WHO WE ARE
MISSION
Our mission is to offer our students the best language instruction in the city, make language learning affordable to everyone who wants to learn, and to serve as a space that facilitates collective cultural exchange, driven by collaboration, friendship, learning, and mutual respect.
OUR VISION FOR LA GUARIDA
Build this cooperative into the best school it can be, in developing real cultural exchange, in spreading knowledge and mutual understanding, and in expanding the model of fair living wages and cooperative business ownership in Oaxaca.
OUR STORY
The name of our space and school is La Guarida, which means “The Hideout.” We chose it in part because our first space was only a half-block from the Zócalo (the city square), but to enter, you had to walk through a hallway and then climb up a flight of stairs to reach the terrace and classrooms, reminding us of a treehouse. So while it was little hidden—making it the perfect space for our students to learned without too many distractions—it was also just a stairway away from the beating heart of the city.
Perhaps more importantly, though, we chose the name because it conjures up the idea of a group of people coming together and making a plan to do something big or important. And we see this project as a big and important one. And it’s not just our project. We see you, our students, as co-conspirators and equal partners with us in this venture—in helping us build this cooperative into the best school it can be, in developing real cultural exchange, in spreading knowledge and mutual understanding, and in expanding the model of fair living wages and cooperative business ownership in Oaxaca. We will work tirelessly to fulfill our mission.
From you we ask that you come to classes eager to learn, contribute and share space with everyone. We also greatly appreciate and will always welcome all of your constructive feedback so that we can continue to grow and offer the best Spanish learning options in the city.
MEET OUR TEAM
WHY WE’RE DIFFERENT
While it’s not common for businesses to talk about their business plan with their customers, we are dedicated to being up front with ours because we see our students as equal partners in this venture.
As we explored options for starting this cooperative, we were drawn to business models based in the idea of shared space and convivencia (there’s no perfect translation, but it’s something like intimate or harmonious coexistence). As such, our main focus is offering small group classes at all levels of Spanish—usually between 2-4 students—supplemented with other activities and tours throughout the week that show our students various sides of Oaxaca while offering new contexts and spaces for practicing Spanish outside of the classroom.
Our prices are set so that we can pay all of our teachers a fair living wage. At the same time, we also proudly offer Travelers & Cultural Exchange Scholarships to as many students as we can who otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend. We hope this allows more students to engage in Spanish learning so that they can interact more closely with our culture and traditions here in Oaxaca, in Mexico, around Latin-America in general, and when they go home, with those who are part of the Latino diaspora.
Besides being a learning space for foreigners, we want to serve as a connection node between our students and cultural institutions, artists, and regular Oaxacans so that students get a real feel for Oaxaca and its traditions in order to forge real, mutually respectful connections between our city and the rest of the world.
