Written by Central America Students, Lily & Anantya
We continued our second week in San Juan, a small town on Lake Atitlán. We continued our Spanish classes at Eco Spanish school, and also enjoyed several new events and cultural activities. We ended the month of October with a very personal archaeology tour. On the tour, we were able to meet a very honorable woman from the community. She graciously welcomed us and shared with us precious artifacts.
When the event came to an end, we went on a hike and were able to view an ancient stone head and learn of Guatamalan, and specifically Mayan, culture. That night for our own personal celebration of October 31st, our group got together and huddled up with snacks to watch a scary movie. On November 1st, in Eco school after classes finished, we celebrated Día de Todos Los Santos by way of handcrafting personal kites, joining around an alter and having a small feast around it, with traditional foods on our plates.
Once we finished, we headed over to the open land on the shore of the Lake to fly our kites. After we joined in to celebrate Dia de Todos Los Santos with our host families. With our respective families we were able to experience the event to its fullest, joining in attending the cemeteries and commemorating the loved ones who have passed. We watched as graves were adorned with flowers, candles, pine needles and more.
Students also partook in local activities such as the nightly basketball games in the neighborhood court, a trip to the beach on the lake, and trying the local food. We were also able to attend a coffee tour based within Eco School. We learned and gained hands-on insight to the differences in coffee processing as well as learned about the extensive history of the plant/drink. November 3rd, we held our surprise party for Matilda’s Birthday. Our planning had paid off, Matilda was indeed surprised and we spent the evening laughing and enjoying ourselves. Another highlight was our graduation from the Eco Spanish School, where our host families provided us with traditional dress and a dish to share with everyone. We all ate a lunch together with our families. Then we set off for our first day of student directed travel in El Paradon!
Our Top Highlights of the Week:
🩻 Dia de Todos Los Santos: local holiday we celebrated with our families to honor the dead. Also lots of street food and celebrations out this night.
🎂 Matilda’s Birthday: After much planning, November 3rd finally came. Our mandatory “group meeting” was her suprise birthday party. There was a cake commission by our OE’s host family and Matilda successfully blew out the candles! The quality time we all shared was so heartwarming.
🎓 Group graduation lunch: dressed in traditional outfits and attended a lunch with our families where each made a traditional dish.
🏝️ Seeing the beach in El Paredon for the first time at sunset and running in to the water together. The sunset was so pretty and the waves were amazing, it was the perfect way to end a day after traveling in a small van!
Growth comes with challenge, what’s something you’ve been challenged by this week?
One challenge we had was many of us had a stomach bug, which effected us at different times. We never had everyone together because one of us was always sick. It was hard to meet as a group, and the people sick were having a hard time dealing with not feeling well. Also, our van ride to El Paredon was very hot and cramped, and being in the van for that long challenged us.
What’s been surprising about your semester thus far?
What surprised us was that Dia de Los Muertos on November 2nd was not really celebrated. We found out it’s not as big as it is in Mexico in Guatemala, especially not in San Juan. However, the beautiful holiday of Dia de Todos Los Santos was very special and exciting to celebrate.
We also have noticed some of us getting more homesick as we reach our second month of the program, and we have really appreciated the little novelties of home. Many of us have lists of things we took for granted in America, and are feeling the challenge of missing home and the safe space it provides for us. However, this has made us grown stronger as a group, and we all rely on each-other like a family. Our little group has grown to be a close family, and each person contributes something special.
