We have successfully landed here in Guatemala and are onto our third full day of adventure. We arrived in Guatemala with our host families around 11:30 pm on January 3rd after traveling a collective 5.5 hours in the air, including a connecting flight, and traveling through three countries.
Upon arrival, our guide, who is connected to the Itxchel Spanish School where we are studying, greeted us, and we ate at a restaurant called Pollo Compero, which ironically enough is the equivalent of KFC in the United States. We were all in need of a good meal after a long day of traveling. We then took a short bus ride to our host families, which are located in San Juan del Obispo, and got there in the dead of the night.
After a long night of sleep, we started the next day by eating breakfast with our host families and started classes at the Itxchel Spanish School. In pairs, we are working directly with a professor, which provides a more personal Spanish learning experience. Three hours later, we walked back to our respective host families and ate a quick lunch before embarking on a five hour tour of Antigua Guatemala, where we visited Cerra de la Cruz, which had a beautiful view after a few to many steps!
A night full of exploring led to a dinner with our families. We all have different living situations, allowing us to learn more about the culture and people of San Juan del Obispo, Guatemala as well as swap stories in the morning.
Today, like most days, we will have three and a half hours of class followed by an activity in the afternoon that allows us to better understand the customs of the area. Today’s activity, which is a Salsa dancing class, may put some of us out of our comfort zones, but ¡vale la pena! (worth the pain)
A successful first two days leave us excited to experience and adventure more, enabling us to broaden our perspectives of the world!
¡Hasta luego!
- Callie Baumeister and Michelle Brown
