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Location Date Asia 1483315200 Europe 1482105600 Africa 1481328000 South America 
1393632000 North America 1309820400 -
Location Date Colombia 1393632000 Peru 1352764800 Nicaragua 1309474800 Costa Rica 1308006000 Guatemala
1306018800 Panama 1298592000 Mexico 1268870400 Belize 1265155200 Chile 1172793600 Argentina 1170547200 Uruguay 1166400000 Bolivia 1158447600 Brazil 1148857200 Ecuador 1125702000 Venezuela 1110758400 El Salvador 1095634800 Honduras 1088982000 -
Location Date Antigua Guatemala 1306018800 Rio Dulce 1293148800 Monterrico 1086044400 Todos Santos Cuchumatan 1085785200 Huehuetenango 1085266800 Quetzaltenango
1085094000 Panajachel 1084662000 Antigua 1082329200 Poptun 1081638000 Flores 1081638000 Tikal 1081551600 -
Location Date Fri, 21 May 2004 1085176680 Tue, 18 May 2004 1084915320 Sun, 09 May 2004 1084138380 Sun, 02 May 2004 1083530640 Sat, 01 May 2004 1083447780 Fri, 30 April 2004 1083360660 Mon, 26 April 2004 1083014160 Fri, 23 April 2004
1082753640
After another spine tingling, bone jarring, law-of-physics defying, chicken bus ride, I arrived in Queztaltenango ... or more commonly known as Xela(pronounced Shay-la). I will refer to it as Xela since it's easier to type.
Xela is the second largest city in Guatemala and is relatively clean, surprisingly safe, and has all the modern conveniences of any large city including crowing roosters that compete with howling stray dogs at all hours of the night.
OK, that's not a convenience, it's a complaint, but otherwise it's a nice place. And like anywhere else, it isn't perfectly clean either. I took these directions to a restaurant word for word out of an english newspaper... turn right at the garbage pile by the no dumping sign on 16th street and head east for two blocks... you get the idea. Xela is located in the mountains of the western highlands and sits at an elevation of about 8000 feet which I think is equivalent to Aspen, Colorado. As a result, days are warm and dry and the nights are really cold.
Xela rivals Antigua for spanish language schools and that's why I'm here. To go back to school and advance my spanish skills from that of a 2 year old to hopefully a four year old level. The learning system here is an immersion process where you are thrown into the culture head on. A few hours ago, I moved in with a middle class Guatemalan family that speaks almost no english where I will stay while I attend school. I get my own room about half the size of your walk-in closet and they cook 3 meals a day for me.
Spanish lessons are one on one instruction, Mon-Fri for 5 hours a day. Excursions to volcanoes and the beach and some other things I don't even know about yet are included in the price, which is $140 US per week (that's $20 per day for you non-math majors). Tonight's activity is at the school ... some kind of international food and beer thing ... I wonder if they will have Genny Cream Ale to proudly represent the USA?
Ñ ñ ... I get these letters on the spanish keyboard but I haven't found any use for them except to show you they exist.
Xela is the second largest city in Guatemala and is relatively clean, surprisingly safe, and has all the modern conveniences of any large city including crowing roosters that compete with howling stray dogs at all hours of the night.
OK, that's not a convenience, it's a complaint, but otherwise it's a nice place. And like anywhere else, it isn't perfectly clean either. I took these directions to a restaurant word for word out of an english newspaper... turn right at the garbage pile by the no dumping sign on 16th street and head east for two blocks... you get the idea. Xela is located in the mountains of the western highlands and sits at an elevation of about 8000 feet which I think is equivalent to Aspen, Colorado. As a result, days are warm and dry and the nights are really cold.
Xela rivals Antigua for spanish language schools and that's why I'm here. To go back to school and advance my spanish skills from that of a 2 year old to hopefully a four year old level. The learning system here is an immersion process where you are thrown into the culture head on. A few hours ago, I moved in with a middle class Guatemalan family that speaks almost no english where I will stay while I attend school. I get my own room about half the size of your walk-in closet and they cook 3 meals a day for me.
Spanish lessons are one on one instruction, Mon-Fri for 5 hours a day. Excursions to volcanoes and the beach and some other things I don't even know about yet are included in the price, which is $140 US per week (that's $20 per day for you non-math majors). Tonight's activity is at the school ... some kind of international food and beer thing ... I wonder if they will have Genny Cream Ale to proudly represent the USA?
Ñ ñ ... I get these letters on the spanish keyboard but I haven't found any use for them except to show you they exist.
- comments
jean i just found your blog, and appreciate the info because i am scheduled to arrive there on august 5th, not sure what i am getting into, not as well traveled as u probably. never studied spanish... going there to learn.is free wifi common there?