Rules, policies, norms and local etiquette

Thank you all for joining us in this adventure! We are so thankful for each and every one of you. Hosting groups is our passion and your participation is making a dream of ours a reality. As the name “Culture Chalk” implies, we specialize in offering in depth, cultural experiences that will, hopefully, be remembered for life. 

 

Many times, often unaware, we have seen guests fumble over some cultural norms here in San Juan. We want to ensure your comfort and safety by offering a quick review of our guidelines.

 

 

SAFETY FIRST

 

Dogs

 

Please do not pet dogs on the street. Buying them a bag of food is great if you would like to contribute to their wellbeing, however, please explain to your children that dogs are not seen so much as pets here, rather guardians. (Even the cute ones can bite) 

Please also watch your step! Many street dogs equals many street turds. Consider them landmines and avoid them at all costs. In the event that you or a child steps on one of said landmines, we have a utility sink near the deck stairs where you can wash off any footwear. Please do not wash in the room sinks or in the kitchen. (A no brainer but sometimes these landmines can cause all sorts of frantic fight or flight responses!)

 

Hygene

 

Drinking water: 

Drinking water is provided throughout all the Culture Chalk accommodations. There are water stations on each floor and in each home that are filled regularly, please make sure each family member has a refillable water bottle. 

Water is NOT DRINKABLE from the taps, we encourage each of you to brush your teeth with the potable water from the drinking water stations.

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Toilet Paper: 

Guatemalan sewage systems are not tied into a main municipal sewage treatment plant. Each building and home has its own septic system and flushing toilet paper is not permitted anywhere in the country. Please dispose of your soiled paper in the bins beside the toilet.

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Room Cleaning

Floors of each room will be cleaned on a daily basis and toilet paper bins emptied. For longer term stays with our OldSchool program, sheet changes will be carried out once a week. Please make your own beds and keep your rooms tidy so that our staff can clean the floors daily and keep the rooms in sanitary conditions.

For those staying in our San Pedro home, a full clean and sheet changes will be carried out on a weekly basis by our cleaning staff. This does not include dishes, please keep the kitchen tidy and food put away to avoid ant and pests.

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Laundry

We have a local laundry pickup service available. Our friend Pedro will be happy to pick up your laundry bags and deliver it folded once cleaned. Please give us one day's notice to coordinate.  

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Tuk tuks

 

You can catch a tuk tuk anywhere in San Juan by waving them down as you would with a Taxi in North America. They should charge no more than 10Q per Adult and kids under 10 should not be charged. It is best to have your fare ready in the right change to avoid any conflict. Do not ask how much before entering, just let them know your destination and have the right amount ready. 

We have a naughty list for the tuk tuk numbers. Tuk tuks will all have stickers on them with their Tuk Tuk number. These are drivers that have either ripped us or have ripped off others we know, or we have caught them drinking and driving. Please do not take any of these cabs for your own safety. 

“Bad boy tuk tuks”

#114, #47, #89, #65, #171

 

Street Food

 

Generally speaking, most of our guests have had great experiences with Street food and NOT getting sick. If you decide to try out some of the delicious street-vendor-delicacies San Juan has to offer, the streets of San Juan are extremely safe as far as crime goes but just be aware of traffic and dogs in the later parts of the night. San Juan comes ALIVE after 6:00pm and the vendors line up the streets near the bank and the Municipal Arena. We would recommend sticking to deep fried treats as they are always fresh and will be the best bet as far as food safety goes! (Fried chicken, fried plantains and cream, fries, pupusas and tamales are all cooked at very high temperatures, therefore rendering the foods safe when eaten as fresh as they are).. also, for about 10$ you can feed your whole family!

 

Hotel Safety

 

Please have a chat with your children about using the facilities appropriately. We have invested a lot of time and resources into “updating” this Hotel to meet North American safety standards… as best as possible with what we have available here!! Please respect each item in using it for its intended purpose. For example, hammocks are hammocks not swings, the hot tub is a hot tub, not for emptying and using as a boxing ring, the handrails are handrails and not jungle-gyms.. Stuff like that!

 

Showers.. Why are there wires in the shower!!??

 

Shower heads are the electric heaters offered here, they operate by turning the valve all the way open and then adjusting the pressure. The lower the pressure, the hotter your shower will be. Do not tinker with the shower heads while the water is running, please ask for assistance if the faucets get jammed or pressure is less than ideal. These are first world 3rd world problems! When we installed our first electric shower head, word got out in our neighbourhood and we had a line up of little boys at our door asking if they could try out our hot shower! We are thankful for what we have and hope these experiences will change your thinking as they have changed our worldview. We have our shower heads maintained and replaced regularly but cannot always guarantee hot showers due to the very unreliable voltage supply by the local power grid. You have our promise that we will do our best to keep your family as comfortable as possible, in return we ask that you understand that this is Guatemala and that you are visiting a developing country.

