My husband and I are heading to Guate on the 23rd and planning to stay a little over a week and a half. We'd like to attend a school there, but are having trouble weighing them. We're looking for something with a great homestay (a family that is really interactive and might even go out and show us the town), fair prices, and that is located in a place where fun afternoon and evening cultural activities are available to walk or bike to. I did a similar thing in Granada, Nicaragua about 5 years ago, and Granada was perfect for that --- always something to do, but a good place to practice Spanish (looking for a more immersive experience -- not a really heavily trafficked area where English will be spoken a lot). Anybody have any ideas for me? We've looked at places in Xela and around Lago Atitlan, but are totally flexible.

In the last three weeks of our trip, we'll make our way through Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica and are scouting out schools and good places to visit there too -- does anybody have any good Spanish school suggestions or other sites we should visit in any of those locales (that are similar to the description above, and a bit more below)?

Things we like:
Volunteering for a couple afternoons in schools or hospitals
Cultural experiences (theater)
Long talks with locals (in Spanish, albeit somewhat broken!)
Museums -- history, art, etc
Archeological sites; including war sites, major historical locales, temples and religious/cultural buildings
Ferias !!! Festivals of all kinds -- would love to attend some of these.
Good Food -- adventurous eaters
Wildlife and nature -- husband LOVES volcanoes
Hiking, Biking (love biking) , walks
Markets!

If you know of ANY school in Guate, Honduras, Nica, Costa Rica, or El Salvador that has access within walking or biking to many of these things (or that offers great, affordable excursions), PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE share!!