Quetzaltenango is a city located in the Western mountains of Guatemala. It‘s somewhat of a hidden gem. It has lots of opportunities and things to experience for those that have some time to spare. Quality of life is decent and cost of living very cheap. In this post I will speak about what there is on offer for the foreigner who wants to try living in Quetzaltenango.
The locals call the city Xela, pronounced “Shela”. At first glance, particularly for the fast-moving visitor, it is nothing special. Except the surrounding mountains and volcanoes of course.
It’s the second largest city in Guatemala with a population of 150,000 people. It is located at an altitude of 2,300 metres, which means very cold night time temperatures. There’s pollution from cars and many stray dogs on the streets. Empty unlit alleys make the city look sketchy. While colonial architecture exists, it is not well-preserved, and most of the city just looks grey. And nobody speaks English.
Most backpackers to Guatemala simply don’t bother visiting, unless they want to hike the mountains and volcanoes or briefly learn Spanish. But when you start spending a little time in Xela, you then get an unforgettable cultural experience. What does that mean, a cultural experience? Xela allows you to live the local culture. It offers a very comfortable environment where you can immerse yourself. Living a very different culture is a lasting experience. A new culture is a new perspective, a new way of life. Your produce new sounds with your mouth, your body moves to different rhythms, the way you communicate with others changes.
Two things seem to be bring newcomers to the city.
The first thing you gotta do is learn some Spanish, which can only be a good decision. It’s arguably the most accessible language for an English speaker, and there are 470 million native speakers. That’s 6% of the world’s population. You already passively know thousands of words in Spanish. Pronunciation is simple, and words are pronounced as they are written.
If Xela is famous for one thing, it is for its Spanish language schools. Forget about sharing a teacher with other students. Forget also about two or three lessons per week. Xela offers not only proper immersion, but at very low prices. It has lots of Spanish schools. I worked for 6 months in one of the top schools, . They offer 25 private one-on-one lessons, a week of home-stay with a local family and meals with the family, for 1880 Quetzales a week which is $244 (June 2015). This is an absolute bargain. You might think, what is 1 week of Spanish? Well, if you are a beginner, this is probably the most rapid method of obtaining a solid base in the language. You’d be surprised how much progress you can make when you are speaking at least 25 hours per week with a local. Spanish schools come with the advantage of cultural activities, organised treks & a social life straight away.
And that’s just the price in a bigger, better and a well-organised school. If you want cheaper, some schools charge much less. It is not hard to find a private tutor that would charge you $4-5 per hour. The more Spanish you learn, the more the local life and culture opens up to you.
Living with a local family as part of a Spanish immersion is a unique experience. See how the locals behave, eat and live.
The other reason people come to Xela is to work for an NGO. Just as with Spanish schools, there are lots of NGOs. Many foreigners come to volunteer for weeks, months and occasionally years. Sometimes they get a paid position. You can contribute, learn a new skill, work alongside locals, help locals.
This organisation, , has a for volunteer organisations in Xela and Guatemala in general . Some examples are volunteering with the Red Cross, teaching English, helping kids with their homework, help an NGO store sell their goods, writing grant letters, going into the growth side of NGOs etc.
Learning Spanish and NGOs are the main reasons people are drawn to Quetzaltenango in the first place. Soon though they realise they found a very comfortable and interesting place. There’s an excellent combination of very low prices, exotic appeal, culture, opportunities and community. Many foreigners call it a home for a while. They settle generally for a few weeks or months. Some stay longer.
Quiet and Cozy centre: Most foreigners live in the centre around Parque Central. At the Central Park you can hang out in the daytime or at night. While the city is not small, the centre is compact. That’s where the colonial architecture is located. The cobble streets make the cars go slower. It is not chaotic and relatively peaceful. Besides that you got everything you need for living right there, at most within 10 minute walk.
There are a number of bars. You can find live music almost every night of the week. Coffee is locally produced and is excellent. There are at least 5 coffee places in the centre where you can meet other foreigners and locals. Night-life is good, with lots of Latin dances and music. There are a few clubs and after-party clubs. A produce market will provide you with fresh fruit and veg. There’s a western style supermarket. Numerous restaurants are available, but there’s also street food stalls with very cheap food. All of this is within a 10 minute walk, as well as your apartment, your Spanish school or volunteer organisation. After living in gigantic London, I found this a heaven.
