It has retained many of the Spanish colonial ruins though they have suffered due to earthquakes. Antigua experienced a severe earthquake or temblor and, as a result of it, the capital was then moved to what is now Guatemala City. Each morning I meet women in the streets, calles , balancing pans of maize on their heads. They go each day to the molino to have the corn ground, their having soaked it in water overnight. Running water is not commonplace in most homes, and it is the woman's duty to fill and carry home the tenajas , water jugs.
All pueblos have public pilas , which consist of many sinks and a constant supply of water.
Daily the women go to these pilas to launder clothes and to visit with friends and vecinas , neighbors . The men leave their homes early in the morning for their work. The campesinos always carry a machete and sometimes they have an azedon resting on their shoulders as they walk to the fields. An azedon is an oversized hoe and to wield one takes much strength. There are no plows and land is tilled via these instruments.