, with about two-thirds of all children in Guatemala living in poverty. There are many reasons for this, which I won’t get into for the sake of brevity.

Antigua is surrounded by rural communities, all which have varying degrees of poverty. While there are urgent, short-term needs that need to be addressed, namely food and medicine shortages, one of the surest ways to improve the long-term well-being of its children is through education. Unfortunately, the government doesn’t devote nearly enough resources – schools are woefully underfunded, which leads to high illiteracy rates. It’s an uphill battle to even see that children in Guatemala finish 6th grade – the rate of completion of at least six years of elementary education is less than 60%, lowest in Latin America.

Open Windows – Ventanas Abiertas

One organization that is attempting – and succeeding – at providing the necessary help in the area of education in Guatemala is Ventanas Abiertas (Open Windows Foundation). They have built up, in my opinion, one of the best learning centers for disadvantaged children in the area.

Open Windows building, San Miguel Dueñas

The children of Open Windows

Last month, I had the pleasure of visiting Open Windows, located in nearby San Miguel Dueñas. There’s a free guided tour every month, so you can learn more about the foundation and get a glimpse of the living conditions of coffee pickers in nearby coffee plantations. The under-2-hour tour, run by David Dean, a Board of Directors member, is well worth taking.

David Dean, Board Member, and Tour Guide

Open Windows’ mission is to provide educational help to disadvantaged children in the area. To accomplish this, the center runs various programs:

Open Windows Library and After School Program

After-school Program: They provide tutoring and homework help to children. An interesting fact is that Open Windows has a strong relationship with the schools in the community. Often, schools plan their homework assignments counting on specific resources provided by Open Windows. Their library has grown to house more than 11,000 books.

Group activities at Open Windows

Activities Program: Students are encouraged to participate in group reading and other related activities designed to develop their thinking skills. An afternoon snack is also provided.

Computer Lab – Computers donated by Rotary International

Computer Program: Open Windows has the only public computer lab in the area. This 4:40 pm. center is used to teach not only computer skills and homework research (Internet access is available), but much-needed job skills to teens either about to enter the workforce or pursue higher education.

Space for health checkups behind the school

Medical Program: Volunteer doctors perform routine health checkups on the children every month, also free of charge.

To learn more about Open Windows, please visit their website at http://openwindowsfoundation.com. Open Windows runs entirely on donations. Contact them if you’d like to volunteer as well.

A free, guided tour of Open Windows is available once a month, on Wednesdays. The free shuttle leaves at 3:00 pm from Cafe Condesa, across from Parque Central, and is usually scheduled to return by 4:40 pm.

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Iglesia De La Merced Antigua Guatemala: Visitors Guide

La Merced Church is one of my favorite buildings in Antigua Guatemala and arguably the prettiest Baroque church in the city. Part of its appeal is that it’s also one of the few churches that have remained standing relatively unscathed since colonial times.

Construction of Iglesia de La Merced

La Merced Church, Antigua Guatemala

Mercedarians were the first religious order to establish a men’s convent in Guatemala, seeking and obtaining land and a permit to build a convent in present-day Ciudad Vieja. Their church was almost finished when a lahar came rushing down from Agua Volcano and wiped out the city.

Eventually, the city leaders that survived decided to relocate the city to the Panchoy Valley, where present-day Antigua Guatemala is located. When the city was finally moved, Mercedarians fought hard to be granted the second permit to build a new church and convent – and permission was granted in 1541. Mercedarians completed their second church in Guatemalan territory in 1583. Subsequent earthquakes destroyed this second temple.

Earthquake Baroque

In 1749, Architect Juan de Dios Estrada (also known as Juan de Chaves) was commissioned to build a much bigger temple and an adjacent convent. After studying the design failures of previous architects, de Dios chose to adapt traditional baroque designs to suit the city better. He lowered typical baroque, airy ceilings down – up to two-thirds lower. De Dios also added thick walls that were up to a meter wide and thicker buttresses. The Philippines is the only other location in the world that features this type of baroque architecture.

This type of massive construction made the third structure far more earthquake-resistant than previous structures. This is easy to notice when looking at the walls and columns that can be seen at the church and at the convent ruins next door.

Lower ceilings, thicker walls at La Merced convent

The church and convent were finished in 1767. The church featured priceless works of art. Unfortunately, major earthquakes hit the city in 1773. While the structure resisted the earthquakes, the convent’s walls were weakened, later falling during subsequent earthquakes that year.

La Merced Church Is Abandoned

Once Captain-General Martin de Mayorga made the order to relocate the city to present-day Guatemala City official, Mercedarians did not hesitate. They packed up their works of art and abandoned the convent to get a headstart in rebuilding their church in the new capital.

And so it was that La Merced lay abandoned, for the most part. The convent’s ruins were further destroyed, and as with most abandoned ruins in the city, its interior used as a stone quarry by the locals. It wasn’t until 1853 that Mayor Jose Maria Palomo y Montufar approved restoration work.

La Merced Church Today

The church is very popular with locals and tourists alike. Its stucco work is admired for its arabesque patterns, known as ataurique – from the Arabic word al-Tariq, meaning “vegetable.” This type of relief detail is a sign of Moorish influence, which was popular at the time.

