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In field! Follow the Guatemala adventure on the Yak Yak Board.

The last written record from pre-colonial Maya civilization is dated at 911 AD, but if you think that the Maya are an ancient people from a culture that has long since disappeared, you've never been to Guatemala. For students interested in mastering Spanish language while engaging in authentic and deep cultural immersion, our Mundo Maya course is a perfect meld of intensive language, service and hands-on experiential learning.

The Cuchumatanes Mountains in the western highlands will be our first glimpse of the living Mayan culture. We begin our course in Nebaj, with an orientation, introduction to language study, and our first home-stay. We then adventure through cloud forests to remote villages that are accessible only by foot. At the terminus of our four-day trek is Todos Santos, a traditional Mam village that is renowned for its success in maintaining its authentic indigenous culture. This mystical mountain town, hidden in the clouds, will challenge all of our definitions of "traditional" and "modern" as we visit shamans and healers, learn traditional cooking, volunteer in local schools, and receive instruction in weaving and marimba. In the afternoons we have one-on-one Spanish lessons with local instructors.

From Todos Santos we travel to Quetzaltenango, or "Xela" as it is often called, where we enjoy additional home-stays and language study, and where we further explore issues in human rights and development. We also volunteer at local cooperative coffee and macadamia farm, and we climb the towering Volcan Tajumulco - at 13,845 feet, the highest peak in all of Central America.  On the beautiful Lago de Atitlan, we work with a la Cambalacha, an arts center for local youth.

Moving north from the highlands, we’ll explore the Peten rainforest of northern Guatemala, staying with a traditional forest community and harvesting chewing gum and all-spice while we visit majestic Tikal – the most famous ruins of the ancient Mayan Civilization. Climbing pyramids built over 1,000 years ago, we learn about ancient systems of time, and watch monkeys cavorting in the trees. Near the city of Coban in central Guatemala, we bathe in the glorious aquamarine pools of Semuc Champey and venture through limestone caves by candlelight. We then hike through cloud forests and stay in small villages in the Biotopo del Quetzal, where members of our home-stay families guide us through the dense, green wilderness in search of the elusive and sacred resplendant quetzal, Guatemala’s national bird.

We conclude our adventure in the colonial capital of Antigua with its cobblestone streets and magnificent Spanish cathedrals. Here we visit Safe Passage, an inspiring NGO that provides education and vocational training to children from the Guatemala City Municipal Dump. Before departing for Guatemala City, we hike to an active volcano for one last look at the magical and complex country spread out below.

This course is ideal for students wishing to gain greater mastery of Spanish, participate in meaningful service learning and dive into studies of the arts, politics, history and social dynamics of Latin America and the Maya. Both our 6 and 4-week options have intensive language study, extended home-stays, service learning and independent study. The 6-week option includes additional trekking and exploration of more remote areas.