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Travel Cultures Language

From Colorful Guatemala to Post-Vacation Blues

by Sally Baho on May 11, 2015

Off-centered door in yellow stucco wall, a colorful memory recalled during post-vacation blues.  (Image © Scott Kafer)

The flowers aren’t the only thing that provide color in Antigua, Guatemala,
the houses remind you of a painter’s palette. © Scott Kafer

Finding the Color Wherever You Are

Only yesterday, I had returned from Guatemala, surrounded by people, colors, smells, and noise—music, cars, crowds, conversation. Now here I was back in Pacific Grove, CA, known as “America’s last hometown,” waking to the low hum of my refrigerator. Looking around, my once beloved apartment seemed silent, cold, desolate.

I felt as if someone had pulled the plug on me—where was everyone?  They had gone and left me with the post-vacation blues.

Culture Smart: Worry Less With Guatemalan Dolls?

by Sheron Long on September 29, 2013

Guatemalan weaver continues the culrural traditions of her village

A weaver in Guatemala creates textiles in patterns unique to her village
and reuses scraps to make worry dolls.

A Cultural Tradition With Promise

Descendants of the Maya living today in Guatemala bring beauty to the world with their handcrafted weavings, often using unique patterns indicative of their villages.

Guatemalan worry doll, used in a centuries-old cultural tradition as a folk remedy for worrying

This worry doll is ready to hear your troubles!

The fabric scraps the weavers have left don’t go to waste—they use them to make sets of colorful worry dolls.

A Cultural Encounter with Violence: Sicarios

by Meredith Mullins on November 29, 2012

International Fine Art Photography Winner
Unmasks Violence in Guatemala

The photograph that just won the Grand Prize in the 2012 International Fine Art Photography Competition is powerful, lyrical, rich in tones, and graceful in line.

As you look closer, a story begins to unfold. When fully understood, the image sends a spine-chilling message about the pervasiveness of violence in the world today and how easily it has come to be accepted as a part of daily life in certain cultures.

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