Antigua

Antigua, Guatemala’s favourite city, is famous for its around 70 official language schools. As private tuition is much cheaper here compared to across the border to Mexico, Antigua is the prime destination (with Guatemala’s nearby Xela on second place) for language students looking to cut a favourable deal. While here I thought of taking the opportunity to enhance my Spanish skills and signed up for eight days/40 hours of 1:1 tuition with eleven nights in a homestay, three meals per day included (except Sundays). The whole shebang cost less than £150 and still I chose one of the more expensive schools in the city. This kept me busy for a couple of weeks and the lack of internet access in the family’s house didn’t quite bother me as I didn’t have much to write in the blog anyway.

I you are on a really tight budget, it is also possible to visit nearby villages inhabited by (considerably poorer) indigenous Maya people (for example any of the villages located around the lake Atitlan) where schools often offer the same deal for half of less. The drawback with these places is that the teachers speak Spanish as a second language only and they are often only able to teach the more basic levels of the grammar. But you get what you pay for. Many people who are looking to combine learning Spanish with smoking marijuana (of all things) head over to the village San Pedro on lake Atitlan, where there are drugs available on every street corner.

Antigua is a stunning colonial city, beautifully located at the foot of Volcan Agua.