Just a quick update from my permanent site, then I´ll actually write a good blog entry when I get back to my training site;

SO I´m going to be moving to the costal region in August! I am currently here doing a visit to evaluate the site and what kind of work I will be doing. I can´t say exactly where ¨here¨is but I´m about an hour from Quayaquil and a couple houirs fromt he beach. It is considered campo region outsie of the city that I live in, which is where I think I will end up doing a lot of work as well. Basically, my house is awesome, my family seems great, there are a lot of mosquitos (but I´m on malaria prevention meds), it´s HOT here during the early afternoon, but cold at night, they have every type of fruit you can imagine, and it´s all grown within a 50 mile radius, rice is a main export (but it´s better rice than in the sierra), and the second biggest export in the area is bananas (woohoo!!). So far (in 2 days) I´ve eaten banans, watermelon, mangos, many oranges, and lots of fresh fruit juices. Me gusta mucho! Also, they eat significantly more vegetables here than in the sierra, which I am soo excited about. My family doesn´t expect me to eat a lot of rice either, and have even given me several meals without rice. Also, because it´s so hot I haven´t eaten much which they seem to get and keep telling me I don´t have to finish it. As for my family, I have a mom and dad in their 40s who are professors int he local schools, An older brother who is 26, 2 younger brothers who are 19 and 16, and a little sister who is 10. They are all very helpful and patient while I get used to their Costal accents, and in fact the older brother is very good at english, which has been helpful. The 10 year old really wants to learn english, which is something I have encountered a lot of here. Everyone asks ¨whats this in english¨ haha. Oh, I did eat cow intestines for dinner last night.. yeahhh.. not my favorite lol

This morning I went to a local school with my counterpart to see what kind of work goes on in the schools. It was about 40 minutes out of my city, with 3 profesors and 15 kids per class in 3 separate classrooms. Very dusty getting there, and definitely are small towns. Everyone was really nice and made it clear that one thing they would want help with is an english teacher for the kids. I will definitely keep that open as an options. I also got to meet a lot of teachers because we took a camioneta (basically rode in the back of a truck) to the school with all of the teachers. I feel as though it was a very valuable experience and I met a lot of potential coworkers. After we got back we went to the municipal building and I met the staff of pretty much all of the departments. I even got to sit down and talk to the mayor a bit, which was neat. However there will be a new mayor as of friday, so I will hopefully get to meet him as well. It is really nice being so welcomed into a city, and everyone seems to be excited for me to come back in August.

My organization is super organized and I really admire the work that they are doing. I am excited to get to work with them, and I have found several other potential projects to start up as secondary projects. I definitely have lots of people to meet, and everyone stares at the gringa walking down the street, but my host brother assures me that I will know everyone in the town by the end of the 2 years. I think the Peace Corps really has a great site here and I hope I can meet everyones expectations. Everyone they have put me in contact with will be an amazing asset and there are a lot of projects already running in this town. Of course anything can happen and projects end, but I feel really lucky about my town.

Okay, there´s your update about my site! I´m gonna sign off and hopefully post a blog early next week with what all has been happening in training (you´ve missed a lot!) Miss you all!