Quetzaltenango 

Quetzaltenango, commonly referred to as Xela (pronounced "shay-la"), a shortened form of its Maya name, is the second largest city in Guatemala. With a population of 150,000, it is by no means a congested metropolis. It's cobblestone streets, colonial architecture, and numerous parks give the city a quaint and relaxed air.

Situated 250 kilometers west of Guatemala City, Xela is on a relatively flat plain, the Llano de Pinal, famous for being the site where, in 1524, the K'iche' prince Tecun Uman died in battle with the Spaniard Pedro de Alvarado. At 7000' in elevation, Xela offers a temperate climate year-round, with temperatures usually in the 60's and 70's during the day and in the 40's and 50's at night. Xela is ringed by mountains, delimited at the east by the dome shaped Baúl with a city park on its summit, and at the south by the perfect cone of Volcano Santa María. Climbing to Santa María's summit is an energetic day's excursion, yielding views into Chiapas, Mexico to the west, and the Pacific ocean to the south.

In the vicinity of Xela are many sites of natural and cultural interest that can be reached by foot or a short bus ride. These include: Los Baños, refreshing volcanic baths; the indigenous town of Zunil, set in a gorgeous valley, with a women's weaving cooperative, and home of San Simon, a local saint who receives offerings of liquor and cigarettes; Las Georginas hot springs, perched high in the mountains and often enshrouded in fog; the bustling ma8rkets at San Cristobal Totonícapan and San Francisco el Alto; and San Andres Xekul, with its bright yellow church that is home to a rich folk-Catholic tradition

At a further distance, but easily accessible by a bus ride of a couple of hours (leaving frequently from Xela and generally costing less than $2) are: Chichicastenango, with its immense market on Thursday and Sunday, the largest in Guatemala; Lake Atitlán, ringed by volcanoes and dotted by indigenous villages; and Huehuetenango, with its small but well-preserved Maya ruins.

The focal point of most student's experience is simply the day-to-day contact with the local folks -- in the markets, shops, restaurants, and parks. Unlike Antigua, catering almost exclusively to its hordes of foreign tourists, Xela is distinctly Guatemalan. This is a city for the local inhabitants, with its vendor filled streets and markets, buses loaded with baskets of fruits, vegetables, livestock and durable goods on their rooftops, and indigenous workers who daily fill the city from the surrounding pueblos. Clear, well-spoken Spanish is heard everywhere, while K'iche' and several other Maya languages are commonly spoken in the streets.  

Visitors always find the highlights of Quetzaltenango to be interesting. They are inevitably intrigued by the culture of the surrounding pueblos, and inspired by the majestic beauty of the highland countryside.  But the real beauty, and the best reason to study in Quetzaltenango, is simply that while tourists do come to this little city, it is not tourist driven.  Tourist dollars are of course important to the Xela economy, but tourism is far down on the list of most important industries.

The importance of this to the language student is that in sharp contrast to Antigua Guatemala and several of the pueblos on the shore of Lake Atitlan (especially Panajachel), tourists are not merely considered by locals as merely an economic resource to exploit.  So while it is safe and offers outstanding services to make the lives of tourists and students easier, Xela is still a genuine example of Guatemala, with a diverse sociocultural base and a population that is at once friendly and generally free of hard-core, tourist-chasing vendors or, conversely, hardened "tourist-servants" who have learned to resent the perceived ignorance and excessive wealth of foreign visitors.  Xela residents, rather, willing to enter into conversations and relationships with foreigners without anticipation of  returned favors or economic gain.  All of which is to say that Quetzaltenango is, in comparison to other Guatemalan cities, a relaxed, natural, and genuine place to study language.