That was an experience, we have just finished 5 days of Spanish "immersion" lessons. Five hours a day of one on one tutorials, and around 2-3 hours of home work a night.At the same time we have been staying with a local family to get the full experience.

We chose Quetzaltenango (Or Xela, pronounced Shayla, by the locals) because it was ;-

a) At a high altitude (7600 feet), so no Malaria issues which meant we could come off the medication for a week

b) It was not "touristy", we were not getting dragged into every restaurant or shop as we passed like we were at Antigua and Atitlan.

c) The school was highly recommended.

d) It is not a main back packer stop off, so not a drunken party town and not many locals speak English which makes shopping and food ordering much more fun and worthwhile.

We could have gone to a school in Lago de Atitlan with this view

But, being us, we chose this one in Xela.

I've really enjoyed my week and have managed to move my Spanish on a bit. I'm impressed with some of the people we met in the school who have been there a month or more, their Spanish is now excellent. It really is the best way of learning a language.

We finished the week by helping out with the schools English class, free for locals, and taking Salsa Lessons. Yes, me , Salsa lessons. Lets just say, Jean could do with a new partner for dancing, one who has a left and a right foot. The one move we could manage was the "spin out, spin back" and will be happy to demonstrate it on our return.

Due to the altitude of Xela we are getting temperature swings like we had in Mexico City, high 20s during the day to below zero overnight. Last night hit -4, and Jean chose it for a spot of Moctezuma's revenge. Which would not have been so bad, except the toilet is across a courtyard next to where I took this picture and our room is over by my motorbike.

She was not a happy bunny this morning.

Anyone watching our progress on the map at http://www.ytc1.co.uk may will have noted it has been slowing down somewhat, we seem to have come to a stop in Guatemala, and we have been off the bikes more than on ( not just in the way Jean was off at Lanquin). So far we have only visited 5 countries, in over 3 months, and we have at least another 11 to see before we head for Spain. But Guatemala just does not seem to be a place to hurry away from, we have met many other travelers who have been here for over a month, and others that keep returning.

Next stop is Guatemala City for new tyres and an oil change, if I can get Jean out of bed tomorrow.