We know where we're going......

But we can't announce it on the blog. 

The Peace Corps asks that we don't publicly disclose exact locations of our sites, or that of other volunteers.  If you don't know where we'll be living, e-mail us or ask someone.  That being said, if you do know where we are going to be living, please make sure not to make reference of it through comments or anything public.  It is more for safety reasons than anything else.

Here is what we can tell you:
* We'll be living in the South East part of Region 8 in a remote Amerindian community.
* It is the remote site Peace Corps will be sending volunteers to this year, only accessible by plane.
* The closest village is a four hour hike away.
* The most common form of transportation is by ATV, but we can't ride one.
* There is no Internet or cell service.  There is some solar electricity in the village but we have yet to find out if we will have any of it in our own home.
* There is no running water.  Water will be obtained through creeks, streams, rain water tanks, and wells.
* We will have to grow a garden in order to help sustain ourselves, and we are currently looking into keeping chickens for eggs and meat.
* Paul will be working in the health center with a focus on mother's and children, as well as school and community health outreach.  He will also be working in youth projects and sports, possibly even wood working.  There is also a possible need for environmental education which is very exciting!\
* Alyssa will be focusing on literacy and phonics instruction, both training teachers through workshops and hopefully pulling out remedial students for small group instruction.  There are also possible needs for helping build the resource center/library (which she is very excited about) and starting a women's group such as sewing.
* There are currently no other volunteers in the area, and we will be the first Peace Corps volunteers to enter our village.
* We will be living in mud hut with a thatched roof, and we heard we may have an extra bedroom for all of you that want to visit.
* When we ask staff that has visited our village what it is like, they all start off by saying, "It's beautiful".  Our area has multiple waterfalls, and is backed by mountains, savannahs, and rainforest.
* We've heard that the village government is extremely excited to have us there, which is incredibly encouraging.
* We have no idea what food will be accessible at our site which could lead to some interesting culinary attempts (and hopefully skills).
* The village is estimated to have around 750 people, just small enough to get to know everyone, but not so small that we'll feel like we're stepping on people's toes.
* The site we choose was our number one choice, and the first one Alyssa read out of 35 possible sites, so we're very excited and feel incredibly lucky.

We leave in less than two weeks for our site and will make it there just in time for Paul's birthday on the 1st.  Poor Paul will spend his 25th birthday moving and unpacking, but this will probably be the most exciting of all our moves, and I don't think he'll mind.

For now we are just excited.  We've re-read our site packets cover to cover.  We're excited to make friends and learn our community.  We're ready to help anyway we can and start projects, even though we know we have to give it time.  We're ready to learn from our village and finally have our Peace Corps service truly become reality.