Ataurique stucco work at La Merced

The facade features an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, along with some of the more prominent Mercedarians in history, such as St. Pedro Armengol, St. Maria de Cervello, and St. Raymundo Nonnatus – each saint has quite the interesting history.

Atrium at Iglesia La Merced

Among the art of note inside La Merced is the image of Jesus Nazareno, an antique baroque piece that’s paraded reverentially throughout Antigua during Palm Sunday and Good Friday processions. The image of Virgen de Dolores, by sculptor Pedro de Mendoza, is worth checking out as is the gold-leaf retablo.

Keep an eye out for the Mercedarian shield. Once you learn to recognize it, you’ll spot it not only inside the church but in a lot more places throughout the city.

Jesus Nazareno, La Merced

Retablo La Merced Antigua Guatemala

La Merced Convent Tour

La Merced is open to the public daily, as are the ruins of the convent next door. However, unlike the church, there is an entrance fee to visit convent’s ruins (Q7 for locals, Q15 for foreigners). Open daily from 9 am to 6 pm, the convent is well worth a visit, as the views of the surrounding volcanoes are excellent on bright days.

The convent also featured what is believed to be the largest fountain in Central America. Mercedarian monks used it to raise fish to supplement their diet.

La Merced fountain

The convent’s installation offers a self-guided tour via strategically placed Spanish/English signage.

I highly recommend you take the time to visit La Merced, especially the convent’s ruins next door.

Lenten Season Displays

This church is famous for its beautiful Lenten and Holy Week alfombras (sawdust carpets) that are displayed in the sanctuary – check them out if you’re ever in town during this religious festival. See some of the images below:

vigil, La Merced church Antigua Guatemala

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Santa Ana Children’s Procession In Antigua Guatemala

There were two children’s procession in Antigua today. Unfortunately, I could only make it to one. A children’s procession is always a crowd favorite – almost everything is done on a miniature scale, by children, from the music to anda bearers.

Children’s processions are a relatively recent development, spiking in popularity in the latter half of last century. It’s a way for parents to instill their traditions into their children from an early age.

And now, I leave you with the pictures of tiny Santa Ana’s procession, with its tiny anda, tiny anda bearers, and tiny roman soldiers.

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More Semana Santa photos here!

Jocotenago Guatemala Vigil – 17th Day of Lent

Vigil Jocotenango church Antigua Guatemala

After last week’s visit to Jocotenango’s Lent vigil, it took some effort to get off the couch and trek back to catch another vigil. Not only was the last vigil somewhat underwhelming, but there even seemed to be very little interest by the locals to see it.

The town’s name, Jocotenango means “land of jocotes,” a beloved, popular Guatemalan fruit. Giant jocote sculptures grace both entrances to town.

One week later, the scene was completely different. There were lots of food stalls and a party atmosphere around the church. More on that at the end of the post.

Jocotenango’s orange/pink/salmon colored church

The crowds, nonexistent during the last vigil, now had to be managed by a queue and door attendants.

Queue at the entrance to Jocotenango’s church

The display was very different from the last one. For one, it was longer, stretching almost to the church’s door. Another wrinkle I hadn’t seen this year was that visitors could go around the display and get up-close to it. Much more immersive experience.

Jocotenango’s display as seen from the front entrance

The alfombra was very nicely done, as were the decorative touches.

Jocotenango’s alfombra

The most amazing thing about the display, however, was the image arrangement. By placing the trailing statues of Mary, John and Mary Magdalene in the distance, it gave it realism that lots of displays usually lack. Very smart use of space, unlike at Santa Ana.

Jesus on His way to Golgotha while Mary and followers watch from a distance

Closeup of Jesus and Simon of Cyrene images

Circling around the main display, visitors could get a closer look at the secondary images.

Mary, John and Mary Magdalene

As visitors turned around, they also became part of the display; the same way crowds followed Jesus on the way to the cross. Very well thought out display, as I said.

Following on the footsteps of Jesus

The entire time, the story of Jesus on His way to the cross played over the loudspeakers. Visitors were not allowed to linger too long and were ushered out by Brotherhood members standing behind the display.

Guatemalan Street Food

Outside, our daughter and I – she was my companion for this trip – were overwhelmed by all the options. My daughter ended up having churros, another popular street food item.

Churros in Guatemala

Churros, if you’re not familiar with them, are a dessert made with fried-dough pastry, topped with granulated sugar, and often topped with chocolate syrup. Good and filling!

“Elotes” – Corn on the cob

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Santa Ines del Monte Procession

In Antigua Guatemala, you can always tell when Holy Week dates are getting nearer. The processions are bigger, for one. Alfombras (sawdust carpets) get bigger and more elaborate. And there’s a noticeable swell in crowd numbers.

Last week, I was at Santa Ines del Monte Pulciano (Santa Ines, as locals call it), to witness the week’s biggest procession. The alfombras were the best I’ve seen so far – and I’ve seen some good ones this season.

Instead of creating a post, I’ve decided to make this a slideshow gallery – comments are embedded under each picture, so start with whichever photo you like best.