Guatemala Bound

Heading to Guatemala City on New Year's Eve to study Spanish and live with a local family in Antigua for 2 weeks.  We leave Calgary, Alberta that evening and fly all night.  We will be picked up by someone from the school early on January 1, 1011 and start out the year there.

Not looking forward to the airports in the USA as we are flying through Los Angeles and have heard so many horror stories about the mandatory security scanner screenings and such.   We are looking forward to learning more first hand about Guatemala and exploring Antigua and enjoying a bit warmer weather.

Here's hoping it all goes well.

Manta, Ecuador perhaps.....

Well I spoke with a lovely woman from Manta, Ecuador through the couchsurfing site who was very inviting and a great ambassador for her city. She was very generous with her time and information. If we can possibly afford to make Manta our destination and still get Lisle into a Spanish school perhaps we will consider going there.

Pros are the weather and a sense of knowing someone there. I would so appreciate being warm for 3 months! Also having a personal contact who knows the area and can provide practical information is invaluable for newbies like us.

Cons are the added distance over Guatemala and the added cost. Guatemala is less expensive all around for flight, accommodation and Spanish lessons. However, we also know no one in Guatemala and going to the interior means lows in the 50's or less and highs up to 70. That weather is cold for me and I get enough of that here in Canada!

Best I can do is continue to save what dollars I can and keep on top of the flight costs. When we get more information about accommodation and Spanish lessons in Manta we will have to decide if we can swing it or not.

Guatemala for Spanish Language Learning

After much researching, it appears we may choose Guatemala to study Spanish this winter. I found San Pedro Spanish School at Lake Atitlan in central Guatemala. That lake is supposed to be one of the most beautiful in the world and we both like being around water.

My learning ability is way lower than my husband's but I can try to pick up a bit here and there. The weather won't be as warm as I prefer but if I take the proper clothing perhaps I can stay comfortable enough in 16 to 22 degree weather. That is not at all warm for me but no different than summer time here in Red Deer. The big attraction is the price is right. Plus we have the option of staying with a local family to gain a bit of cultural experience and apply what we are learning immediately in a Spanish speaking environment.

I am considering rolling up my memory foam topper and bringing it with as I am not sure I would be able to sleep without it. Sleep is an issue for me anyway without the added realities of strange beds that are likely to be far from posh. Ah well, an adventure awaits.

Now to try to find reasonably priced flights. Real deals come up to Cancun occasionally that we have considered but then we would have to bus it to get down to Guatemala City. Not sure we are ready to strike out quite that far without Spanish language skills. I have a little spreadsheet going where I am recording flight prices and currency exchange rates. Both fluctuate all the time and I am hoping I will be able to detect a pattern to know whether to book or not. Guatemala City is the closest center to where we want to go.

Wish me luck!

Shall We Learn Spanish?

We bought a Rosetta Stone computer program a year ago hoping to learn Spanish. We also have several Spanish language course CDs for driving. My husband has faithfully listened most week days with his hour drive to and from work. He has done quite well. He can pick out words now but it still all runs together for me. Unfortunately, I don't retain new information very well these days. Perhaps I could if I really was immersed for months on end. Maybe I could pick up some conversational Spanish out of desperation if it was the only way I could communicate.

I have been looking at Spanish language programs with the idea of studying Spanish during our first month south. Seems it might be a practical thing to do. Not that one can begin to become fluent in a few weeks but knowing more wouldn't hurt us that is for sure. There are schools in Mexico, Panama and Ecuador and I still don't know where we are going to head for sure. It is also hard to judge the quality of these schools based on the internet as of course every school advertises itself as the best.

So the research goes on......