So lucky...

What a crazy day. Arguably one of the most important of my service, and potentially my life.

Today I found out where I will be living and serving for two years. It is a tiny little town near the Municipality of Uspantán, in Quiche, Guatemala. And it is fantastic.

I had the good fortune of visiting this town already! And falling in love with it. It's mountainous, green, warm, gorgeous and absolutely tiny. Oh it also has electricity and water, as well as likely internet connectivity (via a phone modem for my computer). Also there are chickens, a lot of them. Though tiny and quite rural, it's only 40 minutes by bus from the fairly large town of Uspantán, which boasts nice hotels, lots of stores, some awesome clothes shopping options, a pizza place, a large hospital, and tasty Mexican food. It's not exactly Antigua, but it's definitely a good place to have nearby. So in other words, I will be enjoying total immersion with the people of a tiny town with access to amenities and a fair amount of variety in food. In other words, it couldn't be better.


Emotions upon finding out? Absolute happiness - I received the site I asked for. Not everyone is so lucky. I had been there, and I had loved it. I told my APCD (associate Peace Corps director, the "boss" of my program) how much I liked it. I really couldn't have been happier when he told me I was going there. However, I certainly had to wonder who my female partner was going to be - it could have been anyone out of the 20-some women in my program. Then, when it was announced very slyly that my site mate was actually PRESENT (there were 8 of us in the group finding out at that moment) I got really excited - I got along well with everyone there. And then, when he told me that Cat, one of my closest friends from training, was my partner, there was screaming and tears and hugging. It was certainly one of the most shocking moments of my life. We hadn't even considered the option of being put together and that made the moment even more wonderful, and utterly memorable.

We are also fortunate enough to have a family of volunteers welcoming us to our site! We are the first to be placed in our aldea, but there are a few volunteers in the center and others nearby. Two other pairs from my training group have also been placed in Uspantán, although in very rural sites. However, I am so excited to have a group of six of us so close by and to be welcomed by already established volunteers.

Site visit is next week. Impressions will be carefully noted, stored, and brought back to share with everyone soon!