NAME: Vicky
Whalley AGE: 21 PROJECT: Teaching
NATIONALITY: British
Everything is great in
Guatemala, I settled in straight away and am having a great time! My family
are really nice and welcoming and the food is great. There are 3 other
German people living in the house and we all get on really well. I was very
surprised at how friendly everyone is, especially the Guatematecos, it’s
really nice to feel welcomed and have a positive response towards you.
Antigua is beautiful although I must admit I feel there are one too many
tourists here. But it’s not a problem.
So I had Friday exploring
Antigua and then went to the Livingston at the weekend with some people I
met, had a great time, we took a bus which took 7 hours but I didn’t mind
because I got to see Guatemala through the window! It is such a beautiful
country, so green and lush and mountainous and unspoilt by modernity. I
started my placement yesterday, am really enjoying it. The kids are great
and so affectionate and willing to learn.
NAME: Nicola
McCausland AGE: 20 PROJECT: Teaching
NATIONALITY: British
Hi!
I have arrived ok and started my placement yesterday. It’s really
good and the kids are so lovely! I’ve made about 60 new friends
already! Antigua itself is beautiful too and has a lot of character!
I’ve met a lot of other people here already that are traveling or doing
different projects. My host family are lovely as well and are taking
excellent care of me...I don't think I’ve ever eaten so healthily! I am
finding my feet well now as it took a day or so to really get over all
the traveling.
Thanks for all your help with arranging this project
Nicola :)
NAME: Sheila
Morris AGE: 69 PROJECT: Teaching
NATIONALITY: British
What
experience do you feel you gained? An insight into a new culture and
the desperate poverty endemic in this country. But how wonderful the
poor people are who live with this poverty
What
was the best thing about your placement? It’s all been great, but
mostly the contact with the people and children
Would you recommend this placement to anyone else? Yes
What
type of person do you think this placement would suit? Anyone
adaptable and willing to accept that their home comforts are left
behind. You have to be cheerful and good at getting on with all members
of society
What is your opinion of Travellers? Very efficient and
understanding of the problems that may be encountered
How was/is the communication between the volunteers and the
organization?Excellent
NAME: Mari
Haughton AGE: 20 PROJECT: Teaching
NATIONALITY: British
I really love Antigua it
is such a lovely place and the people are great.
The teaching is an experience, but a very good one!
I am having lots of fun and have met so
many people here.
The trips at the weekends are lots of
fun as well!
I am really impressed with the way
things are here - so flexible and they go out of their way to help you if you
want to change something.
NAME: Steven
Baguley AGE: 18 PROJECT: Teaching
NATIONALITY: British
.
Hi, found a convenient
e-cafe, thought it best to drop you a line.
Guatemala seems fantastic, the town of
Antigua is wonderful, I can’t get enough -- the host family are nice, as are
the language students living simultaneously.
Perhaps the most
difficult, and daunting matter is helping teach at the school; while I
hardly know enough Spanish to sustain a conversation, and still waver
between asking to ease my position, maybe it’ll do me good to be plunged in
the deep end.
The APPE (Spanish) course is great, also,
and I’m shopping around for trips around Guatemala
NAME: Rebecca
Tilley AGE: 31 PROJECT: Teaching
NATIONALITY: Australian
During Rebecca's
trip to Guatemala she included us on her group emails - read about her
adventures below!
Hi guys, This
is probably going to be the last group email from me so here we go..... I am
still having an amazing time!!!!!! In fact, I intend to return to this
place. I
am not getting too stressed about my limited Spanish now I have chilled out
a lot more and figured I can only try. It has taught me how little I know
about our own language. It is fascinating because my friends are all from
Belgium and they speak 6 other languages and have picked this one up really
quickly but they are soooo used to the structure of languages it is a breeze
for them. Unlike poor old little me.... but I am enjoying the challenge and
would like to persist when I get back to London.
The school is sensational
- really full on but brilliant. The funny thing though is I was warned not
to expect the normal when working here, as often things wont happen as they
are meant to. So far it hasn't been too bad except for a couple of days when
classes weren't in and the break is meant to be at 10 to 10.30 but more
often it is when the principal feels like it - the bell may go at 10.30, or
11 or 10 it is often a surprise but the tricky thing is I am meant to teach
50 min lessons which finish at 12.10 but when the bell varies so do my
lessons! It is quite funny.
The other day
all the classes were in but there were no teachers to be seen as they had
all left their classes to have a staff meeting. They reappeared at 10.30 and
I couldn't believe the kids actually stayed in the classes. What a strange
time to have a staff meeting. You are not allowed to leave your classes ever
in London or Australia so it is quite strange seeing it happen often here. I
took my camera in today as it is my last week in the school. I thought the
kids would be really shy but no, I was mobbed as they all flocked to the
camera pushing each other out of the way, it was hilarious. I got some
photos printed today and the children are gorgeous. I'm taking proof shots
so you can see how big these classes really are. I wasn't joking when I said
there were 40 to 50 students in each class.
