Why Guatemala?

I figure I should post more about what this trip is and why I'm going.  I have been living around/working in the city of Lawrence, MA for a little over a year, and I've become quite attached to it.  There is a lot of really great stuff going on here that I want to get more involved with.  Lawrence has always been a city of immigrants, and according to the 2010 census, it is 73% Hispanic or Latino.  This number has likely increased since then.  I would really like to do some sort of social, political, or legal work in Lawrence, but unfortunately my four years of high school Spanish don't really cut it here.  The other city I would consider living and working in right now is Los Angeles, California, where the same thing is true (although the immigrant community in LA is mostly Mexican, rather than Dominican and Puerto Rican).  While attempting a triple major for most of college, I did not have time for any serious language study, and I sometimes regret this.  I did manage to squeeze in a semester of an ASL exco and a month of Winter Term Intensive German, because I love learning languages, but I really want to become fluent in something besides English!  (My list, in order, is Spanish, American Sign Language, Dutch, French, Italian...Watch out world!)

I tried to take a Spanish class at Northern Essex Community College.  I needed three more credits of anything towards my degree at Oberlin, and I figured it would be a great opportunity to improve my Spanish skills.  I tested out of all of their courses though.  The counselor explained to me that most students at NECC either speak no Spanish or are fluent, so they do not offer intermediate classes.  

I realize that, if I wanted to, I could find a school in Boston that offers great Spanish instruction at my level, but I am also a wanderer.  I'm not very good at staying put, and I was getting the itch to travel again.  Besides--there is truly no better way to learn a language than total immersion.

So Mexico?  Puerto Rico?  DR?  Why Guatemala??

There are a few very good reasons I chose Guatemala.  For one thing, it is cheaper than all of those other places.  Quetzaltenango, or Xela, is kind of the place to go to learn Spanish.  There are many different language institutes there, and they are cheaper (and possibly better) than those in other locations.  A few months of living and learning in Guatemala will cost much less than the years of Spanish education I would need to achieve an equivalent level of proficiency in the States. 

My Cousins: Tonya, Bill, Alec, and Mateo

I also have history with Xela.  

My cousins, Bill and Tonya, met and fell in love at a language institute in Xela.  I am pretty darn sure it is the same language institute I will be heading to.

Also, my midwife mama has connections to some Mayan midwives in a village not far from Xela.  In 2006, she and I brought them some medical supplies they needed for their center in Concepción Chiquirichapa.  We helped them to install a water purification system, and to set up Skype so they could connect with partners in the US.  We then filled our suitcases up with jewlry, bags, and other handmade crafts to bring back to the States and sell.  We used these to raise money for the women's health center.  

While we were in Guatemala for a few weeks, we decided to study at Casa Xelajú, and it was an incredible experience!  I learned more in two weeks there than I did in four years of high school.  This is the institute to which I will return.

I have put down a deposit for three weeks at Casa Xelajú.  I will be staying with a family in the city.  I will receive three meals and hours of private Spanish instruction every day.  I am hoping that after two or three weeks, my Spanish will be strong enough for a job, volunteer work, or some type of internship. I will probably volunteer for a week or two minimum at La Pedrera.  After that, I have no plan yet.  I am winging it.

I do not know how long I will be gone.  My only condition is that I'm not coming back until I'm fluent.  I want to be good enough at Spanish that I feel comfortable doing work in that language.  At some point, I will likely practice my skills by blogging bilingually.

One of the benefits of traveling alone is that I will not have someone to constantly speak English with.  I am cutting myself off from English TV (I know!  During True Blood season!), and avoiding volunteer positions and jobs where I can get away with speaking too much English.  I want TOTAL immersion!

This was a relatively last-minute decision, and I'm a little stressed/scared right now, but most of all I'm super excited!