Discover the most interesting country in Latin America at its most colorful and ceremonial time of year . . . Holy Week!

From the lovely colonial city of Antigua, set at the base of the classically-shaped volcano Agua, to hauntingly-beautiful Lake Atitlan, surrounded by towering volcanos and small indigenous villages, Guatemala is an inspiring destination for travelers. To visit during Holy Week will enable travelers to learn about this fascinating country at its spectacular best.

We’ll begin our travel program with three nights in Antigua, and we’ll spend one day of orientation in Guatemala City, visiting the Ixchel Museum of textiles where we’ll enjoy an orientation to the dress, the weavings, and the general life in the highlands by having a private tour of the museum. We’ll be in Antigua the next day for the famous Palm Sunday processions, as hundreds of devout residents carry enormous images of saints through the city, walking through colorful sawdust and flower carpets, most of them completed just minutes prior to the arrival of the procession. We’ll also see the most impressive buildings in the city, on this very special day in one of the most beautiful cities in the New World.

Guatemala traditional clothingAfter Palm Sunday, we’ll move to the highlands of Guatemala, home to a large contemporary Mayan population, where the culture of many centuries earlier is alive and observable in dress, in language, in living style, and in religious practices. There are an estimated seven million native Mayans living in Guatemala and speaking one of 21 different Mayan languages. Some of these languages are spoken by thousands of people as their first language; other Mayan languages spoken by only a handful of local residents.

We’ll drive to Chichicastenango for their Holy Week processions, featuring several religious brotherhoods and the saints they honor, and we’ll shop at the most famous and colorful regional market in Central America. We’ll also visit Solola for the Tuesday market day to see all the Holy Week preparations. We’ll skim across Lake Atitlan several times to visit the smaller villages of San Pedro, San Juan, and Santa Cruz, each of which will hold the their own distinctive Holy Week observances. The Good Friday processions in San Pedro and Santiago Atitlan are spectacular examples of religious devotion and community participation.

Through all our travels, the village-identity aspect of the dress of the highland residents will be a distinctive characteristic of Guatemalan society. Because of this incredible diversity in color and pattern, the skill and imagination of Guatemala women, the textiles of Guatemala are famous the world over. One of the unique features of this trip is the opportunities to be with Guatemalan families who can best express their culture and their art. Each village and each family we visit will provide an exceptional wealth of Indian culture. Lectures and presentations by textile researchers of the Ixchel Museum and talking with the Guatemalan people themselves will help us understand the culture and history of this magnificent country.

By Easter Sunday, much of the pomp of the Holy Week observances will be over, and we’ll return home with suitcases full of wonderful textiles and cameras full of impressive photographs. On this educational travel seminar you will have an unparalleled opportunity to learn about the people of Guatemala, and we’ll make a special study of the fascinating culture of the Mayan people of Guatemala in the company of the very men and women who live this culture on a daily basis.

Holy Week church decorationsItinerary (B = breakfast, L = lunch, D = dinner)

Day 1 | Friday, March 22 (D)

Day 2 | Saturday, March 23 (B, L, D)

Day 3 | Sunday, March 24 (B, L) Palm Sunday

Day 4 | Holy Week processionMonday, March 25 (B, L, D)

Day 5 | Tuesday, March 26 (B, L, D)

Day 6 | Wednesday, March 27 (B, L,)

Day 7 | Thursday, March 28 (B, L, D)

Day 8 | carpet made of colorful sawdustFriday, March 29 (B, L, D)

Day 9 | Saturday, March 30 (B, L, D)

Day 10 | Sunday, March 31 Easter Sunday

• Note: This itinerary has been prepared months ahead of the actual trip. There may some very slight changes to take advantage of new opportunities.


Travel Seminar Leader

Vivian Harvey
Vivian has been living and working in Mexico for 25 years and has traveled extensively throughout Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, and Guatemala with university students and faculty members. She now spends the winter in Panajachel, Guatemala. Prior to moving to Mexico, she was the Assistant Dean in the College of Human Ecology at The Ohio State University for ten years. She is the Educational Programs Coordinator at the Cemanahuac Educational Community, where she works with college faculty members across the United States and Canada to establish cooperative academic programs with Cemanahuac for graduate and undergraduate credit. Her educational background includes a degree in education from the University of Michigan, and two graduate degrees from The Ohio State University, one in early childhood education and the other in family studies.


