Participation Fee includes the following
1. Placement in authentic homestay
2. Placement in 1-on-1 Spanish lesson
3. Volunteering opportunity
4. Various hands-on afternoon cultural activities
5. Free cell phone rental to stay close with your family & friends back home
6. Free fast internet access
7. 24/7 student assistance
8. Afternoon Spanish review session upon request
9. Fresh herbal tea and organic coffee with home-made whole wheat bread during break
10. Authentic Mayan fiesta upon availability
11. Safe luggage storage
12. Free DVD rental from the school's library
13. Quick translation service
14. Xela orientation tour
15. Travel arrangement support
16. Fax service
17. Weekend excursions with nominal fee
1. PLACEMENT IN AUTHENTIC HOMESTAY
Your host families are the primary and integral part of the immersion experience. They will open their homes, their hearts and their lives to you. You will see how children are raised, marriages are celebrated and slangs are used in daily life of middle class Guatemalans. Your room will not be extravagant but will be clean and comfortable with sufficient privacy. When you are at their dining table, you will enjoy the authentic Guatemalan food which will be a learning experience in itself. And of course, your host can fix you a wonderful vegetarian meal as well. A life-long friendship will be built as you would sit after dinner and talk for hours or go out to a Sunday mass, shopping and fiesta with kids/adults your age. If you have a special diet and/or medical need, please feel free to let us know. Your host family will accommodate your needs as much as possible. It's completely OK and we encourage you to communicate your preference on foods, time to be woken up, etc. There is no need for you to eat something you do not like. Just leave it aside and your host will understand. But if you can let them know what you like and do not like to eat beforehand, your host will appreciate that greatly. If you would like to change your host family for any reason, please feel free to let us know at anytime. We will have a new arrangement ready for you right away.
2. PLACEMENT IN 1-ON-1 SPANISH LESSON
Your personal Spanish / indigenous language instructors are talented men and women who possess a deep knowledge of the languages and Guatemalan culture in which they live. Our instructors have a unique understanding of foreign students and how they learn best. They teach not with prepackaged curricula, but with passion, creativity and responsiveness to student interests and needs. All of our instructors are certified with diplomas in the teaching of Spanish as a second language. In addition to theoretical training on methodologies of immersion instruction, the instructors have practical experience in teaching for between 3 and 12 years. They have worked with students of a variety of learning styles and levels of previous experience (total beginners to advanced students). The lesson can be customized to accommodate each student's need in oral and written proficiency, special interests / needs of the student (according to his/her major, learning disability, etc). Let us know what interests you. Mayan cosmo-vision, natural medicine and nutrition, history, anthropology, law... Whatever it may be, we will work to pair you with an instructor who has similar interests. Our normal class schedule is 8am-1pm or 2pm-7pm, Mon-Fri. Each session lasts 5 days. You may start your class on any Monday of the year. If you prefer to start on another day or time, special scheduling can be arranged upon your request. Starting from no knowledge of Spanish, majority of our students reach advanced level of proficiency in 10-12 weeks of study. We encourage you to offer suggestions in terms of what materials you would like to use, grammatical topics you wish to cover, or what percentage of each class you would like to devote to conversation versus drills and exercises etc. If you have special learning needs, or a learning disability please inform us or your instructor so appropriate accommodations can be made.
3. VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITY
It will be a truly humbling experience to witness the poverty and hardship of the students, teachers and families in Chiquilaja. The grassroots effort to support the school is led by our volunteer coordinator, Leticia Sacalxot. The school structure and curriculum are continually evolving, thanks to the support we receive from program participants. The Chiquilajá school and the girls' orphanage are in need of your help. School supplies that are so carelessly used (and wasted) in your home country will be great gifts for them. They are enduring familial and community poverty and face a general lack of parental support to attend the school. More than anything else, your generosity helps these children realize that someone cares. Bring Them School Supplies! Dry erase markers, erasers, pencils, notebooks, crayons, recess equipments, rulers, scissors, Spanish teaching materials, children's shoes and clothings, toys, pens, stickers, snacks, construction papers, glues, etc. ANYTHING THAT WILL BE USEFUL FOR THE KIDS ARE WELCOME! We also have more volunteering opportunities that might interest you. Depending on your interests and scheduling, you could join us in reforestation in nearby mountains (summer is in rainy season, so it's a perfect time for reforestation,), tutor local students in math and English, make educational yet entertaining media contents for local radio or TV broadcasting, help making nutritional breads, etc. If you happen to be looking for a specific type of volunteer work, please let us know your needs in detail and we will be more than happy to find one.
4. VARIOUS HANDS-ON AFTERNOON CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
We offer ourstudents a wide variety of hands-on cultural activities that provide them with the opportunity to learn about Guatemalan culture and society, visit areas outside of Quetzaltenango, practice their language skills, and get to know other students, teachers, and local people. We have various activities such as Guatemalan cooking class, dance lesson, seminar on social issues in Guatemala (human rights, post-civil war reconstruction, etc), bread making, charity soccer games and English class, visits to nearby weaving and glass-blowing cooperatives, hikes to natural saunas and hotsprings, etc.
