Spanish, Service & Mayan Culture 
Guatemala is the beating heart of the Maya – a 4,000 year old civilization rich with history, art, and culture. Holidays and ceremonies are filled with ancient pageantry and traditions, and the weekly markets are ablaze with vivid colors of handmade clothing and tapestry. Amid breathtaking mountain scenery, learn first hand about how Mayan grassroots leaders are working to address issues of cultural preservation.
This high school summer language program integrates Spanish into all aspects of the program – community service, excursions, and cultural events. It is a unique immersion curriculum designed exclusively by GLA. Our experienced teachers use classroom time to prepare students to speak Spanish in everyday situations in Guatemala. It is an experience you cannot get sitting in a Spanish class back home in school. Our approach to teen study abroad is to make the world your classroom – studying abroad has never been so much fun!
Community Service
You will spend the week volunteering abroad at a local school refurbishing it and working with the children. The school is unique in that it is run by Mayan teachers and actively promotes indigenous language and culture. The community service project will be to fix up the school by painting or building as well as organizing games with the children. In addition, you can share your talents doing arts and crafts, playing sports and games, and teaching basic conversational English. This is more than just a teen community service trip, it’s an opportunity to connect with a whole new culture. You will receive a certificate for 50 hours of community service.
Hands-On Learning
Learning Spanish is best when you’ll be able to practice it with native speakers in everyday conversation. We use a unique immersion curriculum that combines classroom time with using spoken Spanish in the community – during community service, cultural activities or excursions. No prior knowledge of Spanish is required; you’ll be placed according to your ability. You will receive about 40 hours of Spanish instruction over the three weeks.
We will also learn about the local culture through hands-on workshops with musicians, artists, weavers and even meet a traditional shaman who will teach us about Mayan cosmology.
Adventure
Through the three weeks, we’ll embark on a range of adventures and visit many small towns and villages along the way. Over the weekends we’ll visit Lake Atitlan, the Mayan market town of Chichicastenango, archaeological ruins at Takalik Abaj, organic coffee farms, and the sacred Laguna Chicabal, located at the top of a dormant volcano. During the weekdays, we’ll meet with traditional music group, visit a Mayan artist’s studio, try our hand at weaving colorful textiles and meet inspirational grassroots leaders. At the end of the program, we’ll spend a day in the charming colonial town of Antigua.
Lodging
The GLA Home Base is a lodge on the outskirts of Xela offering students a peaceful escape as they are surrounded by beautiful countryside and majestic mountains. Students and staff live in gender segregated rooms in our house with 2-3 bunk beds per room depending on the size of the room. The Home Base is modest yet very comfortable for students. Students will not have internet access at the home base but will be able to use an internet café once a week.
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