I know my site!!!

I'm going to go to Quiche!! My pueblicito is pretty small, a little under 2,000 people and it's a mix of indigenous and ladino people. I imagine it will be like San Antonio in that everyone speaks Spanish but that culture and language is still very much a part of the community. I'm incredibly excited! There are a couple of reasons why I suppose, the biggest reason why is because I ran into the muni volunteer that I'm replacing and she said that whoever replaces her is really like and the counterpart is great. So that's the biggest reason why I'm excited because that was my number one priority...working with a team that I can be happy with. Also, I'm super excited because the weather is like here in San Antonio! That means I can still work out and I don't have to worry about being too freezing or too cold!! The site is also super safe which is a huge relief because being a woman that's a huge concern, especially if I plan on living alone. And the final reason that I'm super pumped is supposedly it's within the three hour range to Lake Atitlan! So even though I'm kind of out there, it's exciting to know that I could potential escape to one of the most beautiful places on earth (I'm told, have yet to visit), on a semi regular basis! I'm also really excited that there is a Mayan culture there. I find it absolutely intriguing and even though at first I wanted to be placed in a Ladino site, I feel that I'm going to learn a tremendous amount culturally. When else will I have that kind of opportunity!? Sure it will be a challenge working with the more timid women's groups, but it's a challenge that I'm ready to face. There's also a family living there that's from the US. Pretty sweet! The biggest down fall is the fact that I'll be basically trapped in my site during the winter when it's the rainy season. The road to my town isn't paved so when it rains...it's pretty much impassable by chicken bus. So for all of you planning to visit...don't plan on coming May to August (I think that's the rainy season?)

I'm so relieved to have this information! No more stress, no more what will life be like. The journey is about to begin! I go on site visit next week so I'll have much more first hand details on what life will be like there and where I'll be living. From what I know I have two housing options. One is a room with a couple (or maybe just a woman?) where I will have more privacy the other is a room with a family where next door the daughter lives with her kids. I'm thinking I want the one with the kids because they make life so much better in so many ways. Also that one has a door to the street or to a patio so I won't have to go through a house to get to my room which could be nice as well. Both situations I think I'll be able to cook for myself which will be nice, although I do think I'd have the option of just having dinner with one of the families if I want to pay more. We shall see!!

So, for those of you who are in the training phases or about to ship off to your Peace Corps country, the best piece of advice I have is to keep an open mind. A lot of times you think you know what you want, but really during training you don't have that much time to develop a good sense for what the different possibilities are. I'm glad that I didn't limit myself by saying I want to be in the Oriente only or I want to be in a big town only. There's a reason why they put me where they put me and I'm excited to explore all the various opportunities that there are in my new site/home!