A common university spring break often includes going to the beach, camping, visiting family, road tripping somewhere new - the list goes on and on. An uncommon, but highly recommended spring break is living with a host family and attending Spanish School in Guatemala.
I spent a week on Lake Atitlán in Guatemala in the town of San Pedro la Laguna, taking 3 hours of Spanish classes a day at La Cooperative Spanish School. I would HIGHLY recommend this experience to anyone looking to learn or improve their Spanish. Guatemala is known for its clear, neutral Spanish accent, making it a wonderful place for beginners to practice their conversational skills. Additionally, La Cooperative Spanish School helps you coordinate your stay and arrival. I had a driver pick me up from the airport in Guatemala City and take me all the way to my lovely host family in San Pedro. I stayed with Anita’s family and felt so welcome taken care of throughout my stay.
I decided to dedicate a portion of my spring break to improving my Spanish. Since I was just a few months away from graduating with a major in Spanish, I wanted my skill level to match my degree. Throughout my week of Spanish classes, I worked one-on-one with my lovely teacher, Raquel. Since all of Cooperativas' Spanish classes are private, you get to work closely with your teacher to ensure you meet your Spanish goals. Mine were to improve my conversation skills and advance my vocabulary.
Each morning, Raquel had a lesson plan set up for us, which included grammar practice and conversations. When I told Raquel that I was also studying Environmental Studies and Education, she catered many of our lessons around these topics. I was initially nervous about being in one one-on-one class for three hours, but each day my time with Raquel flew by. Raquel always kept our lessons interesting and dynamic; she taught me about Guatemala’s history and culture all while improving my Spanish.
After my lessons were over, I would go back to my host family where they had a delicious lunch waiting for me. My host mom, Anita, was always more than happy to show me her favorite recipes such as tortillas and tamales. One special day, my host brother needed to go buy some ingredients for our lunch, so I was invited to hop on the back of his motorcycle and accompany him on these errands. I will never again have a grocery run be as exciting as it was on this day.
If I wasn’t spending the afternoon being shown around by my host family or giving Raquel’s daughter swim lessons. I would explore towns around Lake Atitlan with other students from the Spanish School.
Even though I was only there for a week, La Cooperativa did an excellent job of building community between the students, teachers, and host families. They hosted multiple activities a week where everyone was invited. The week I was there, we had a cooking class where we learned to make dobladas, a coffee tour was offered, and there was a fútbol tournament between the students and the teachers. To no one’s surprise, we were quickly demolished by the teachers. At the end of the week, there was a small graduation ceremony for all of the students who completed their coursework. Although I was only there a week, it was hard to say goodbye to Raquel, my classmates, and my loving host family.
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