Guatemala’s English-language Magazine FREE May 2016 revuemag.com Year 25, No. 3 Historical Ruins of Guatemala The Path of Education Guatemalan Desayuno 3 4 1 2 3 4 5 1st PLACE by judges vote “Ruinas de San Jerónimo” La Antigua by Elí Orozco. Prize: Q200 REVUE PHOTO CONTEST: historical ruins of Guatemala 1st PLACE by popular vote “Ritual espiritual” Ruinas de Zaculeu, Huehuetenango, by Ana Gabriela Santisteban Medrano. Prize: Q200 6 7 3rd PLACE by judges vote “Puerta al paraiso” La Antigua by Tatiana Golovkina. Prize: Q50 REVUE PHOTO CONTEST: historical ruins of Guatemala 2nd PLACE by judges vote “The jungle at K-5 structure” Piedras Negras, Sierra del Lacandón, Petén by Mario Alfredo Mercado. Prize: Q100 8 9 20 CONTENTSCONTENTS Joan Manuel Rodríguez Zea 14 GUATEMALA INSIGHT by Elizabeth Bell Education in Guatemala SECTIONS 24 DateBook: MAY 16 BOOK ALERT 41 Health Services “Jungle of Stone” by William Carlsen 80 Travel / El Salvador The story of two men and their extraordinary journey 81 Travel 95 Marketplace 17 17 COMMUNITY SERVICE by Matt Bokor 98 Real Estate Coral Gables Donates Fire Truck REGIONS Sister city with La Antigua 23 Spotlight on Dining 35 Guatemala City 26 Photo Op “Jazz Moment” 46 La Antigua 18 EDUCATION by Dianne Carofino 30 Museum Directory 83 Lake Atitlán Project Village 88 Pacific Coast Education is the number one priority 81 El Petén 92 Tecpán 20 UPDATE by Dianne Carofino 93 Quetzaltenango Antigua International School 94 Río Dulce Accreditation by NEASC 12 From the Publishers 54 21 ART by Tono Valdes 47 MAP: La Antigua Guatemala Photo Club celebrates 59 years 86 MAP: Lake Atitlán 96 Vet Q & A 82 100 Advertiser Index 22 BOOK ALERT by Dianne Carofino “Doing Good ... Says Who? PHOTO CONTEST Authors: Connie Newton and Fran Early “Historic Ruins in Guatemala” All of the May entrants can 54 be seen at REVUEmag.com AMALIA’S KITCHEN by Amalia Moreno-Damgaard Here are the winners: Desayuno — a great way to start the day (with recipe) 6 Elí Orozco 6 Ana Gabriela Santisteban 82 PROFILE by Louise Wisechild 8 Mario Alfredo Mercado Nery Felipe Priego Huertas 8 Tatiana Golovkina Music is my inheritance 74 Spencer Urrutia cover Giovani Minera 101 SENSUOUS GUATEMALA by Ken Veronda Melaza – Blackstrap Molasses Deadline for the JUNE 2016 issue is May 10th 10 18 11 From the publishers ay features include education, starting with Education in Guate- mala by Elizabeth Bell followed by Dianne Carofino with Project Guatemala’s English-language Magazine Village and an update on the Antigua International School. REVUEmag.com • [email protected] MCommunity Service, by Matt Bokor, highlights a gift to La Antigua Gua- Publishers/Editors John & Terry Kovick Biskovich Associate Editor Matt Bokor temala from its generous sister city, Coral Gables, Fla. General Manager José Caal We have two Book Alerts for you, one is all about community service, Photography César Tián, Luis Toribio Doing Good—Says Who? Graphic Designer Hadazul Cruz It’s an especially interesting tie-in with Project Webmaster / Social Media JB & Heather Aleman Village. We’re also so pleased to announce William Carleson’s much-antic- Contributing Photographers Thor Janson, Nelo Mijangos, Willy Posadas ipated book, Jungle of Stone, the story of two men and their extraordinary La Antigua Manager César Tián journey. Production Director Mercedes Mejicanos Administrative Assistant María Solís Also inside this month, the Guatemala Photo Club celebrates 59 years; Systems Luis Juárez Distribution César Tián, Oscar Chacón, Luis Toribio Amalia’s kitchen is cooking up Desayuno and Lousie Wisechild profiles Nery Maintenance Silvia Gómez Felipe Priego Huertas. Sales Representatives Ivonne Pérez, César Tián, Spotlight on Dining by Anna von Frances takes us inside Samsara and Denni Marsh, Fernando Rodas, Luis Toribio, Lena Johannessen Ken Veronda temps us with a tablespoon of Melaza. Printed by PRINT STUDIO DateBook is packed with all kinds of events: films, art and photography Publishing Company PRODUCCIONES PUBLICITARIAS ESTRELLA ANTIgua, S.A. inaugurations, theater, benefits and more. CIRCULATION 20,000 readers monthly May is the Month of Museums, be sure to check out all the special events REVUE OFFICES: (in print and the Revue online Datebook) including an extensive Museum LA Antigua 3a avenida sur #4-A (Central Office) Directory. TEL: (502) 7931-4500 Entries and winners from the May Revue Photo Contest, Historic Ruins [email protected] of Guatemala, are sprinkled throughout this edition. We think you’ll agree, SAN CRISTÓBAL Denni Marsh Tel: 5704-1029 they are all spectacular. Our thanks to Giovani Minera for this month’s SAN LUCAS Rodolfo Flores Tel: 3016-8557 cover, “Admirando la Grandeza” Tikal, Petén. EL SalvadoR [email protected] El Salvador Regional Manager: Lena Johannessen Col. Centroamérica Calle San Salvador #202, San Salvador — John & Terry Kovick Biskovich Tels: (503) 7981-4517, 7860-8632 revuemag.com Opinions or statements printed in the Revue are not necessarily