Instituto Guatemalteco Americano.

Cris and Tyler have been living in Quetzaltenango (nicknamed by its Maya name, Xela) since September 2006. Cris has a 10-month contract through the US State Department as a Senior English Langauge Fellow and is supported by the Public Relations and Cultural Affairs Offices at the US Embassy in Guatemala City. Cris works in Xela at the Instituto Guatemalteco Americano (IGA), designing and facilitating teacher training courses and workshops for pre-service and in-service English teachers in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. She also observes teachers and assists them in their own professional development.

Cris' next project is training a group of teachers who work specifically with underpriveleged Maya kids from the Western Highlands region. Cris is also helping her director, Brenda Arreaga, plan a regional conference for teachers of English for the first week of July. Four hundred teachers are expected to attend.

Cris and Tyler make their selection from masks for sale at one of Guatemala's most famous markets in Chichicastenango.

In addition to taking care of the house and making sure Cris is well fed, Tyler has been keeping the FGI website updated as well as designing a new website for IGA's Spanish program. Tyler also spends a lot of his time downloading, editing, and identifying music originating from Africa. If you would like to read more about Cris and Tyler's Guatemalan adventures, please visit their blog at www.ctylerjohnson.blogspot.com

Cris and Tyler will return to the States the second week of July 2007. They are not yet sure where they will next plant their feet as Cris has applied to PhD programs and is still waiting to hear of her acceptance. Eventually, they hope to settle in the Pacific Northwest.

Volcano Santa Maria (on the left) and Santiaguito, burping ash on the right, are just two of the many volcanoes skirting the periphery of Xela, the city where Cris and Tyler live.

Cris makes her way upstream in the river leading to Siete Altares (Seven Altars), a series of waterfalls that flow into the Caribbean Sea. (Livingston, Guatemala)