Days 19-23: Final Days in the City and Going to School!

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Some hilights of my last days in Guatemala City:

-Going to a 4th of July cookout with Americans (and a Canadian) from my sister's school

-Walking Reforma, a local street they close to traffic on Sundays so that people can walk, run, or bike

-Going out to thai food and sushi to mix things up!

-Buying all the coffee and refried black beans I could fit in my suitcase from the supermercado 😊

One of the very best things I did on the trip was visit my sister's school. I spent all day Friday with her in pre-k. The students are taught 75%!i(MISSING)n English and 25%!i(MISSING)n Spanish. When my sister got them, they didn't know any English, and now they understand everything she says. Since I was a visitor, I was allowed to speak in Spanish. Boy, were these kids cute! They made things for me all day (eso es para ti, Yuli), told me they loved me non-stop (te quiero mucho), and played with my hair and sat in my lap.

On Monday, I visited a 6th grade language arts classroom as well as an 11th grade language arts classroom. Sasha (the 6th grade class) was nice enoug to shut down class for a little while, so I got to talk to the students. They taught me local Spanish words, and then we talked about books and movies. I almost fainted when one student explained that she didn't like Old Yeller because it was anti-climatic. They spoke such beautiful, academic English. It would be my dream to see more bilingual or immersion schools in Georgia. Right now, there are three, and all are in the metro-Atlanta area.

Thanks, Guatemala (and Jessie) for an amazing journey. Students, I hope that you learned something new from my travels and that you start dreaming of your own adventure!

Cultural Note

-In school, American students learn academic Spanish. Every country has their own way to say many of these words. For example, students learn "chaqueta" for jacket, but in Guatemala, everyone refers to a jacket as a "chumpa."

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Photos

Colegio Decroly Americano
Sweet pre-k students at CDA making things during homeroom

The Girls
Two more pre-k CDA students reading a book with me

Comments

[Jessie]

These girls still ask for you everyday :)

[Bryan M.]

Great blog!
This is a great resource, your blog! I'm going for a similar length trip to Guatemala in 1 week & may be doing a lot of your same itinerary! Thanks :)