ClarePenn

Hi hopefulist, Yes, Ixbalanque was a delight. I THINK my teacher's name was Carmen (for Some reason I didn't write it down so fhewww...out of my brain).

My homestay was right across the street from the Iguana Azul. My room was very nice (it had a reading light!) but the rooms are not connected to the house, you have no access to the house except at meal times and it was more a room-and-board situation than joining a family. All the boarders ate separately from the family except the madre who sat to chat while you ate, the meals were uncharacteristically monotonous, and it was without that nice 'we're all in this together' feeling you get from a good homestay, but again, the room was very nice.

Your school experience in San Pedro sounds great. I should go back and soften my comments a little because with a better teacher it would have been excellent at my school too. I should have asked to change but since I was her first student I didn't want to give her a black mark. The setting was WOW as were the activities and the 10am lunch break was the food highlight of my visit in San Pedro. Looks like your school has a better connection in homestays though.

If you don't smoke you will be SOO LOVIN' the new no smoking laws in Guatemala.

I didn't go inside any huge buildings in Chichi. And btw to others, I was debating with myself whether to take such a long journey to get there for market day but it was totally worth it. The market in Solola was worth it too. But as we all know, you can't always do everything (dang...).

I can tell you are going to be having a great time this summer!

santamonica

Unfortunately, we're not neighbors; the name santamonica comes from our first questions to fodorites several years ago re a trip with our kids to your town (we had a great time biking from the pier to muscle beach). I enjoyed your pictures of Chichi, Atitlan, and Tikal. How can anyone not want to go to Guatemala after seeing them? Now one of our kids is going to summer school in Madrid and next month we'll visit him, then go to Barcelona, and then on to Begur. So I enjoyed your Barcelona pictures too. We're looking forward to tapas, but we'll will miss the chicken and rice and tortillas from Guatemala (I loved the sound of the ladies slapping the tortillas and the wonderful smells of the cooking fires in Chichi). Hopefulist, good luck with your upcoming trip. It sounds great!

rivet

Enjoyed all your pictures Clare and appreciate the extra time it took to share so enthusiastically.

I loved Ixbalanque, in Copan and recognized my maestra, Orbely in your group shot. Great gal and she took special interest in "customizing" the lessons for me as I had some quite specific goals. Unfortunately, my homestay experience was not what I expected. Grim room, not included in the family meals, ate alone as there were no other guests, and the food and variety of food were lacking. I ended up purchasing fruit and they brought in a tiny bar fridge into my room, which was helpful but did not aid in bonding with the family or practising Spanish.

For my second week, I moved to a small inn,spoke more Spanish - useful Spanish - with the friendly innkeeper and enjoyed that set up much more. Some of the other students from the school had better experiences with their homestays , but luck plays a big part....I guess you hit the jackpot with that fabulous corner tutorial room Clare. So breezy!

During my stay I visited a couple from the school in their homestay and it was bright , and chatty and friendly and the room was nice and they said the food was delicious. So I do know that great homestays in Copan are not impossible and I would be happy to try it again.

hopefulist

I've studied at Ixbalanque twice, 2 weeks each in 2005 and 2008. Last summer I had a group in tow, a bunch of middle-aged educators from my town plus half a dozen 20-30-somethings from other places, also educators, 16 in all. One student switched families at my insistence and 2 others, placed together, should have but didn't complain until the 2 weeks were nearly over. The rest of us were pleased to thrilled with our experiences. Both visits I loved my hosts, great interaction, typical but not boring food (though I'm a rice and beans and tortilla fanatic), decent digs. Last summer a hurricane swept near the week before we arrived and washed out the town's water pipes with mountain landslides. Those of us in homes without cisterns (most of us) were without running water for more than a week - quite an adventure!

Also, the group was split between morning and afternoon study times the 1st week, then we switched for the 2nd week. The 1st week it poured every afternoon so one group had wonderful sunny skies to explore under (ruins, hikes, bird park, etc.) and the other group was soaked to the bone 4 or 5 afternoons in a row.

