infrogmation | Entries tagged with antigua

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Antigua Guatemala, Thursday, 14 June, 1979:

"What's going on here?" I asked a local.
"It's Corpus Christi"
We watch the giants dance to marimba music for a while.

"So, Why are there dancing giants?" I asked.
"Because it's Corpus Christi, of course." the local told me. "Don't they have Christians where you come from?"

....

I have to admit, I'm still in heathen ingnorance about that. The Catholic Encyclopedia Feast of Corpus Christi article doesn't shed any light on the dancing giants issue. Perhaps one of my Christian readers can enlighten me?

Wondering simply, -- F.

A 1989 sighting of the Corpus Christi Dancing Giants of Antigua

Current Music: marimbas

I uploaded a bunch of my photos from my time in Antigua Guatemala in 1979 - 1980 to the Wikimedia Commons.

Most of the pix alas were taken with a cheap 1970s instamatic. (If there was such a thing as an inexpensive, easy to use, non-bulky camera that actually took good quality photos back then, I didn't know about it.) Still, I got some photos of interest.

Antigua was the Spanish Colonial capital of Central America until it was hit by a series of nasty earthquakes in the 1770s. The city was ordered abandoned, and a new capital was built at what is now Guatemala City. Earthquake dammaged colonial baroque is still the dominant architecture, and the folks who stayed here practice some interesting old traditions, especially with the elaborate Holy Week festivities.

See artistic carpets meant to last less than a day! Looming volcanos! Dancing giants! A lactating fountain! Special apperance by Jesus Himself!

Thumbnail gallery (click a pic to see a larger version)

Current Mood: nostalgic
Current Music: Marimbas