Study and charm in Guatemala

Experience changes lives, direction

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by Adron Gardner----10/26/2006

Lauren Nicole Trantham, 23, is moving fast. Her tiny 105-pound frame looks as if it will fly off her Ducati Testastretta motorcycle at more than 15 miles-per-hour, yet she holds on and speeds away.

Motorcycles are popular in the United States but not exactly de rigeur. In Latin American, and in many other parts of the world, two-wheeled transport is a necessity, one reason is for cost, the other for practicality. While, motorcycles always held some interest for Trantham, she found while studying in Guatemala, it was the only smart way to get around the cramped streets and congested traffic in the city.

Seven years ago, then 17-years-old, Trantham had expressed an interest to study in another country. Eventually she settled on taking some time off of her high school studies in Alaska and going to study in Guatemala. What started as a month of learning culminated in a six month adventure.

Coming home, things were different for Trantham. “I was 17 when I went, and looking back, I’m surprised I made it out of there alive... I stayed for 6 months. I am thankful that i was thrust into a new culture and lifestyle, etc at that time. When I returned home to alaska, suddenly high school and things like going to the mall didn’t have the same appeal,” she said

After Guatemala, she was hooked and in the years since, she has gone on to study in Brazil, Spain and Venezuela. Trantham now has a firm grip on the Spanish language and can also speak Portuguese.

Trantham isn’t the only one.

A view of Parque Central in Xela, Guatemala, the country's second largest city. Photo by Adron Gardner

Student Adam Middleditch ventured to Guatemala for language study for summer of 2005. He stayed for one month then returned again in December for further study. Two weeks after his December arrival, he called his parents and said, “Mom, I’m not coming home.”

“Its a very easy country to travel in and live in,” said Middleditch. “Anything goes, so its crazy and interesting all the time.”

A country of many colors, Guatemala is the homeland of the indigenous Mayan people. Along with Spanish, there are 23 recognized languages, two of the more common native languages, Ma’am and Quiche, are taught at a few of the country’s many language schools. Though a very poor nation, Guatemala has a budding industry of Spanish language schools. There are dozens in Antigua Guatemala and nearly as many in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala’s second largest city and locally known as Xela. The costs for the most recognized school in the country, “Proyecto Lingustico,” is $150 per week, including room and board with a host family.

Every member of the faculty is college educated and some of the instructors are even former Guerillas from the decades old Civil War that tore Guatemala apart until the 1996 peace accords. Students study with one instructor for five hours a day and after each week, they rotate instructors to become accommodated with different accents and teaching styles. The school also takes students on travels around the Western Highlands of Guatemala to see and experience parts of the country not always easily accessible.

While many people fear going to Guatemala, some of the teachers feel it is an unfair portrayal of their

	Mildred, one of the Spanish instructors at Proyecto Lingusitico in Xela, Guatemala. Photo by Adron Gardner

country. Mildred, one of the instructors from Pryecto Lingustico voiced her concern,“You know our country is not perfect. There is crime and there are problems. But in the United States there is also crime. Things happen every day in this world, why are we in Guatemala any different?”

Highlighting the economic gap, though the instructors are in the better earning sect of the society, they are paid $35 a week. There is no middle class in Guatemala with pay scales like this. However the outward appearances, the country’s charm isn’t going unnoticed.

“I don’t know what it is,” said Spanish professor Jeff Longwell. In the final interviews for study abroad students are asked ask students ‘how was (the experience)? “All these students who go down to Guatemala leave and then don’t want to come back,” he said. Though Longwell teaches Spanish at new Mexico State University on a daily basis, he cautions his students, “The only way you are going to really speak this language is by living in the country where you have to speak it,” said Longwell

In addition to its rolling landscapes, Guatemala is a country that has suffered not only from tremors of civil war, but also from devastating geological events. There are hundreds of volcanos in Guatemala and though danger is always lurking, they have also provided a natural beauty to the landscape. The Lago de Atitlan (Atitlan Lake) is a caldera, rimmed by seven extinct volcanos, filled with water formed from a massive volcanic eruption thousands of years ago. This is recognized as one of the most beautiful places in all of Latin America.

The charm of the country and language studies has shaped the future of many who passed through Guatemala. Adam Middleditch decided he wanted to be a paramedic. For Lauren Trantham, the future is still not certain, but one thing is.

“I still have no idea what my life is about, but I do know that trip changed my life,” she said.

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The sun rises over the cemetery in Chichicastenango, Guatemala. Photo by Adron Gardner