Spanish class in Solola

The weekly market in Solola where Mayan ladies are waiting their turn to purchase dried fish and shrimp.

     In every country we travel through we try to learn at least some of the language. When we are staying for awhile we usually take classes to help us communicate with the locals more effectively. It is very appreciated when you try to speak the local language plus it's a lot of fun, especially when you are understood while speaking the local dialect. We often celebrate our small victories by cheering each other on in an "I did it!" manner when we can successfully ask for something we need.
     In Guatemala, we found a great Spanish teacher, Nicole, who is helping us with our fledgling language acquisition. The last time we had Spanish lessons was way back in high school and that was only for two years total. Nicole charges us each $5 per classroom hour for her private tutoring and after researching a number of local language schools in Panajachel, we soon realized that she had the best deal in town!
     As teachers, we know firsthand that learning styles are very important and we are both spatial and kinesthetic learners.  So finding a teacher who understands our individual learning style was important. In addition to classroom instruction we also get some fun "field trip" opportunities where we venture out in the community and put our elementary skills to practice.

Lori practicing her numbers by negotiating a price for some local textiles.

     Solola is the provincial capital of this area and is located at the top of the crater from Panajachel. The very steep and winding road with hairpin turns only takes about 20 minutes by local transportation. During this trip we would get to encounter our first ride on one of the famous "chicken buses." Yes, the chicken bus is named for people bringing all sorts of things on the bus from their daily market trading trips, especially chickens. These retro-fitted, wildly painted Blue Bird school buses are leftovers from the U.S. and they endure vigorous road tests never before believed possible. Riding them is a juxtaposition of both thrilling adventure and abject terror as we careen around steep mountain curves on roads with no safety guardrails. If the brakes go out we are goners. So, for less than $1 round trip you will get one of the best, most terrifying roller coaster rides of your life. That's a steal for you adrenaline junkies out there!

The cost of taking the chicken bus from Panajachel to Solola is Q3 per person each way. So less than a dollar will get you there and back.

   After arriving in Solola, we walked from the bus stop up the hill about 15 minutes to the local market. It was a hustling, bustling throng of people. Vendors were enthusiastically calling out their wares such as pots and pans, vegetables, live chickens, fresh flowers, shoes, secondhand clothing, and so much more. Our lesson was to go through the market and purchase some things we needed and basically just to practice our limited language skills. Nicole would help us when necessary and explain interesting cultural intricacies as we explored this vast maze of stalls. 

Only a small part of the vast weekly market in Solola.

     We slowly weaved in and out of the market for more than an hour and did our best to practice what we were taught, all while being jostled and shoved this way and that by locals trying to get their shopping accomplished. We were in the way of lots of business deals going on around us! We met with some success and many amusing failures while trying to communicate using real world Spanish but that is all part of the learning process. We will have many more ventures into this incredible culture and hopefully we will be able to communicate better as we build our language knowledge. 

*Click on pictures below for a larger image and captions.