those of the publishers. We welcome your comments. REVUE is distributed free, and available at: Hotels, Restaurants, Travel Agencies, Car Rental Agencies, Embassies, Spanish Schools, INGUAT offices, Shops, and other public places in the following areas: Guatemala City, La Antigua, Quetzaltenango, Lake Atitlán, Cobán, Petén, Río Dulce, Lívingston, Monterrico, Retalhuleu; as well as locations in El Salvador and Honduras. ON THE COVER REVUEmag.com “Admirando la Grandeza” PRINT - MOBILE - ONLINE Tikal, Petén by Giovani Minera PBX: (502) 7931-4500 [email protected] 12 University of San Carlos, La Antigua Guatemala (hadazul cruz) Education in Guatemala Guatemala — A Brief Overview Insight by Elizabeth Bell author/historian he University of San Carlos of Guatemala is one of the old- est universities in the Americas. Education has come a long way since higher education began in 1620 at the Colegio de Santo Tomas de Aquino, predecessor to San Carlos, which Women did not attend uni- was officially founded in 1676. T versity in colonial times, and only some were accepted at the Colegio Mayor de Santo Tomás, La Antigua (hadazul cruz) School of the Maidens, or El Ni- ñado, the only school of impor- tance for girls. “The first documents for founding this school are dated April 17, 1553 … and approved by his Majesty October 7, 1592. These rules were very strict and limited those to be admitted to orphan girls, daughters of no- bles, descendants to conquerors, or early colonizers of Old Chris- tian heritage. These girls were ...continued page 52 14 BOOK ALERT The True Story of Two Men, Their Extraordinary Journey, JUNGLE OF STONE and the Discovery of the William Carlsen Lost Civilization of the Maya n 1839, rumors of baffling New York Harbor on an expedi- became known as the astonishing stone ruins buried within the tion into the forbidding rainforests Maya civilization. unmapped jungles of Cen- of present-day Honduras, Guate- tral America reached two of mala and Mexico. What they found In the tradition of “Lost City of Ithe world’s most intrepid travelers. would rewrite the West’s under- Z” and “In the Kingdom of Ice,” Captivated by the reports, Ameri- standing of human history. Carlsen tells the riveting story of can diplomat John Lloyd Stephens the discovery of the ancient Maya. and British artist Frederick Cather- American journalist and Pulitzer Enduring disease, war and the tor- wood—each already celebrated for Prize finalist William Carlsen’s new ments of nature and terrain, Ste- their adventures in Egypt, the Holy book, “JUNGLE OF STONE: The phens and Catherwood meticu- Land, Greece and Rome— True Story of Two Men, Their Ex- lously uncovered and recorded the sailed together out of traordinary Journey, and the Dis- remains of a civilization that had covery of the Lost Civilization flourished in the Americas at the of the Maya” is the definitive same time as classic Greece and account of Stephens and Rome—and had been its rival in Catherwood’s daring art, architecture and power. journey to docu- ment the rem- Their remarkable book, “Inci- nants of what dents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan,” became a sensation, hailed by Edgar Allen Poe as “perhaps the most interest- ing book of travel ever published” and recognized today as the birth of American archaeology. Most importantly, Stephens and Cath- erwood were the first to grasp the William Morrow /HarperCollins Publishers significance of the Maya ruins, rec- ISBN: 978-0062407399 ognizing that their antiquity and ...continued page 67 16 The gesture was Sister city Coral Gables, donates the latest exchange between the two Fire Truck to La Antigua Guatemala communities under the by Matt Bokor Sister Cities program. photos by Alex Valle he firefighting capability of La Antigua Guatemala’s Fire Ascencio and Fire Chief Rafael Arévalo Department has greatly improved with the recent gift of a during a ceremony on April 8 outside hook-and-ladder truck from Coral Gables, Florida. Antigua City Hall. TMayor Jim Cason of Coral Gables, an exclusive community just The gesture was the latest exchange outside Miami, presented the 34-ton vehicle to Antigua Mayor Susana between the two communities under Mayor Cason and Mayor Ascencio cut the ceremonial ribbon the Sister Cities program, an effort to increase citizen diplomacy begun in 1956 by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Antigua became Coral Ga- bles’ first Sister City in1993. “We are happy to have been able to provide a truck that can change the way that the fire department can combat any sort of fire,” Cason said. “The fire de- partment now has the ability to be suc- cessful in extinguishing fires that may occur on residents’ interior patios.” ...continued page 78 17 Exterior view of the new High School The mountainous indigenous village of San Bernabé Vista Hermosa, near the municipality of Parramos, in the department of Chimaltenango, has been adopted — all 350 inhabitants — by Project Village.