The group arrived safe and sound in Guatemala at the beginning of April to embark on 4 weeks of Spanish school. The school is in San Jose and the teachers have been extremely welcoming, much to the delight of the volunteers who admit that the phase is surpassing their expectations!
The weekends are free for the volunteers to explore the area some more, catch up on emails and mix with the locals so they take advantage of this and make sure they see as much as they can before the weekend is over!
The first weekend at language school fell on the Easter weekend, so the volunteers headed to Flores, an extremely small town in Peten, Guatemala. It is located on an island in the lake Lago Petén Itzá, connected to land by a causeway. The town celebrates the Easter weekend with colour and dance and the volunteers joined in with the festivities.
The majority of the group chose to go to Tikal for the second weekend of the language phase, the largest of the Mayan ruined cities of the Mayan Civilisation. There are thousands of ancient structures in Tikal but only a fraction has actually been excavated. This includes six very large Mesoamerican step pyramids which are over 60 metres high.
For films buffs out there, Tikal was also used during the filming of Star Wars….
Now in their third week, the language course continues to run strong. The volunteers are living with host families in San Jose, close to the school, and attend Spanish lessons Monday to Friday from 9am-5pm. When they return from their day of language school many sit down to dinner with their host family, or eat out with their fellow volunteers. Either way they are living and breathing a lively and fascinating culture. An experience they are sure not to forget for a long time!
Mail can now be sent to a new PO Box number in San Ignacio:
PO BOX 266, San Ignacio, Caya, Belize. If you have sent post to the old PO BOX in Belize City, don't worry, post is being redirected.
We suggest that you give 2 weeks for post to reach Belize.
