26 January 2016
Greetings from Guatemala!
We are finally here! We landed safely in Guatemala at about 3:00 in the afternoon on Thursday the 14th. Both flights went well and we have all been enjoying our first few days in Guatemala City. We spent the first two nights at the CASAS-Semilla guesthouse, where we participated in activities that taught us more about the culture we had just arrived in. For example, on Saturday morning we went to the downtown of Guatemala City, where the central palace is, as well as the central plaza and a Catholic Church. From the plaza, we split up into groups to complete a scavenger hunt of the downtown area. The different groups explored all of the downtown area, from the Central Market, the post office, the movie theater, to the Catholic Church.
After seeing downtown, our group readied ourselves to meet our host families that same evening. We have all been with our individual host families since Saturday night, and we are enjoying getting to know them and seeing more of Guatemalan life through their eyes. We are grateful to all of the families for opening up their homes to us.
Our group has also been enjoying our Spanish studies. Every morning at CASAS (Central America Study and Service), the school, we study Spanish from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Then, in the afternoon we participate in an activity to learn more about Guatemala and its culture. For example, on Tuesday we went to the Guatemalan National Cemetery. The cemetery was huge and it showed all of the different groups of people that have been a part of Guatemala’s history. It was definitely a sight to see!
Overall, our group has been having a great first week in Guatemala City and we are looking forward to many more weeks of new and exciting adventures!
Sincerely,
The Guatemala/Cuba Cross-Cultural Group