Anonymous
Post 04/24/2024 11:42     Subject: affordable flight routes from DC area?
Anonymous wrote:Neither El Salvador nor Guatemala are safe OP. There are military officers with machine guns at supermarkets in Guatemala


Oh boy chicken little.
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2024 11:41     Subject: affordable flight routes from DC area?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Why Spanish speaking?


My kids are in a Spanish immersion program and visiting Belize last year gave them such a confidence boost (they enjoyed being our translators!)

Vieques is a great idea. I was thinking of Cuelebra. Maybe a couple days in San Juan and then there.


Are you kidding me? Belize is English speaking. Sure there are some Spanish speakers there, but that’s true here too.


Not kidding at all Did we need Spanish, no? Did my kids have a ball speaking Spanish to hotel staff, cab drivers, tour guides, absolutely. And, there were absolutely situations where it was very useful and more than that there were situations where they had a very different experience because they were communicating in others' native language. Additionally, Mexico City certainly doesn't require Spanish and we wanted to go there. We just can't afford to anymore.

If you're not the Wheaton poster from above, I assume you're related. Whatever it is that eats you, I hope you find a way to feel better!




So you ran around speaking Spanish to people who also spoke English? You didn’t need to go to Belize to do that!
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2024 11:20     Subject: affordable flight routes from DC area?
Anonymous wrote:Neither El Salvador nor Guatemala are safe OP. There are military officers with machine guns at supermarkets in Guatemala


El Salvador has the 2nd lowest homicide rate in all of the Americas (Canada is lowest).

DC had 67 homicides in 2023 with a population of 670k people.

El Salvador had 154 homicides with 10x the population (6.3 million).

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-says-murders-fell-70-2023-it-cracked-down-gangs-2024-01-03/

Flights are also really cheap to El Salvador on Avianca, and they fly 3-4x a day direct from Dulles.
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2024 11:16     Subject: affordable flight routes from DC area?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Why Spanish speaking?


My kids are in a Spanish immersion program and visiting Belize last year gave them such a confidence boost (they enjoyed being our translators!)

Vieques is a great idea. I was thinking of Cuelebra. Maybe a couple days in San Juan and then there.


Are you kidding me? Belize is English speaking. Sure there are some Spanish speakers there, but that’s true here too.


The official language of Belize is English, however over 60% of the population speaks Spanish.
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2024 11:07     Subject: affordable flight routes from DC area?
Neither El Salvador nor Guatemala are safe OP. There are military officers with machine guns at supermarkets in Guatemala
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2024 10:46     Subject: affordable flight routes from DC area?
Go to Google flight and choose anywhere for your dates and see what pops up. Flights everywhere are pricey, especially in June...
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2024 10:42     Subject: affordable flight routes from DC area?
Panama and Colombia often have cheaper flights
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2024 09:08     Subject: affordable flight routes from DC area?
El Salvador. It's the one place I have travelled where English was not widely spoken at hotels/restaurants, etc.
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2024 09:02     Subject: affordable flight routes from DC area?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Why Spanish speaking?


My kids are in a Spanish immersion program and visiting Belize last year gave them such a confidence boost (they enjoyed being our translators!)

Vieques is a great idea. I was thinking of Cuelebra. Maybe a couple days in San Juan and then there.


Belize is an English speaking country.

Avianca has a lot of reasonably priced flights througout Central and South America.
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2024 08:49     Subject: affordable flight routes from DC area?
Anonymous wrote:We just returned home from Guatemala. Paid $282rt on United. Very economical trip.


OP here and I would also really appreciate some more thoughts on where to stay.
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2024 08:47     Subject: affordable flight routes from DC area?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Why Spanish speaking?


My kids are in a Spanish immersion program and visiting Belize last year gave them such a confidence boost (they enjoyed being our translators!)

Vieques is a great idea. I was thinking of Cuelebra. Maybe a couple days in San Juan and then there.


Are you kidding me? Belize is English speaking. Sure there are some Spanish speakers there, but that’s true here too.


Not kidding at all Did we need Spanish, no? Did my kids have a ball speaking Spanish to hotel staff, cab drivers, tour guides, absolutely. And, there were absolutely situations where it was very useful and more than that there were situations where they had a very different experience because they were communicating in others' native language. Additionally, Mexico City certainly doesn't require Spanish and we wanted to go there. We just can't afford to anymore.

If you're not the Wheaton poster from above, I assume you're related. Whatever it is that eats you, I hope you find a way to feel better!


Anonymous
Post 04/24/2024 08:39     Subject: affordable flight routes from DC area?
Anonymous wrote:PR? Bleh. Go somewhere more interesting OP. There are so many places!


This is why I asked the question! I thought DCUM would shine with knowing the more affordable flight routes and having ideas.
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2024 08:37     Subject: affordable flight routes from DC area?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Why Spanish speaking?


My kids are in a Spanish immersion program and visiting Belize last year gave them such a confidence boost (they enjoyed being our translators!)

Vieques is a great idea. I was thinking of Cuelebra. Maybe a couple days in San Juan and then there.


Yours are apparently more outgoing than mine. Ours are pretty solid Spanish speakers, but when we went to a Spanish speaking country, they had no desire to speak to others unless forced to. That's why I was asking- it was kind of a bust for us in the idea of "expose them to Latino/Spanish culture/language", partially because most people in tourist-fronting jobs speak English.


We have MANY challenges but extroversion coupled with (over?) confidence works in the case of travel. My older kid was actually a bit disappointed/frustrated when we adults were able to navigate meals and excursion booking ourselves taking advantage of English speakers. I will say, seeing how people reacted to the kids and what they shared and how they opened up made me realize how different the experience is when you don't speak. They'll learn that when we take them to a country where they just can't dive in.
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2024 08:19     Subject: affordable flight routes from DC area?
Panama City?
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2024 08:15     Subject: affordable flight routes from DC area?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Why Spanish speaking?


My kids are in a Spanish immersion program and visiting Belize last year gave them such a confidence boost (they enjoyed being our translators!)

Vieques is a great idea. I was thinking of Cuelebra. Maybe a couple days in San Juan and then there.


Yours are apparently more outgoing than mine. Ours are pretty solid Spanish speakers, but when we went to a Spanish speaking country, they had no desire to speak to others unless forced to. That's why I was asking- it was kind of a bust for us in the idea of "expose them to Latino/Spanish culture/language", partially because most people in tourist-fronting jobs speak English.


They are not comfortable in Spanish then.