The
family I have been staying with are lovely too. I have been living with a
grandmother, grandfather, daughter, son and grandchild. There is a dog
chained up on the roof and a chook which has disappeared recently, I fear
may have been eaten. The grand daughter is really shy when she wants to be
and the grandfather in particular really dotes on her. She is very spoilt
and very noisy particularly in the mornings at 5.30am!!!!!!!! That I am NOT
going to miss! Freddy is a teacher at the school and is studying English at
the moment so he is a huge help, always teaching us and we are forced to
speak Spanish all the time over the meal times. The other thing I won't miss
is the dog on the roof, I love the dog but it often barks through the nights
or cries and because it is above my room you can hear it moving really
clearly all night. Other than the noises and slight lack of sleep the house
and family could not be better.
Last weekend
was sensational as I stayed in
Antigua this time to have an hour body massage, a brunch which was written
up in all the books as a "do not miss" and a visit to the local villages and
farms near here. The macadamia farm was fascinating and we got a free facial
and many samples using all their macadamia products. The boss was slightly
crazy but very very passionate about the environment. I am still discovering
new places in Antigua and it is my 5th wk here, it is truly an amazing
place. I love the art very much. In fact my new dream is to get all of you
here so I have all my friends and family here and buy one of the many
stunning properties with the court yards and fountains and turn it in to an
art school, gallery, coffee shop and internet place. With live music every
night of course.
I
am leaving my family for good on Sat morn as I am heading to Coban for 5
days. This is meant to be a stunning place with many hikes forests,
waterfalls lagoons etc and apparently well worth it. Then I am hoping to
return to the stunning Lago Atitlan to San Marcos where there are some
pyramids to stay in, yoga classes, meditation classes, massages, arty farty
stuff - basically just to totally relax oh, and I have to eat veggie
food too..... cool. If I don't go there I will go back to Monterrico which
was the stunning volcanic beach.
I cant believe it is all
ending soooo soon, where has the time gone? I will be back to the good old
job before I know it.
Hope you are all well
and I look forward to catching up soon. Love rebecca
LAST EMAIL
BEFORE COMING HOME: Hi guys, I promise this is my last email because I
have just had the most amazing week!!!!! Last friday I left for Coban with
Sylvie, it was a 5 hour drive but all was smooth and the scenery was
stunning of course. Coban is a fascinating non touristy place. You don't get
harassed here, the clothing is completely different, really beautiful. The
place has a strange layout, it is a lot dirtier and you have to go up and
down a lot of hills to get anywhere. But I absolutely loved it. The
accommodation was fine and the food oh my god I swear the pasta was better
than Italy! How I don't know. The other amazing thing was it looked like a
shanty town but from every street there were amazing views to the mountains
and national parks.
On the second
day there we took a tour to semuc champey which was the most beautiful
waterfalls and pools of swimming turquoise and green water. A huge fast
river crashes in to the top of the ponds and runs underneath in a tunnel.
After 3 hours or so we then headed to the Lankin caves which were absolutely
huge. It was lit but the path kind of came and went as it chose. In some
parts it was very muddy but the mud became quite sticky. After 40 minutes or
so I was pleased to get out of there.
After Coban
we headed, thanks to my bible the Lonely Planet, to the best place ever
which I seriously did not want to leave. It was a place called San Jose and
it was very rural surrounded by mountains and valleys and huge crops of
maize. We splurged and stayed in the most gorgeous cabin surrounded
completely by the stunning scenery. The man that owns it cooks you 3
vegetarian meals and all the produce is from the land. He has his own river
and can string up hammocks by it. You can swim and hike or as we did on the
fist day sip coffee and look at the stunning scenery for hours. Another
amazing location for my art school!!!!!!!!!!! The absolute highlight was
walking through the villages where they are obviously not used to travellers
you can tell because the kids are very shy but curious and everyone says hi
to you.
I returned to Antigua
for one night then got on another bus for 2 half hours back to the lake.
This time I stayed in a more expensive place and totally relaxed. I did
venture to the next village for their local market on Fridays. It was
totally amazing and soooo worth it!!!!! the colours were amazing not only
the females but the men too in their patterned trousers, patterned shirts
and patterned bags. The best thing was it was a local market filled with
Mayans and not tourists!!!!! I did stand out a bit but they did nothing but
stare or greet me.
I am now back in
Antigua - have put my last films in to develop and that is it, I am on the
plane tomorrow back to London. I cant wait to see my friends and the kids
(yes that's right the kids!!) but I will miss the colours, people, music,
food, volcanoes, art galleries, jungle, Mayan ruins, stunning beaches and
basically all that greenery oh, and listening to Spanish every day!!!!!
.
+44 01903 502595