Eternal Spring: How can you say no to sunshine and t-shirt weather everyday? Much of Latin America offers unbearably hot temperatures that rise above 30C or 84F in. Xela however is high in the mountains (2300m altitude), and thus gives you a daytime spring temperature of 20-24C or 68-75F all year! There are 4 months of cold nights that drop to 3C or 37F, but you get daily sunshine and blue skies. Watch out for rainy season though 😉�
The locals don’t speak English: How is that even a good thing? Obviously it makes it more challenging, but this is part of the fun. Welcome to immersion. In order to speak a foreign language, one needs to practice speaking it, and Xela will give you that. Language is a massive part of culture, and when you learn the local lingo, you experience the local culture, and that opens a whole world for you. Speaking of the locals…
Local People: Xela’s population is mostly indigenous and the people are descendants of the pyramid-building Mayas. A lot of people still speak a Mayan language called K’iche. Many women wear traditional clothes.
The people do not match the stereotype of the extroverted Latin American. They are quiet and a little reserved. They are respectful, polite and speak in low voices. You walk the streets, and people constantly make eye contact and greet you with a Buenos dias, buenas tardes, buenas noches. People greet strangers everywhere, which is just charming.
Local Community and Friends: Making local friends is not easy when there’s a language barrier, but luckily there are enough foreigners who are in the same boat for you to have a very social life. There is an ever-changing community of fellow short/mid-term immigrants who come to enjoy the city. The small centre means that you will keep running into familiar faces, and it sometimes will feel a bit like a campus, a campus for amazing and special experiences abroad… The community of like-minded friendly foreigners makes living in Xela a very sociable experience. People come from countries like the US, Belgium, Holland, Germany, France, Britain, Switzerland, Japan etc.
Living Costs: Very cheap! Foreigners live mainly in the city centre. The cost of renting a room in shared house is $100-200 per month. You can have your own apartment for $200. Rent contracts are flexible and you can rent for just 1 month or less. There are many places to rent that have locals, foreigners or both. Street food: breakfast costs $1-2, lunch – $2. Gym membership is $17 a month. It’s possible to have a personal trainer for a low price. You can do Yoga 3 times a day at the for $17 per month. My cost of living for everything was about $400 a month – I didn’t do much of my own cooking and I would go out a lot on the weekends.
You can learn anything cheaply, but first you need to learn Spanish. Guitar, drawing, martial arts, singing, programming, website design, business or even go to university… or learn to weave your scarf at – an NGO.
Learning to dance, discovering new music: Latin America has a population of nearly 600 million people – around 8-9% of the world’s population. It is then not surprising that this region has many types of music and dances. The beats and rhythms that come out of Latin America just don’t reach Europe. You will get to know some awesome new music. Xela’s people love to dance. Salsa, Bachata, Cumbia, Merengue, Reggaeton etc. You can learn and try all of these in Xela. You can have very cheap lessons every day. This is another way into the local culture, where both the men and the women dance. Do as the locals do, and then you start to see the world a little bit differently.
Villages around: While Xela is a city that is a little more cosmopolitan, the surrounding villages are authentically Mayan. Just a 10-20 minute bus ride will take you to see a different world. Farmers working hard, lots of fruit & veg, adults and kids carrying wood on their back in mountainous landscape. Poverty too of course.
Location & Hiking: From the city there are a few easy day-hikes to beautiful locations including a number of volcanoes. One is the Santa Maria Volcano, a 3,700m cone-shape beast looming over Xela that locals go up to perform ceremonies at the top. Another is the 3-hour away Tajumulco volcano, and at 4,300m it is the highest peak in Central America.
One hour away is volcano Chicabal, where in its volcanic crater a lake has formed. It’s sacred for the Mayans, and there are ceremonial spots all around it. It’s stunning.
Lake Atitlan is 3 hours away. It’s mentioned as one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, which must have something to do with the two volcanoes around it.
Xela is also 1 hour away from the coast, where you can enjoy some very hot beach weather if you need to escape the freshness of the highlands.
While I described the things that make up this amazing city, the experience you could have is beyond the sum of the characteristics. It’s an amazing spot for chilling, partying, living comfortably, having lots of cultural exposure and insight, volunteering, trying something new, learning a new language, hiking, being inspired, visiting surrounding villages, having fun, working, writing, dancing, mixing with the locals, and the list goes on. Even watching the local football team Xelaju play in the Guatemalan league.
Recently I found myself leaving for the 4th time. This city has positively influenced my life in many ways. Personal development and growth, a new language, trying many new things, realisation of the many prejudices I held, many good friends from many backgrounds and stories etc. I in the city, from my experiences there. I will always remember Xela for all that it gave me, and I hope you give it a chance too.
If somebody has anything to add about Xela, please let me know