Leaving Xela

Today, I departed Xela and moved to Antigua, to spend my last week in Guatemala. I will have a week of language school and then fly home next Sunday, May 17.

My family in Xela are wonderful, and I will miss them very much. Living with a family is a very deep and rich experience, part of the immersion method that can be very powerful. Not everyone has such a good experience, so if anyone is anticipating this kind of travel and language, I can say with confidence that it pays to insist upon a family that will take your education seriously. If they are in it just for the money, don´t hesitate to ask for another family.

It´s a bit easier to post now that I am staying in a guest house in Antigua, with wireless internet. This is my plug for Hotel Posada La Merced: charming, clean, private bath, wireless internet (yea!), close to the language school, a short walk to Parque Central, quiet, lovely back courtyard, kitchen, cable TV. Being in Antigua is sort of like not being in Guatemala anymore. I think of it as my Guatemalan vacation from Guatemala, from the urban busyness to a small town retreat.

Spanish language schools are one of the biggest sources of tourism for Guatemala. In the city of Xela, there are at least 60 schools. Antigua has many schools, also. If I have the time later on, I would like to work on language skills while also building up a SCUBA record of dives on one of the islands of Honduras, in the Caribbean.

La Familia Garcia Rivera, minus son José, 20














Diego, 13, and Fernando, 6














Abuelo Oscar and José, Don Oscar´s son















Davíd, 1



















Andrea, 9, the only girl of the family, and like another 9 year old I know, loves pink and Disney and fashion











Fernandito, also called Fer; a live wire














Ana, yo, mismo in the family kitchen; the house was built by Abuelo (grandfather) Oscar´s grandparents, and has withstood earthquakes, speaking of which, we had one on May 3, 6.1, lasting several seconds, enough to scare the ¿"/( out of everyone, but Xela had little damage; the epicenter was closer to the Pacific coast








My teacher for this past week, my last in Xela, was Rufina, to my left; others are Carlos, one of the school´s directors and a maestro (teacher), and two of the maestras. Enrollment is pretty light right now, but June will bring dozens of new students, mainly from universities all over the world.