Blogs from Western Highlands, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 106

Ok, so this may not have be the trip for most of you... but the experience was worth the effort for me. I don't know what to leave out so you can just do the editing for yourselves. On Friday evening met as a group at Quetzaltrekkers and got our gear: backpacks, sleeping bags, food, eating utensils, tents, etc. We had 15 people in the group including the two guides. My pack wasn't so heavy until I put in the required 3.5 liters of water. Our trip started the next morning at 5:00 when we (15 of us) loaded our gear and ourselves on the back of a small pickup truck to go the the local bus station. We had to stand on the back of the truck with our gear next to us and the ... read more

Spanish Language Schools Guide Today I have my Telefónica cell phone on top of my desk. It's not the tiniest model in the market, but it still does makes me feel the speed of technology. This little gadget that I bought yesterday has dimension of about 2.5 inches x 1 inch x 1/3 inch. If I remember correctly, a cellphone like this had price over $300 5 years ago. Now I just paid about $45 and came with 80 free minutes for the first month and 40 free minutes for 12 months. I didn't have a cellphone for 5 years and I'm really amazed by this change. The today's advanced models comes with camera, mp3 and credit card function. It's very probable that all cellphone come with those functions in 5 years. But I wonder what ... read more

Well, the school has kept me pretty busy. I study during the day and and then there is some sort of activity in the evening, such as watching a movie in Spanish, going to a museum, going to the baths (I'll explain). The best school activity so far was going to the hot baths about a 20 minute ride on the "chicken bus" (see photo) which was an adventure in itself. The baths are hot volcanic spring water in a rather large tub. I'm not sure how the Mayan people use it, but we put on our swimsuits and used it like a hot tub. It felt wonderful because it´s the only hot water I've been in since the States. I absorbed the heat like a rock in the sun and enjoyed every minute of it. ... read more

Spanish Language Schools Guide Hi my dear reader! In order to get to know host families for ConeXion Xela, I'm living with one family after another every week. This is the way I've gotten to know many Spanish teachers last year and I'm doing the same with host families now. It's been 5 days living with Morales family and I'm satisfied here. No, they don't have experience of welcoming a foreign student. Actually, I'm their first one. But, what I'd like to see in a host family is their happiness as a family, because I don't think they would be capable of making students feel happy if they are not happy themselves. So, I really liked to see how Allan, the father, was playing with his daughter after lunch and how every member of the family ... read more

Tja mijn laatste update van Guatemala, wat zal ik zeggen!!!!!!!! Ik zal mijn hoogtepunten van mijn laatste weken in Xela aanhalen. Afgelopen weken heb ik naast mijn normale werkzaamheden, echt mijn laatste dingen afgerond, kwam nog bijna tijd tekort, maar het is allemaal gelukt. Om te beginnen heb ik 35 goede leesboeken voor de kinderen van CEIPA kunnen kopen. Heeft een tijdje geduurd maar heb ze eindelijk gevonden. De kinderen en leerkrachten waren enorm enthousiast, dus donateuren wederom enorm bedankt voor jullie geld. Naast deze boeken heb ik 12 bakken met Lego gekocht voor de kinderen van de daycare Nuevos Horizontas en een wereldkaart voor de Shelter. Ook de lego was een groot succes, heb de kinderen nog nooit zo braaf zien spelen, hoewel braaf. Ze gingen er zo in op dat ze geen enkel ... read more