There are also a lot of water activities deep-sea fishing, water skiing, surfing, sailing, etc. Climbing volcanoes is the other popular activity. Some of them are active, some are not. You can climb most of them. There is a lake, Lake Atitlan, surrounded by volcanoes and is located a few hours drive from the capital. It was nominated to be one of the new Wonders of the Modern World. There are a lot of markets, local sites, and water activites there as well, though it is relatively touristy. However, it is beautiful.

In the north of the country there are most of the famous Mayan ruins, like Tikal. There is a different climate there. It is much more tropical, wet, and hot and many people like to go see the forests.

Shopping: There are 16 shopping malls and it seems that another one is constantly being constructed. There's no lack of goods to buy and many of the major department stores and appliance stores are here Sears, Samsung, Panasonic, LG, Price Smart (like Costco) and even a Wal-Mart owned grocery store called Hiper Paiz. There is also no lack of designer clothes, handbags, or luggage. These tend to dominate the malls, though there are also lots of cheap goods readily available. These stores all take foreign credit cards.

Domestic Help: It's very, very common to have a maid or two maids that live with you. In Guatemala many of them are illiterate, but work very hard for what they earn and have a good attitude about life and work. Plus, you can win them over by being nice, buying them a color TV with basic cable, and purchasing a prepaid cell phone, and not buying them separate food to eat. This is way above the standard treatment they would generally get from other families and they will be very grateful. They are very good with children (again, cultural differences), and can be trusted to watch them if you go out. Plus, this is a good way for you and the children to learn Spanish.

Most homes and apartments over 1,500 square feet are built with a maid's area that generally includes a separated area to put a table, a bedroom, and a bathroom. The minimum pay is about $200 a month and $250 is considered good pay. The standard days off for them are a day and a half on the weekends (Saturday at noon to Sunday night or Monday morning). Depending on her situation and what you allow, they will stay in the house (especially if her town or residency is far away) or go home to their families.

Having a driver is also very common, and they are almost exclusively male (I've never seen a woman driver, but they probably exist.) He can also live with you and gets paid around $350 as a minimum and $500 if he speaks English as well as Spanish. The pay continues to go up if you would like him to double as personal security, as many people do. $800 a month is probably the maximum one will pay and this is if they have been through body guard training or have previously worked for a high profile client.

Schools: There are 11 Universities. However, all of the instruction is in Spanish. There is one University, Francisco Marroquin, which has a lot of American influence. They do offer classes in English and you can take them, but to actually get a undergraduate degree or a certification from the University you need to be highly proficient in Spanish. Some of the master's programs are conducted entirely, or very near entirely in English, however, as in the other universities. Marroquin offers mostly liberal arts careers. Its more technical counterpart is the Universidad del Valle, which also only gives undergrad classes in Spanish but has English master's degree programs.

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