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Published: June 20th 2008
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For the past month I've been studying at Juan Sisay Spanish school in Xela, Guatemala. It's been a different experience than I expected, but highly enjoyable. We met a great group of students and the times we shared were reminiscent of the days of college where we studied hard and played hard, going to five hours of Spanish class, then usually a school arranged activity before drinking with friends at a bar or disco at night. Well, I'm not quite sure how hard I studied, but I learned a lot and had a great time. Some of my favorite activities included going kayaking on lake Atitlan, enjoying natural saunas in the picturesque Guatemalan mountains, seeing the local wool weaving process, helping teach English, playing futbol, playing on the play structure and huge concrete slide atop el Baul, climbing to the top of the Tecun Aman Monument, seeing Mayan ceremonies, learning capoeira, trying to dance salsa and soaking in the hot springs at Fuentes Gorginas under the full moon.
When I first arrived at Lago Atitlan, I was immediately taken back by its beauty. A large lake formed from a collapsed volcanic cone, situated in the Guatemalan mountains, surrounded by lush
hills and three volcanoes. The water is surprisingly warm for a mountain lake due to geothermic activity. We went kayaking to a more remote beach where we swam for a while and relaxed. Our German friends, Tomas and Leo baked a special cake, made with chocolate, mangos and a very special ingredient, which made the trip very fun. We all ate some and were feeling pretty good, except for our friend Julie, who ate too much and got sick. On the return paddle, Liam our giant Canadian international coordinator and Chriss, a jolly englishman flipped their kayak, tried to remount it, flipped again then swam it back to shore. It was quite comical.
Another pleasant memory was going to some natural saunas at a nice hotel/restaurant in the Guatemalan mountains about a 45 minute drive from Xela. The resort utilized natural steam to heat the saunas as well as other more decorative displays such as mini volcanoes and steam vents behind the plants that surrounded the buildings. The rising steam combined with lush plants and architecture that utilized large wooden beams and stones created a very beautiful, tranquil atmosphere. After the sauna I felt refreshed and re energized for
another night of drinking and dancing and another day of studying. While in Xela I fell into a routine of habitually drinking coffee to enable me to study hard on minimal sleep, then drinking beer once I started to feel poorly from drinking so much coffee during the day. A fairly hard lifestyle for my body, but it could handle it for a few weeks.
Another extremely relaxing experience taking advantage of the geothermal heat our earth generates, was going to Fuentes Gorginas, a natural hot spring that fills some human constructed pools with warm relaxing water. We took van ride up around dusk, arriving after the sun had set. One of the Germans, Frederico had prepared a BBQ feast of varied types of marinated meats and vegetables. There was so much food that it was a challenge to finish off the delicious shrimp that were last to be thrown on the grill. The other Germans baked a couple special cakes which when combined with good food, drinks, music and friends created a very festive atmosphere. After we stuffed ourselves with food and drink, we headed to the warm pools to relax. At the far end of the main
pool was a hot waterfall, trickling down the rocks. The full moon was out and the whole experience was amazing. The rocks and earth near the hot waterfall were also hot and it felt really good to bury your feet into the hot ground. After our fingers and toes had shriveled into prunes, we dried off around a large fire place in one of the bungalows. It was a very romantic setting, but unfortunately, I didn't have anyone to be romantic with.
An average day in Xela consisted of waking up at 7:30 for breakfast, taking a quick shower, then arriving at school for 8:00 class. I usually didn't start studying until 8:15 when the coffee was ready. At 1:00 I went home for lunch, took a quick nap or studied before going to the daily activities arranged by the school. After we would usually go to a cafe to study, play chess, cards or have a drink before dinner at 7:15. We went to a few salsa classes from 6:00 to 7:00 but not every day. Then from 7:30 till 8:30 we went to capoeira class that was taught by Orito who was dating one of our Danish
friends, Maja. After capoeira a quick shower and change of clothes then off to a bar or disco to chat, drink and dance. It was a lot of fun doing capoeira everyday for two weeks and I learned how to do some flying kicks, one handed back handsprings, sweeping kicks and much more. I'm not particularly good at them yet, but it was a lot of fun learning and a great workout. Everyday my legs were sore, but the good kind where you can feel them getting stronger. We were going to try to take more salsa lessons because it would be a valuable skill to have while traveling through Latin America, but capoeira was more fun. I learned enough salsa to do the basic steps, spin the girl and spin myself, which is enough to have fun on the dance floor as long as I'm not trying to impress anyone.
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