Availability:
2nd Session Open, 2 spaces available for Summer '10!

At dawn a howler monkey cries from the thick branch of a giant Ceiba tree shrouded by the shadow of an ancient limestone temple towering well above the dense forest canopy. In the Cuchumatanes Mountains a young woman rises to begin grinding corn on a stone petate symbolically recreating the flesh of her people. Along Avenida Reforma thick smog oppresses cool mountain air floating through an intersection where street-children juggle oranges for change as businessmen make their way to an air-conditioned glass office building. Guatemala is a country of overt contrasts; sunken and steamy jungles rise to meet towering volcanic peaks while traditional traje walks alongside Armani suites.

Known throughout the world for its vibrant Maya indigenous culture, breathtaking volcano-studded landscapes and soft hospitality, today’s Guatemala is a deeply layered country with a violent and complicated past. Its people are a beleaguered group, struggling to accommodate the powerful surge of modernity while maintaining important understandings of unique cultural identity. After 36 years of intense violence Guatemala arrived at the signing of the peace accords in 1996, only to realize that the work had just begun. Today the country is slowly on its way to making institutional changes aimed at alleviating its embarrassing human rights record, sharp economic inequalities and deeply embedded racism, but the path ahead remains long and arduous. And yet, bathed in copal smoke, seated atop a great mountain and listening to prayers in K’iche’ language that thank the earth water and air, one cannot help but think that these are a resilient and proud people who have endured, and whose understandings of the cyclical nature of time will lead them to a new dawn.

Our Mundo Maya four week program will explore this dynamic narrative through meaningful homestay and language study in remote and seldom traveled communities. From la Aurora airport in Guatemala City we will make our first of many windy journeys through this volcanic to the Earth Lodge, perched high atop a mountain ridge looking down on Antigua, a world heritage site and possibly the most beautiful colonial city in the Americas. Here we will play soccer with local kids, hike through coffee and avocado plantations and form the community that will carry us through our adventure. From the outskirts of Antigua we ride the infamous Chicken Bus – a colorful and chrome ridden version of a 1990s Blue Byrd school bus past the sacred and serene Lake Atitlan, arriving in the traditional farming community of Pachaj, a Quiche’ community tucked into the pine covered mountains outside of Guatemala’s second largest city, Quetzaltenango. In Pachaj we are warmly greeted by indigenous families who welcome us into their homes for a week of one-on-one intensive language study. In the mornings we work with the Chico Mendes Project to reforest these sacred mountains and maintain critical water supplies. We will also liaise with the local youth association to ameliorate the local recycling program. In Quetzaltenango (locally known as Xela) we will visit NGO leaders and delve into critical development issues facing Guatemala today.

From Pachaj we wind our way up into the protective folds of the Cuchumatanes Mountains where hidden hamlets continue to practice a way of life mostly uninterrupted since pre-colonial times. In the colorful community of Nebaj we listen to first-hand accounts of Guatemala’s armed conflict, a tragic 36 year war that left hundreds of thousands of peasants dead and disappeared. Retreating to the verdant cloud forest mountains around Coban we will take the trails to track down the illusive quetzal. Continuing down in elevation we explore the mysterious Rio de la Passion, taking a boat trip to the towering forests and ancient pyramids of Ceibal.

In the small community of San Jose, along the indigo waters of Lake Peten Itza we move into our second extended home-stay and language study. Our final push to the edge of the map will lead us deep into the Peten rainforest to Uaxactun a forest community existing off of the sustainable harvest of timber and non timber resources. After hearing the longstanding struggle to manage resources and maintain autonomy, we spend a day in the glorious ancient city of Tikal where howler monkeys, scarlet macaws, and coatis abound. Our program wraps up at Finca Ixobel, a quiet ranch where hammocks sway in the shade and powerful stories of deep adventure are transferred to our lives “back home.”

For students looking to work on their Spanish while engaging with indigenous communities in homestays and service learning projects our Mundo Maya four week program is a great fit. We hope to see you this summer in The Land of Eternal Spring.