OUR NAME
The name “Kie Balam” means “Good Jaguar” in the Mayan language and was created following the rules of the book “Reading the Past: Maya Glyphs” by author S.D. Houston. It is the union of the Mayan glyph “Kii” used as a prefix (which would later be stylized as “Kie”) and the glyph “Balam”.
Glifo Kii Glifo Balam Kie Balam
Bueno Jaguar El Buen Jaguar
OUR FACILITIES
At Kie Balam we offer everything you need to learn Spanish.
Our facilities are designed to offer privacy and comfort; our students can choose whether they want to take classes in our classrooms or outdoors.
During breaks, students can play pool, ping pong, or board games like Scrabble, UNO, or Chess.
Students who want to learn more after class can go to our library, which has books on the Spanish language, grammar, dictionaries, literature, history, and Guatemalan reality.
Kie Balam's Puppy
In 2004, the school's director, Marlo Mora, rescued a puppy that was hit by a car outside Kie Balam. Unfortunately, the puppy was seriously injured and after recovering, he was never able to walk properly.
The puppy was adopted and named "Popy" (like the word puppy in English). Since then, Popy has lived in Kie Balam and met hundreds of students with whom he shared many fun moments. He made friends from all over the world!
In 2013, Marlo Mora wrote about Popy's story for the book "Aspas Literarias" published by the group of writers from Quetzaltenango "Los Quijotes".
You can see the original text of the book
Popy died in 2020. Kie Balam's entire family misses him very much, but we take comfort in knowing that we were able to give a second chance to a dog who was mistreated and abandoned to his fate. He lived very well and was given a lot of love until his last day.
He will always be "Kie Balam's Puppy."
