Yes. Many new students at Casa Rosario just arrive at the school without a reservation. These are the people who will be disappointed when the school is full, not the people who register in advance on this website. If you register via the website, your space is guaranteed.

You will probably learn to speak Spanish better if you live with separate families (because you won't be tempted to have the other person to speak for you) but Casa Rosario will be happy to place you with the same family.

For classes only it is $60 a week per person; for classes plus a (possibly shared) room at the school with kitchen privileges, it is $80 a week per person; and for your own room living with a family with three meals a day for six days (seven days of residence) it is $115 a week per person.

Casa Rosario will always try to accommodate your schedule, however it is preferable if you can start classes on a Monday. This schedule is for the benefit of the teachers. If a student comes and studies five days from one Wednesday to the next Tuesday, the teacher gets only one week of pay during a two week period. One solution is to study for the odd days in the first week plus a full 5 day week the next week. Another solution is to arrange your time in Guatemala so that you can begin on a Monday. If you miss a day or two, you can also arrange with your teacher to make up the sessions on the weekend or at another time of the day.

No, but there are lots of high speed internet cafés in San Pedro. The price is about $1 an hour.

Your computer/camera should be safe with the families, the school and San Pedro hotels. Guatemala, especially Guatemala City, is not safe and many electronic items have been stolen on the chicken buses by gangs of robbers working in unison. You usually will not realized you have been robbed until you reach your destination. I recommend you don't bring what you can't afford to lose.

This is very unlikely. I don't know of any families in San Pedro that have two bathrooms in their house. If this is of the utmost importance to you, you should live in a hotel, however you will lose the opportunity/advantage of being forced to speak Spanish and apply what you have learned in the classes. Living with a family helps you get over the fear of making mistakes, and this is one of the biggest obstacles to you being able to speak Spanish.

Of course, Casa Rosario will place friends in the same room.

You take a tourist van from the airport to Antigua Guatemala, and from there you take the daily 2:00p.m. tourist van to San Pedro la Laguna. Complete instructions including maps of San Pedro are in the Travel Tips section.

Hostal los Volcanes is near the airport and has a website. You can make a reservation with them and they will be waiting for you at the airport when your plane arrives. They speak some English and will get you put on the right van in the morning.

If you are coming in the tourist van, have them drop you off at the school. If they cannot, hire a tuctuc (a small three wheeled taxi) to take you there. It should cost 5 quetzales. If you speak a little Spanish, you could telephone Vicente, one of the directors, and he will come to pick you up or get someone to meet you. His cell phone number is 5613-6401.

There is a laundry with automatic machines where you can drop off your clothes and have them done in an hour. I suggest, however, that you find a local woman to do your wash for you. It is one of the ways that women can earn their own money. If you are living with a family, the woman of the house is usually happy to do your laudry for a few quetzales.

It is the woman of the house who does the most work for the students. I suggest taking her and the family out to dinner in one of the local restaurants. It is something the local families don't do often, and it is something you don't have to carry with you in your luggage. It gives the woman of the house a rest from preparing a meal for her family.

No, San Pedro is the cheapest place in Guatemala to study Spanish, and Casa Rosario has kept the overhead to a minimum. Everybody receives the same discount whether they stay one week or ten weeks.

Yes, there is a $10 discount per person in the price, however, I strongly discourage choosing this option. The savings is minimal and not worth what will be lost in terms of learning. From experience I know that one person always is quicker at learning. It is the person who is slower at learning who will be harmed by choosing this option. That person will tend to let his/her partner speak for him.

The volunteer options are constantly changing in San Pedro la Laguna and the nearby towns of San Juan la Laguna, and San Pablo la Laguna. Common possibilities include teaching English, working in health care, and helping women. I cannot keep track of the changing situation from the United States, so you will have to check out the options and programs when you arrive. If you are only studying for a week, you probably will find that it will take most of the week to find a program and get started, and so for that short a stay it probably is not worth the effort.

For questions and answers in English call me in San Francisco, California at (415) 282-7654 or email me at .

Mailing address:
Casa Rosario Spanish School
Canton Sanjay
San Pedro la Laguna
Depto. Sololá
Guatemala, C.A.

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