Antigua, Guatemala
After my trip to South America, I decided that I wanted to learn Spanish so I enrolled in a Spanish-language immersion program in Antigua, Guatemala. Antigua is a UNESCO World Heritage Center with a 475- year history. It has been destroyed twice by earthquakes. It sits 5,000 ft above sea level and is surrounded by THREE active volcanoes: Agua, Fuego and Acatenango.
Guatemala is known for having some of the best Spanish language schools in this part of the world. Since this isn’t a vacation, I am testing what digital nomading looks like for me. After all, in theory, with my computer and WI-FI, I can work from anywhere in the world.
I’m here for eight days. Each day at Don Pedro Spanish School, I do one-on-one Spanish lessons for four hours - two hours in the (outdoor) classroom conjugating verbs, etc. and two hours out in the town with mi profesora, practicing what I learned in class. They customize the schedule around my work. I do my Zoom calls from the school, because they have good internet.
The school arranged for me to live in a guesthouse for $250 for eight days. The family only speaks Spanish, so I’m fully immersed culturally as well. The window of my room faces a property with several dogs who seem to know exactly when I go to bed because they start howling for hours. I’ve also come to appreciate cold-water showers. (Told you this was no vacation.)
Normally, Don Pedro has a max of 30 students who come from all over the world to study there. This week, there were only three students - Covid has impacted them greatly. The other students are both professors, one from Emerson College in Boston and one from North Carolina State University.
What are the odds I’d meet someone else from North Carolina in Guatemala?!?
The experience has been excellent. The school takes the students on field trips. One day we went to a boutique fábrica de chocolate (chocolate factory) and a wine-making operation that uses other fruits instead of grapes. We rode l’autobus de pollo (the chicken bus) to get there. These are old school buses repurposed for public transportation. They are artfully decorated and are ubiquitous in Antigua.
I did have a scare one day, I had to do a webinar and the power went out - no internet. Luckily, after a few hours it came back on.
After classes on Friday, I took the afternoon to do some touristy stuff, then had dinner with a journalist colleague who drove up from Guatemala City to meet me.
On Saturday, after classes, I took a shuttle to Lake Atitlan, considered the most beautiful lake in the world. It is a caldera that was formed 84,000 years ago as a result of a volcanic eruption. They’ve discovered an entire Mayan town submerged in the lake - a mini Atlantis, they say. National Geographic has done stories about it.
I spent the weekend at Atitlan Sunset Lodge, made up of several lakeside apartments in Santa Cruz La Laguna, one of the 12 Mayan towns around the lake. Each town is named after one of the disciples, it was one of the ways the Spanish colonizers indoctrinate the indigenous people with Christianity. The building of grand churches was another -in Antigua, there are huge churches every few blocks, most were destroyed in the earthquakes. The views of the lake and volcanoes are incredible and I get to indulge in a bit of luxe - this shower has hot water…
The next day I return to Antigua for one more day of school plus salsa and bachata lessons at the cafe two doors from the school before I depart for San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. I’ll be doing a workshop for local and expat entrepreneurs there, plus some research on business investments. The Spanish lessons will come in handy.
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