It was a very eventful week for Carpe Diem Quetzal. After a beautiful drive through the Guatemalan countryside, the group arrived at scenic Escuela de la Montaña, excited and eager to improve our broken español. Candice, the owner and operator of the school was extremely kind, hospitable, and made us feel right at home. Shortly after a quick orientation of the school, we dove right into our cultural immersion and ate lunch with seperate homestay families. Though awkward at first, we all assimilated into a vastly different lifestyle and grew to embrace the time we spent with these impoverished but very happy people. After a steady diet of beans and tortillas, we began one on one Spanish lessons with our interesting and patient teachers. The group settled into a daily routine of classes, tasty meals with our families, downtime relaxing in the hammocks on the porch of the school, and eye-opening presentations about current political events and the history of Guatemala.
One such presentation was delivered by Señor Don Pedro, a victim of excrutiating torture during the Guatemalan civil war. After being falsely accused of being a communist, Don Pedro was apprehended by the Guatemalan military and endured unimaginably terrible torture for fourteen days, but remained resolute to his cause and refused to name members of the rebellion. His amazing story is a testament to the strength and loyalty of the Guatemalan people, despite a multitude of problems.
Other phenomenal activities at La Escuela de la Montaña included, hiking a mountain to Lago de Chikabal, a sacred Mayan lake inside the crater of a volcano, playing games with local children, and planting banana trees on the school grounds.
Next, we are off to Xela again for another week of Spanish classes at Casa Xelaju and will be living with local families.