 

Climbing on benches, furniture and ledges is strictly prohibited and we all as parents must give one another permission to remind one another’s children of this if we see something out of line or dangerous taking place.

 

Cultural and Communal Etiquette

 

Greetings

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San Juan and rural Guatemala in general is a very, very friendly place. Please speak to your children prior to arrival about the importance of looking up at people you pass and greeting them. People will WANT to say hi to your children and it is seen as rude to pass by someone without a smile and hello.

 

Good morning - Buenos dias

Good afternoon - Buenas tardes

Good evening - Buenas noches

 

IF you have a hard time remembering these, a simple “Hola” with a big smile will go a long way. We are representing our countries here and want to leave a sweet taste in the minds of our hosts.

 

Group parenting / Community living

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We want to foster a deep sense of community within our groups and expect children to greet one another in the mornings as well as the other adults in the group. We fully endorse speaking up if you see another child, (that isn’t yours’) doing something unsafe, dishonest or outside of the guidelines. A gentle and then stern reminder without raising your voice is what we recommend if not listened to before letting the other parent kindly know. It takes a village and we live that out in Guatemala to the fullest extent we have ever experienced.

IF you have any objections with this, please speak to us privately and we will come to an agreement on what you are comfortable with as a means to protect and admonish your child.

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Group Chat

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Each event has a WhatsApp group chat set up usually 30-60 days before the event's start date. This is a great place to get acquainted with fellow guests that will be attending, before the event starts. A list of participating families first names and children's ages is available upon request ahead of time. 

When we kickoff the group chat, we will request that you send in a 1 minute intro video with your family so that all participants can put faces to names. This helps us off to a good start from day one when events begin. 

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Baby talk

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We do not talk to children in baby voices. We have found that middle aged and older children can feel diminished when parents that have younger kids, and that are used to talking to their babies in a soft baby voice, talk to them in the same manner. For this reason we talk to all children in an equal, appropriate adult voice and tone. We like to offer children across several ages many of the same chores and opportunities to learn skills. This takes the supervision and attention of all of us as a group. We ask that you all remember that this is an event with education and learning as its cornerstones.​

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General Behaviour​

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Due to this being a shared living space, running, playing with balls in the hallways or rough play is not permitted in the hotel area. There is a beautiful basketball court within a four minute walk. Parents, if you find your kids need some space to run, yell, wrestle or kick a ball around for a while to burn some energy, the "cancha" is the place to do this. Ask a staff member and they can guide your family there or give you directions.

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CAUTION! The floors are extremely slippery when wet. Please talk to your children about the importance of saving running for the basketball court downtown.

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Activities

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All scheduled activities are optional. If you need a break from any of our daily activities, please just send us a message ahead of time and we will be happy to adjust. 

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Working Parents

If you have come to any of our programs with the intention of sending your children to the activities while you stay back to work online, please just let us know and we will put a staff member in charge of making sure your child gets to and from the planned activities safely.

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Yelling or screaming

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If you run into a situation where kids are screaming or yelling and it is disturbing your rest, please alert the chat group and ask the parents to please take the children responsible for the disturbance to the basketball court. In community living settings direct communication is extremely important. If something is driving you crazy, or you think it will start to drive you crazy, tell us. Don't let anything stew!

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We ask that if you are frustrated with your own child, that you also refrain from yelling. There is no doubt about it, with many children and families, there will be chaos at times and we want to ensure that we all have the best experience possible. If your child is acting up or having a temper tantrum, please remove them from the group and give them the time needed to calm down. Our art and craft room is always available for such instances, please stay there with your child and as a group we will all be that village for your other children if needed.
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Interactions with staff, locals and vendors

 

In all honesty, our staff is our WHY for being here. Our personal story starts with volunteer work in San Juan and San Pedro and this business has been established as a means to an end to support these families and our community projects. Please treat them like gold.

When on the streets, again please remember that we are representing our countries, race and communities back home. Treat people with kindness and grace. Bartering is acceptable here but do it with a light heart and smile. Respect their prices if they dig in their heels and remember that the average income here is around 120Q a day and markups on Artesanal goods are not always high. It is best to ask us or your host family for fair value on items you are interested in purchasing.

 

Arts and Craft room 

 

1. Hours of operation: 1-3pm. Always available as “The meltdown room” (However if you find that it becomes a reward of sorts for bad behavior, we can change the protocol)

2. Children are to enter only when supervision is available and have permission.

3. One craft at a time, please clean up after yourself between each craft.

4. Do not remove games or toys without permission. 

5. This is a quiet place, like a library. It is meant for kids to have a calm space to work on something, their Spanish, do art, play with toys, do a puzzle… no yelling or running around or pillow fights with the cushions.