ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Many participants travel to Copán Ruinas in the mountains of western Honduras for 1 or more weeks to study at the Ixbalanque School, live with host families, and enjoy a wide range of cultural activities including visits to the beautiful Maya ruins of Copán.

This is independent travel study so you pick the dates; classes typically begin on Mondays. You'll study for 3 or 4 hours per day either morning or afternoon and can register for 1 to 4 weeks and receive 60 Clock Hours/PDUs or 6 quarter credits (equivalent of 4 semester credits) per week.


PLEASE NOTE: The Heritage Institute courses receive Continuing Education Quarter Credits awarded by Antioch University Seattle at the 400 and 500 levels. Call 800.445.1305 or log onto The Heritage Institute’s website policies page for more information.

www.hol.edu


If you're interested in studying in a coastal city or on one of the Bay Islands of Honduras, check out the link for the Central American Spanish School with bases in La Ceiba and on Utila and Roatán. The 2 schools work together so you can combine weeks at each if you wish. If you prefer a different location or Spanish school, arrangements can be made; please contact the instructor.

For information about similar programs in other Latin American countries as well as credit for volunteer and cultural learning projects, click here or on the bottom link, below. For contact info click the REGISTRATION or SYLLABUS links.

To view the 2008 Live and Learn group trip blog, scroll to the Blog Archive (lower right) and click the 1st post you want to see (they're listed bottom to top chronologically, you may need to click the arrow by July to see the earliest ones). Click "Newer Post" at the bottom of each post to view the next one.

About Me

My photo
I was a teacher for more than 34 years and retired 10 years ago from directing Structured Learning Centers for kids with autism and multiple disabilities. Gaining conversational ease in Spanish has been an important goal for me and I find attending Spanish schools in Latin America and volunteering with local organizations both productive and addictive. In the course of my immersion studies in Latin America, I fell in love with the people of San Pedro La Laguna, Sololá, Guatemala and for the last 15 years have managed a nonprofit that matches scholarship sponsors with promising students in San Pedro who would otherwise be limited to 6 years of school: BecaProject.org My frequent visits to Guatemala, surrounded by their gorgeous textiles, reignited my interest in fiber arts which I’ve added to my list of passions along with family, Beca Project, camping, travel, and photography.

Ixbalanque Spanish School

Monday, July 28, 2008

Monday - back to work!











Hello again!

I enjoy sitting in the parque central in the mornings watching the people and the a specific hummingbird that returns at the same time each day. I've also been watching a specific hibiscus bud that was within reach - the others were out of camera range. This morning my patience paid off (PHOTOS 1 and2).

This morning at 9:00 we gathered at the school for a lesson in making pupusas, a traditional food in this area (PHOTO 3). The process starts with making a tortilla with masa (much harder than the veterans make it look), putting a few tablespoons of refried beans or a cheese and lorocos paste (lorocos are a flavorful vegetable that is popular here), then folding the tortilla over the filling and carefully making the whole thing look like a tortilla again; I'm glad to have patient teachers!

I have to admit it was a little hard to go back to work this afternoon. Four hours is a really long time to concentrate in the afternoon in sticky heat. Then again, my new teacher is very pleasant (Yesenia - a teacher of mine 3 years ago and of Isaac's 2 years ago) and I had a really productive day; it looked like JoAnne was having a productive day, too (PHOTO4). Most of our group have the same teachers as last week but I was one of a few changes.

PHOTO 5 is dinner at my house a few nights ago - comida tipica (typical food of the area). What looks like bananas is actually fried green plantains and the white bowl has a delicate cheese that was made at my house that afternoon. I love the comida tipica (tonight we had hot dogs....).

Hope everyone is happy and well - happy trails!
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