Guatemala (Santa Avelina) Trip Details

The name “Guatemala” is derived from the Mayan word for “place of many trees,” and on this trip you will find out why. This ancient culture lives on in many traditions you will experience firsthand. On this trip, you will spend your first weekend exploring the capital, Guatemala City, which has hundreds of ruins that are over 3,000 years old. Your climb up into the mountains by bus will begin with an overnight stop in Chichicastenango, where 98% of the population is indigenous. Its market is renowned for its abundance of local crafts, food, pottery, tools and livestock. The next day, when you arrive in Santa Avelina, a beautiful small town containing the William M Botnan School, you will be warmly welcomed. Your lodging will consist of cots placed in classrooms, and you will eat all your meals at the school. Hand-pressed corn tortillas, fresh eggs – a foodie’s dream! You will be paired with a teacher and interpreter for five days of coaching. At the conclusion, the entire team will travel to Antigua by way of one of the most beautiful lakes in the world.
 

Itinerary

Day 1: Friday 

· Arriving at the Guatemala City airport, you will be met by a shuttle from the Hotel Barceló. The team will gather for dinner at a nearby restaurant. The rest of the evening will allow for unpacking, getting acquainted, and an early bedtime if you so choose.

Day 2: Saturday

·The day begins with breakfast at the hotel (huevos and watermelon juice are particular specialties). A morning planning meeting will end in plenty of time for you to visit the historic sites of Guatemala City. At the conclusion of the day, the team will load onto a bus and travel five hours to the large mountain town of Chichicastenango. You will spend the night at a lodge near the center of town.

Day 3: Sunday

· After a morning meeting and another breakfast of local dishes, you will have the afternoon to experience the famous open-air market in Chichicastenango. Among the hundreds of items for sale, you will want to seek out the textiles, most notably the colorful, hand-woven huipils. The final portion of the bus ride to Santa Avelina (approximately seven hours) will occupy the rest of the day.

Day 4: Monday

· Before we begin our classroom observation day, we will hold a brief orientation meeting. By watching the teacher and students in her classroom, you will have the opportunity to formulate the lesson you will deliver on Tuesday. Lunch will be affectionately prepared from locally sourced ingredients by volunteers. You will meet one-on-one with your partner teacher and then gather for a school-wide professional development session. The team will discuss the day as a group by asking, “What did you learn?”

Day 5: Tuesday

· During the morning, you will deliver the lesson you have prepared. One-on-one meetings and a group professional development session will occupy the afternoon. You will eat dinner in town with the team and then discuss answers to the question, “What surprised you today?" 

Day 6: Wednesday

· While the students are at school in the morning, you and your partner will co-teach a lesson. Your one-on-one meeting will attend to how she experienced it and what she would like to integrate from it in the next day’s lesson. Another 90-minute professional development session will follow. Questions to process as a group in the evening are “What did or did not go as well as you’d like?” and “How will this knowledge affect you tomorrow?”

Day 7: Thursday

· Final observations will focus on how your partner delivers the lesson you and she prepared together. You will have very brief individual meetings to wrap up the week and plan for maintaining contact in the future. 

Day 8: Friday

· The team will depart early in the morning to drive six hours by bus to Lake Atitlán, known as one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. After eating lunch, we will board the bus for the remaining journey to Antigua.

· Your evening will comprise dinner at one of the fantastic restaurants near the hotel, plus some time for scouting the colonial-era neighborhood. 

Day 9: Saturday

· After a morning debriefing session, you will have the rest of the day free to explore Antigua’s myriad delights. You can choose among souvenir browsing at the market, designing your own jade jewelry, and learning to make chocolate.

· A good-bye dinner with the team will conclude the trip.

Day 10: Sunday

·Departures, with transportation to the airport provided by the hotel.