FeesLake Atitlan at night

TRAVEL FEE: $1585 (twin) U.S. Funds Only
• Note: Add $270 for single supplement
• Note: Credit cards cannot be accepted for the land fee, but the cost of the air travel can be paid with a credit card.

The travel fee for this 10 day (9 night) travel program is based on a minimum of ten travelers, and includes the following:
• Hotels, double rooms, 9 nights
• Transportation, including airport pickup and return (regardless of whether participants come as a group or on individual flights), also boat for Lake Atitlan trip, vans to markets)
• Entrance fees for museums
• Meals as follows, with hot coffee or tea: all breakfast and lunches (does not include breakfast on Sunday morning, March 31) and 7 dinners
• All tips, including baggage in airports and hotels, maids tips, and tips for bus drivers. No other tips for guides are expected or accepted.
• Speakers fees and donations (Several of these are to 501C3 organizations)
• A large booklet of information about Guatemala and the places to be visited, sent to participants prior to the trip, also considerable information prior to the trip, in printed material sent by mail
• Bibliography
• Airport transfers, by bus or airport vans, for those on group flights

This travel fee does NOT include:
• Not included in the land fee are flights to Guatemala City, extra nights, transportation on days other than the scheduled days (February 1 and February 10, 2013), drinks other than coffee or hot tea with meals, meals not specified in the itinerary, and personal expenses (laundry, etc.)

Since some of this program is based on working with health and social service agencies (WINGS and Mayan Families), $120.00 of this fee can be considered "contributions or honorarium fees for speakers," and these can be considered tax deductible expenses. Receipts for for tax purposes for those who request it. Printed information on the groups we will visit is available, along with the web page addresses.

Each participant will be given a book of readings, including a bibliography of suggested readings about Guatemala.

Some travelers may want to add several nights for a trip to the magnificent archeological site of Tikal, and information on this will be available for those requesting it. This will be arranged by a reputable Guatemalan travel agency and will include roundtrip flights to Flores (Tikal airport).


Deadlines

In order to reserve places at the hotels we will visit, it’s necessary to have a firm idea of participants by:
November 1, 2012.

Deposits ($400) and registration forms should be sent to Vivian Harvey by November 1, 2012, with the remainder of the fee ($1185.00) due by February 1, 2013. If the trip is canceled due to low enrollment, the entire deposit will be refunded.

It is possible to accept reservations after this time, on a space-available basis, but it may be more difficult to obtain flight reservations and hotel space. Please reserve your space on this trip as early as possible, so we have as much opportunity to confirm flights and hotels for the participants.

Registrations should be sent to:


Flight plans and arrangements

Participants should arrange to fly into Guatemala City on Friday, March 22, 2013, and out of Guatemala City on Easter Sunday, March 31, 2013. The first planned event of the program will be dinner on Friday night, March 22. Any flight arriving after about 4 pm probably will not permit the traveler to be in Antigua in time for dinner, but transfer arrangements will be made for travelers regardless of time of arrival in Guatemala City on February 1.

Participants will make their own flight arrangements. Please do not confirm and pay for flight arrangements before the trip is confirmed, which will be on November 1 at the latest.

Regardless of arrival time, transfers from the Guatemala City airport to Antigua will be arranged for you, with the cost included in the travel fee, if travel is on the tour dates. Transfers on other days will be paid for by the traveler. Ample information will be sent. Some participants may want stay in Guatemala for a longer period of time, and this can easily be arranged. Please contact Vivian Harvey for information on these arrangements.

Travel insurance is recommended but not required.

No special visas are required, but a valid passport is necessary. Please take the time to check to be sure your passport is not near the expiration date when you make your reservation.

For information and a registration form, please email or phone (email is best):

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