Where will you live?

Pat will be living in Antigua, Sacatepéquez, Guatemala. 

Founded in 1543 as Santiago de Guatemala, Antigua was the capital of Spain’s Central American confederacy and the third most important city in the Americas (after Mexico City & Lima, Peru) in the 1500’s.  It was devastated by an earthquake in 1773, however, and subsequent earthquakes persuaded the government to relocate the capital to its current home in Guatemala City.

Antigua’s cobblestone streets and its preserved churches, convents, and mansions, built in the 1500’s, 1600’s and 1700’s make this city very special.  Both the government and the private sector are working on preservation and restoration of the city’s historical buildings.

Antigua is one of the best places to go if you want to learn Spanish.  About 60 Spanish schools in town offer intensive classes at reasonable prices.

While in Antigua, Pat will live with the Hernandez family, who she met in 2006 when she went to Antigua to study Spanish with Deb Reeg and Dave Penner (Josiah Foundation founder).  Mary (mar-ee) and Leo (lay-o) have two sons (Pablo & Manuel) who live with them, a married son (Leo, Jr.) who lives in Guatemala City, and a daughter (Julia) who lives on her own and teaches Spanish in one of the many language schools in GT.  They run a boarding house for tourists as well as students at a variety of language schools. 

The Hernandez home is located in a residential area of Antigua and has American amenities of running water  The bedrooms are small, but adequate, and in typical Antigua fashion, are built in a circle around a garden area, which this family has partially enclosed.  In addition, there are common areas for relaxing and dining.