Another transition

Sooo...

2 weeks ago were site vists. I actually saw my site during FBT, so it was great to have some reference going into the town. I received a wonderful welcome from everyone I met and I´m excited to start woking in Bernales. A lot of the work will be as a result of the earthquake that hit the area in 2007 - a lot of higiene work most likely. The Red Cross is also working in my town, so I´m hoping to partner with them as well. Eventually I would love to do a bathroom/letrine project (most likely composting toliets) since the majority of the people just go out to the fields to do what they gotta do. But, like everything we do, we have to spend a lot of time getting to know the community and the people and find out what their wants and needs are first.

I´m excited and also very nervous to go to site. I´ve gotten very used to my little life and routine here in Yanacoto. My new house and family are great, but different of course. My new family seems a little shy around me, but that´s to be suspected. Things I am excited about are:
- we have dairy cows so I get fresh milk every morning
- our pigs just gave birth so there are adorable piglets running around
- there is a 2 month old baby in the family. Normally I would not be excited about this, but so far I haven´t heard him cry, so he´s just adorable and fun to bounce around

This past week was great. We went to the PC office in Lima to get to know that staff and resources there. They served us chinese food for lunch and pizza and apple pie for dessert and we had a dance lesson, so all of that was awesome. This next week will consist of a lot of wrap up, packing, saying goodbye :(, swearing in and then one last night all together in Lima. After that, we all take off for our sites on Saturday. The next time all the volunteers will be together will be in March for ¨Reconnect.¨ Again, it´s so crazy to think that I´ll be living and working in a small rural town in Peru, speaking only Spanish, but it´s exciting to think about the projects I might do and the people I will get to know and work with. I´m also excited about the skills I might learn. Aside from all the professional mumbo jumbo, I´m joining a crochet group, I want to bug the local baker to let me help him, and I would love to find and join an Afro-Peruvian dance class (my region is know for this, it´s not just random)...so we´ll see. My plan so far is just to keep myself busy so that I don´t get bored and lonely.

Anyway, I hope everyone is well at home. I´m missing you all very much right now - Thanksgiving is always hard to miss for me. Eat lots of turkey, Grandma H´s cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie for me. Chau!