Which leads me to a question for those of you who have studied; I'm kind of stuck. We have the option in Antigua to all study at the same time, morning or afternoon, or split (there are 15 in the group). In San Pedro La Laguna we have to split. Class in the morning means fresher minds for studying but a higher risk of rain when we're exploring. Class in the afternoon means sunny mornings to explore but the potential for less absorbant brains in the classroom. Everyone in the group seems wonderful but most don't know more than 2 or 3 of the others and a few haven't met anyone else. Studying at the same time in Antigua would mean a better opportunity to get to know each other. I polled the group and a few lean one way or the other but they all seem to be open to whatever I decide. SUGGESTIONS? Thanks in advance!!

ClarePenn

Hi hopefulist, If it was just me I'd study in the morning and then if I had 1 or 2 days of complete afternoon rain-outs without a good expectation of relief, I'd ask the school to switch me. From my time in Antigua it seemed the schools did whatever they could to be accommodating and were pretty much empty in the afternoon. But then perhaps it's full in the summer, and you would be looking to switch so many, that could make a difference. Maybe worth a word with the school anyway. Good Luck!

hopefulist

Thanks! No question in my mind we'd learn more Spanish studying in the morning. In addition to having fresher brains, I've found it difficult to go from pm classes to dinner to studying, whereas when I have school in the morning and explore in the afternoon the break makes it easier to hit the books in the evening. It might not rain much, anyway, till late afternoon - who knows? Thanks for the input - happy trails!

rivet

I completely agree. Attend morning lessons and enjoy the afternoon excursion, even if you have some showers.

Femi

I like the format that allows you to choose whether or not you would like to see larger images.

ClarePenn

Thanks for that Femi, I'm really trying to finesse this thing so it works most easily and to the best effect.

mammagoose

I thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of your trip report! From the amazing, artistic photos to the humorous and informative narrations to the clean, easy-to-read font of the text - first rate stuff! I bet you'd make a wonderful travel buddy.

I read your report because I am considering taking a large chunk of next summer and moving mi familia down for immersion Spanish lessons (in addition to all the wonderful cultural experiences to be had.) My biggest concerns include safety, health (I love local cuisine but not local repurcussions!), cost and length of time needed for some decent Spanish acquisition.

One very preliminary thought was to spend two weeks in Antigua in school getting a handle on the language and hopefully hooking up with one of several missions groups based in and around Antigua. Then another two weeks in Belize getting in some scuba diving and more Spanish practice.

I have four kids: 3 girls and a boy, 18, 15, 12 and 10 and a husband but am not sure if he will be able to come with us.

Could you comment on the four concerns and anything else you think might be helpful? I'd be grateful!

volcanogirl

Wow, this was a beautiful report. I loved all the photos and the amazing colors.

ClarePenn

Hi mammagoose - your four concerns: safety, health, cost, language acquisition.

Safety: I am 'in my sixties' and frequently travel solo. In the last few years I have been on my own studying Spanish (I should have put that studying in quotes since I am a terribly casual (read lazy) student!) in Antigua, San Pedro, and Flores, Guatemala, Copan in Honduras, and in Guanajuato and Patzcuaro in Mexico for 7-14 days each and never experienced one minute of safety concerns. BUT! I do Not Ever wander aimlessly around after dark.

Health: I (knock on wood) have never been really sick either. I'm religious about drinking bottled water and even use it for teeth brushing but otherwise I pretty much eat what's there (avoiding places with flies of course...).

Cost: What a deal. It's amazing how well I've lived doing home stays for a week and then a few days in hostels and the occasional hotel. It's easy to check prices on the internet so you can get your own feel for what's within your budget.

Language acquisition: I keep doing these classes because the whole process is so much fun. I go to a new place and automatically have a connection to life there, I meet interesting people and along the way I have picked up some Spanish. My Spanish was better when I got out of high school all those years ago but I'm having way more fun now! You probably want your kids to learn Spanish and they will do well in an immersion environment if you can work it out so they are really immersed and not hanging out with English speakers all the time.

Note: I'm sure you realize that Belize is not primarily a Spanish speaking country.

Enjoy!