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Guatemala

Language & Culture

A Custom School Program

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10 Days

Explore cultural identity, food systems, and language through hands-on experiences. Students engage with local farmers, artisans, and cooperatives on agroecology, fair trade, and cultural projects, developing a deeper understanding of the connections between land, identity, language, and worldview.

A Rich Legacy of Cultural Survival and Community Strength

Guatemala is a living story of grassroots community, vibrant poetry, and a deep love for the land and its people. Travelers are drawn to its volcanoes, lakes, biodiversity, and cultural richness, especially in the Western Highlands where most residents are indigenous Maya. Despite a history shaped by colonization and conflict, strong traditions of cultural resilience and community endure.

This program offers a holistic cultural immersion with a focus on conversational Spanish. Students engage closely with local people and environments through guided activities that foster leadership, self-awareness, and a deeper understanding of their place in a global community.

people making tortillas

Highlights & Outcomes

Improve Your Spanish Language Skills

Improve Spanish language skills through formal classes and daily interactions with indigenous Mayan communities.

Work on Food Justice Initiatives

Participate in sustainable farming and food justice projects with local farmers and cooperatives near Lake Atitlán.

Learn About Indigenous Rights

Explore the connections between land, identity, and justice through community-based initiatives.

Gain Global Competencies

Experience new cultures, explore different perspective, and build confidence by navigating unfamiliar environments.

people walking down stone walkway toward large lake
line drawing of Guatemala

Our Journey

Students begin their experience along Lake Atitlán in San Lucas Tolimán, a vibrant Kaqchikel Maya community shaped by Catholic and Christian influences, agribusiness, and local development projects. After an opening ceremony and orientation on health, safety, and program goals, students swim in streams and the lake while learning how local campesinos navigate economic and social pressures.

Next, the group crosses the lake to San Juan La Laguna for immersive homestays with families partnered with Dragons programs. Mornings focus on Spanish classes, and afternoons include guest speakers, farming, traditional arts, and sports. Students also meet community members who work seasonally abroad.

The program concludes in Antigua Guatemala, where participants reunite, explore the city, and reflect among colonial ruins before returning home.

View Itinerary

Guatemala: Language & Culture

Sample Itinerary
The following itinerary is subject to change based on your goals and availability.

  • Day 1: San Lucas Tolimán

    From the airport, we drive 2.5 hours to San Lucas Tolimán. Here, we settle into local accommodation and begin our orientation with a home-cooked traditional Guatemalan dinner and opening ceremony.

     

  • Days 2-3: San Lucas Tolimán

    During our first two days, we focus on developing travel and immersion skills while exploring the local markets and town center. We also visit ecological farms in Quixaya, coffee and sugar cane plantations, and the small farming community of Pachitulul. We discuss health, safety, and cultural considerations and work on building a positive group dynamic.

     

  • Day 4: San Juan

    On our fourth day, we take a boat across Lake Atitlán to the artistic community of San Juan La Laguna, the base of our program in Guatemala. There, we connect with community partners, homestay families, and mentors. We enjoy our first meal with our hosts and begin exploring local life.

     

  • Days 5-8: San Juan

    We begin each day with a check-in and Spanish class, followed by community activities focused on cultural identity and food systems. Afternoon activities include: engaging in farming practices, enjoying sports and lake activities, and connecting with community members and guest speakers.

  • Day 9: Antigua

    From San Juan, we board a shuttle and embark across the highlands approximately two hours to Antigua, a colonial city, tourism hub, and the former capital of Guatemala. Antigua is overflowing with markets, colonial ruins, and a diverse international community. Here, we have a chance to reflect on our time in Guatemala, purchase any last souvenirs, and celebrate our time together.

  • Day 10: Departure

    Breakfast and morning departure for the airport.

walkway surrounded by yellow arches

Custom School Programming

How We Do It

Each Custom School Program is tailored to meet your needs. Through a close, hands-on collaboration, we take the time to understand what matters most—and draw on decades of experience to create something unique, thoughtful, and authentic.

Together, we’ll design a program that’s cohesive, purposeful, and fully supported from start to finish—never a collection of tourist stops or disconnected activities. We’re ready when you are.

Start Building Your Program
small group sitting at table learning Spanish

Program Components

Our Program Components are the building blocks of your itinerary. During the customization process, these components can be dialed up or down to meet the goals and vision for the program. Each program component is thoughtfully planned to ensure that your students engage meaningfully and authentically connect with the places they visit.

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Language Study

Receive Spanish intensive instruction through small group lessons for approximately 2-4 hours/day taught by professional language instructors. Engage with the Spanish language outside of the classroom through homestays, ISPs, and daily interaction with locals. Students may also learn words and simple phrases in Kaqchikel or Tz'utujil Maya Languages.

Social & Environmental Justice

Engage with fair trade coffee and weaving cooperatives, microfinance organizations, and other entities aimed at economic justice. Get hands on with environmental projects aimed at reforestation, agroecology, and sustainability. Learn about the tragic history of human-rights violations, and contemporary work at reconciliation.

Homestay

Jump in to play with siblings, practice your Spanish, help with chores, and get a sense for the rhythm of daily life while being hosted by the generous hospitality and warmth of a local homestay family. Students pair up to spend time in the mornings and evenings at home, while spending most of the day with their group engaged in activities.

Learning Service

Work alongside local community leaders and activists as they work to preserve traditional ancestral knowledge related to agriculture, Maya cosmovision, indigenous language, and herbal medicine.

Focus of Inquiry

Guatemala's 500 year legacy of conquest and resistance takes shape through hands-on engagement with current community-driven initiatives to maintain cultural life-ways and relationships to land and water.

Religious & Spiritual Traditions

Learn about Maya cosmovision and the sacred calendars through workshops and ceremoney with local ajkij, or daykeepers who guide you through Mayan ceremony and provide connections between traditional spiritual practice and current social movements.

Independent Study Project

Explore ceramics, weaving, painting, herbal medicine, agriculture, Mayan cosmovision, or other hands on practices. Students may also choose to explore a myriad development topics, bilingual education, history, religious syncretism, and youth leadership as topics to discover.

Rugged Travel

Use local public transportation such as "lanchas", eat authentic Guatemalan food, and live with real families.

Trekking

Hike up into the mountains and fields around Lake Atitlán on day hikes to explore waterfalls, coffee fields, and milpas, and get to know the cloud forests that skirt the towering Toliman volcano.

Featured Instructors

Our instructors are more than guides—they’re mentors, educators, and trusted companions. Each member of our team is thoroughly vetted, background-checked, and trained in our unique pedagogy and risk management practices. With an average of over four years living abroad and fluency in local languages, our instructors serve as meaningful cross-cultural liaisons.

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