After looking at the costs of hotels in Miami this weekend, and looking at the costs of flights out of Miami this weekend, i decided to book a flight to Panama. You only live once
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I absolutely would enroll in a formal class! Although at the beginner level they tend to be full of expats and people who don't really take it seriously. When i went to China i was able to afford 4 hours a day of one-on-one classes. I did that for a couple months, and it really made a huge impact on how quickly i was able to become fluent (well, fluent-ish). That's the kind of thing i am looking for. It definitely needs to be in a cheap place, though. They do offer these sorts of classes in Panama City, but it starts to get pricey if you're going for a month or more. I figured i would start by going to Bocas del Toro for the Caribbean island/meeting sailors/drinking out of a coconut experience. Then move on to a specific place with perhaps less tourists for more formal Spanish lessons.
I would love to go to Guatemala, i feel like it is a good balance of hippie shit like where all my hippie backpacker friends go to do their cacao ceremonies but also it's the only country outside of Mexico where they eat chilis and i realized in Miami that the lack of chilis in non-Mexican Latin American food is making me very sad. Unfortunately Guatemala has joined Mexico on the list of Latin American countries where it's a shit-show to visit as a tourist unless you are at a high class hotel nowadays. I don't know how much of it is rumor and fear and how much is real, but it definitely isn't the place it was some years ago. COVID-related fear and economic pressure is probably only making things worse for these countres.
Peru is another option. I was never remotely interested in it (despite it being a major hippie-ish tourist destination amongst my friends group), but after i ate Peruvian food in Kansas i decided i liked it and so i might enjoy going there. Otherwise Argentina is a super "safe" option that a few Argentinians i know online recommend visiting because their economy went to the shitter so (they say) my dollar would go a long way. My main South American interests have always been Venezuela and Colombia, mostly due to the piratical/Caribbean history side, but those are also risky. I really think being fluent in Spanish will help me to feel less apprehensive about these places, so that's the top priority for me.
I would suggest not going to Argentina to study Spanish. I love Argentina - especially away from Buenos Aires. But the Spanish they speak is, um, atypical. It would be like going to India to study English. Similarly with Chile, though the island of Chilioe would be a great place to hang out got a while.
Ecuador might be another possibility. There were plenty of people at the hostel I stayed at in Quito who were studying Spanish. But one potential issue there (and in Peru) is that much of the population speaks Spanish as their second language (and Quechua as their first). So, you may be limited to the larger (and, hence, pricier) cities to study.
I would love to go to Guatemala, i feel like it is a good balance of hippie shit like where all my hippie backpacker friends go to do their cacao ceremonies but also it's the only country outside of Mexico where they eat chilis and i realized in Miami that the lack of chilis in non-Mexican Latin American food is making me very sad. Unfortunately Guatemala has joined Mexico on the list of Latin American countries where it's a shit-show to visit as a tourist unless you are at a high class hotel nowadays. I don't know how much of it is rumor and fear and how much is real, but it definitely isn't the place it was some years ago. COVID-related fear and economic pressure is probably only making things worse for these countres.
Peru is another option. I was never remotely interested in it (despite it being a major hippie-ish tourist destination amongst my friends group), but after i ate Peruvian food in Kansas i decided i liked it and so i might enjoy going there. Otherwise Argentina is a super "safe" option that a few Argentinians i know online recommend visiting because their economy went to the shitter so (they say) my dollar would go a long way. My main South American interests have always been Venezuela and Colombia, mostly due to the piratical/Caribbean history side, but those are also risky. I really think being fluent in Spanish will help me to feel less apprehensive about these places, so that's the top priority for me.
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Ecuador might be another possibility. There were plenty of people at the hostel I stayed at in Quito who were studying Spanish. But one potential issue there (and in Peru) is that much of the population speaks Spanish as their second language (and Quechua as their first). So, you may be limited to the larger (and, hence, pricier) cities to study.
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