5. FREE CELLPHONE RENTAL TO STAY CLOSE WITH YOUR FAMILY & FRIENDS BACK HOME
When you are in a foreign country, nothing is more comforting than listening to voices of your family and friends from back home. You will get: a) A cell phone optimized for the Guatemalan communication network. b) Unlimited incoming calls. Have your friends call you and you pay nothing. c) Home delivery service. When you arrive in Xela, your cell phone will be waiting for you at your host family. d) No unwanted charges. If you want to make more calls, you just buy phone cards. No surprises in the end. It's that simple.
6. FREE FAST INTERNET ACCESS
There are many internet cafés in Xela but not all of them are equal. For instance, will you wait 5 minutes to read just one email? How about waiting for 40 minutes to send a couple of pictures you took in Xela? With our internet serivce, that is not a problem. You will get: a) Smooth internet connection by the national ISP Telgua. b) Quiet ambient to concentrate on your task. No kids will be screaming around playing online games as in case of some internet services in town. c) Laptop ready. Very few internet cafes in Xela allow customers to bring in laptops.
7. 24/7 STUDENT ASSISTANCE
You can rely on our staffs to provide you with assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. This personal concierge-like service provides you with personal and emergency assistance services for such things as finding tickets, finding lost luggage, and just about anything you need in-between 411 and 911.
8. AFTERNOON SPANISH REVIEW SESSION UPON REQUEST
Imagine this. Your class in the morning went fine, but now you have a question about the homework. What do you do then? Or maybe you want a conversation partner to keep on improving oral communication skill in Spanish. We offer the afternoon tutoring session to reinforce the regular curriculum and create more exposure to the target language for accelerated learners.
9. FRESH HERBAL TEA AND ORGANIC COFFEE WITH HOME-MADE WHOLE WHEAT BREAD DURING BREAK
Although Guatemalan foods are excellent in their flavor, the excess of good things can work against you. In those cases, our delicious herbal tea of the day will be a great company for your digestive system to bring back your appetite. "Romero, manzanilla, hierbabuena..." the Guatemalan nature gives you the relaxation away from your study with distinct tastes and healthy after effects.
10. AUTHENTIC MAYAN FIESTA UPON AVAILABILITY
In Quetzaltenango, we always have various celebrations such as engagement, godfathership, marriage, "a post-hangover" party, Mayan new year party, etc. Dress up yourself in tradicional dresses and dance with the rhythm of marimba.
11. SAFE LUGGAGE STORAGE
If you are thinking about taking a break from your study for a couple of weeks to travel around Guatemala and/or Centrarl America, we can take good care of your luggages in Quetzaltenango. Leave the heavy stuff with us so that you can travel lightly to all your destinations!
12. FREE DVD RENTAL FROM THE SCHOOL'S LIBRARY
We have various DVDs of cultural, educational and entertaining program to rent out. You can watch our documentaries in Spanish to learn more about contemporary Guatemalan culture or you can just rent a film to hang out with all your host family. (Popcorns and drinks are not included.)
13. QUICK TRANSLATION SERVICE
In our immersion program, you can feel your rapid progress in aquiring Spanish. But especially in the beginning, you might have a need to communicate clearly your preferences to your instructor, host family, doctor, etc. Our bilingual staffs will be able to help you make the transition as smooth as possible.
14. XELA ORIENTATION TOUR
Quetzaltenango, aka: Xela is the second largest city in Guatemala with a cozy, small-town atmosphere. To give you the best of Xela, we will guide you though local landmarks, hangout places, markets, banks, cafe, post office, universities, cemetery, soccer stadium, etc.
15. TRAVEL ARRANGEMENT SUPPORT
We work with various travel agencies in Quetzaltenango to provide you with wide range of travel options. We can help you access latest travel information that may not be found in the guidebooks to make your trips as safe and pleasant as possible.
16. FAX SERVICE
We rely on email to communicate in most of cases, but sometimes, fax can come handy. Suppose you are a student covered by your parents' health insurance plan and it is just about to expire during your stay in Guatemala. Since your insurance companry requires you to be enrolled as a full-time student in an educational institution to continue the insurance coverage, you need to send the information ASAP. This is why we have the fax service for you.
17. WEEKEND EXCURSIONS WITH NOMINAL FEE
We have various trips you shouldn't miss out.
a) Panajachel at the shore of lake Atitlan: We will be crossing the one of the most scenic lakes in the world to visit 2 indigenous villages. We will stop by a hotspring and natural reserves. b) Takalik abaj: We will visit the spectacular Mayan ruin and we will have fun at nearby pool too! c) Irtra Xocomil: A wonderful break at the Guatemala's largest aquatic amusement park! These are just a few examples and if you have a specific destination of your interest, please let us know.
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