I am finally at Language School in Antigua, Guatemala. This past Tuesday I packed up my things in the Dominican and took off to language school for one month of intense study of the Spanish language. I met up with Audrey in Miami and we flew into Guatemala City around 8:00 PM. Both of us were a little nervous because we weren’t sure what to expect or how this month would be, but so far everything has been wonderful!
The people who work at La Union have been so helpful and they are all so nice! When we got here, there was a sweet man named Ruben and a girl named Elisabet who picked us up at the airport. They had cute hand-made Guatemalan dolls for us with our names on them. They took us back to the guest house where we are staying and helped us get settled in. The people at La Union had decorated our room with balloons and more dolls. It was so sweet and really made us feel welcome.
The next morning Estelita, our cook and housekeeper, welcomed us with breakfast and coffee. She cooks three meals for us every day and makes sure our house is nice and clean. She’s a great cook and a great person to practice our Spanish with. She is so sweet and such a hard worker. She leaves her house every morning at 5:30 AM to walk to our house to work all day. It’s about an hour walk! We already love her, and I’m excited to get to know her better. After breakfast, she walked us to school for our first day of class.
I have class every morning from 8:00 to 1:00. My teacher, Gloria, is super sweet and such a great teacher! She is so patient and really helps me with things that I am struggling with. The instruction is one-on-one so I’ve already learned so much and I’ve only had three days of class! The first day seemed kind of long, but since then it’s gotten much better. Gloria is an excellent teacher, and I’m really glad that I have her. Hopefully at the end of the month I’ll be a fluent little Spanish speaker.
After class on the first day, the school gave us a little walking tour of Antigua. Ruben, the guy who picked us up from the airport, took us on our tour, and it was so helpful! He showed us a bunch of cool places and a bunch of really useful places, too. Now we feel much more comfortable about being here and getting around.
The school offers lots of fun activities every afternoon and on the weekends. Audrey and I are going to try to take advantage of as many of those opportunities as possible. Today we went to a jade factory and got to see how they make the jade rocks into jewelry. It was really fun, and our guide, Eduardo, was precious. He was so passionate about his work. This weekend we are going on a trip with the school to Panajachel and Chichicastenango. At these places there is a beautiful lake we get to take a boat ride on and a textile market! The textiles market is huge in this country. There are so many beautiful fabrics and bright colors. We’re excited to see what kinds of neat treasures we can find.
The motto for La Union is “Mi Casa Es Tu Casa” and they really do live up to their motto. They have made us feel so welcome and we already feel like we are a part of the La Union family. I was really apprehensive about coming to Guatemala after being in the Dominican Republic for three months already. I really do miss all of the people there and the team, but I am so excited to go back with this experience and hopefully with a better grasp on Spanish. Please keep me and Audrey in your prayers as we are away from the team and trying to learn Spanish. I’ll do my best to keep everyone posted on our exciting adventure!
Check out my Facebook album for some pictures from our trip so far!
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