Mexico (Part 16)-Finishing Spanish classes at Instituto Jovel in Chiapas

The school was very modern and the classrooms very comfortable. It was in a great area with lots of great restaurants and shops nearby.

                                               Here is Carol checking out the school library

When I travel to foreign destinations, I always like to have some real localized experiences. Helga, the director of the school,  set up several side trips for Carol and me that I will discuss in subsequent blogs. Helga also offered us several trips that had we had more time we could have had some other great local experiences.

One of my classes was with Regnaldo who is one of the directors of the school. Regnaldo kept us on the edge of our seats explaining in graphic detail the battles  the state of Chiapas had with the Zapatistas who tried to overthrow the government. Many people know of Chiapas because of the Zapatista movement.

 One of the most riveting stories was the one of how his injured father had been forced out of his home by the Zapatistas into the cold night. He had been told he would return and find his house burned to the ground. Fortunately, when he returned, his home was intact except for some personal belongings.

To hear these stories from someone who had experienced them was incredible! Thanks Regnaldo!!

                         This is the  banner that was hanging in a Zapatista co-op that we visited so we could find out what this Zapatista stuff is all about.               

After a week at Instituto Jovel we felt our Spanish had definitely improved.

If you are interested in attending the school here is the web address:www.institutojovel.com.  I highly recommend them. 

If you want some great Mexican food holiday recipes I notice that Dave Cathey, The Oklahoman’s food editor has some great recipes on his web site. You can find it here: http://blog.newsok.com/fooddude/category/mexican-food/

BTW-If you want to check out some really neat stuff about what is happening on the redesigned Newsok.com then you need to check out Alan Herzberger’s update here

Next Posting-some interesting photos of the streets of San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas

View my other travel blogs on NewsOk.com:                                          Colombia:                                                         http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/colombia/

Mexico:                                                                        http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/mexico/        

Caribbean island of Barbuda:                           http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/barbuda/                                                                                  San Juan with a 5 hour layover:                            http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/san-juan-puerto-rico/       

Fly around the U.S. for the day:                                   http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/day-trip/

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