Marth 5th-9th, 2019
We spent the next 5 days doing our Spanish class and staying with Bilma and Jorge. We each had our own private instructor and would walk to school (10 min) every morning after breakfast. We would be done by 1pm where we would go back to the house for lunch and then had our choice of hanging out or doing optional activities. I really liked our homestay. The food that was made for us was very good and It was nice to have homecooked meals after being on the road for a while.
The first few mealtimes I was a little uncomfortable because I didn’t know anymore words than ‘hola’ and ‘gracias’ and this got better each day. I really liked the Spanish school and felt having individual instruction was very good. My teacher did not really speak English so again I was a little uncomfortable the first day or two but this did get better. By the end of the week I felt we could get through conversation even if it was a bit broken, we could at least communicate. I also enjoyed the optional activities after class. The first day B and Taylor had to do homework so I went to the activity by myself which was going to San Andreas. This is an iconic Guatemalan church as the artwork on the front represents the blending of the Mayan and Spanish cultures.
The next day B and I participated in the free cooking class where we learned how to make empanadas. The day after that we went to a local carnival and market that was in town for a week. It was the beginning of Lint (at least that’s what I gathered from our Spanish speaking guide). We also visited the cemetery in Xela which was very interesting and filled with history.
We had dinner at the school one night and explored the markets after class on Saturday. We did 5 days of school and 6 nights with our family. It was a really good experience. Bilma and Jorge were so very sweet.
If I had more time I would have liked to do another week. I know this would help my Spanish immensely. Xela was a big city (Guatemalas second largest).
We were lucky enough to be in Xela for International Women’s Day. It was really cool because we got to see a big march of women coming together for this occasion. We heard from our instructors that in Guatemala violence against women is a big problem. They seriously take this day as a time to come together and raise awareness against violence. At our school during break time, they gave every woman a flower and had cake for everyone, which I thought was really sweet.
It was a bit hard to walk around Xela as the sidewalks and streets were extremely narrow and full of cars, buses and motorcycles. Our last dinner with our family was very sweet and using as many words as we could we expressed our thanks. From what we learned and had read about Guatemala, it is a great place to learn Spanish as they speak slower and more clear than other Spanish speaking countries. It is also very affordable. We payed about $27 USD per person a day for our private instruction and our homestay which included all our meals.