SISAI Escuela de Español

I-Information about Guatemala

• Quetzaltenango
• Antigua

 
II- Steps for applying:

• Apply directly to SISAI Escuela de Español at least 2 months before you wish to go
  • Request an airport pick-up
  • Inform them of your arrival and departure dates
  • Inform them of what level of course you wish to take
• Complete Transfer of Credit form 
  • Have form signed by a professor in the Spanish Program
  • Turn in the completed form to Michelle Long in the Registrar’s OfficeSpeak with the Coordinator of International and Off-Campus Studies at least two months before your trip.  They will guide you regarding other Cornell offices you must visit (this will vary depending on when--during the summer or the school year--and how long you intend to be in Guatemala), and have you fill out the required waiver and emergency contact information form.
• Purchase your round-trip airplane ticket
  • Choose a flight that gets you to Guatemala City by 1:30 at the latest (so that you can take the 3:00 direct bus to Quetzaltenango)

  III- Recommendations regarding what to take and how to behave in Guatemala

  IV- Regular Activities:

• One-on-one language classes
• Wednesday and Friday lectures on culture
• Afternoon excursions or classes:
  • Salsa class
  • Visit to the Xela cemetery to learn about Xela's history and important historical figures
  • Hike up to the park at the top of “El Baul”
  • Visit surrounding towns (Zunil, Salcajá, San Andrés)
  • Visit the thermal baths at Fuentes Georginas
  • Visit local and near-by weaving cooperatives
  • Visit a local chocolatería and learn to make chocolate from cacao
  • Learn to make traditional Guatemalan food in the home of a "maestra"

  V- Possible Weekend Excursions:

• Go swimming at the beach in Champerico
• Visit the Xocomil Water Park
• Go zip lining (Cannopy)
• Visit the Chicabal Volcano & lake
• Visit Mayan ruins in Huehuetenango and Zaculeu
•  Visit Lake Atitlán and the communities around the lake --  Panajachel, Santiago, San Juan, San Pedro
• Visit the market in Chichicastenango
• Visit the former capital of Guatemala, Antigua