I have a home! Today was our site assignment celebration, so we all know where we will be living for the next two years. The day began with our Spanish classes, but we were all so excited and anxious we had a hard time focusing on anything. We were treated to an enormous delicious lunch and all of the Peace Corps Peru staff from Lima came to the training center to share the news. Following lunch we heard from the directors and then had to play a game to find out our placements. The staff filled out pieces of puzzles with our names on them and threw them in little bottles in the pool. We had to fish them out and find other people with the same colored puzzle pieces. It was absolute chaos as everyone excitedly ripped open their bottles and found the volunteers who would be living in the same department. As we pieced together our puzzle, we realized it formed a map of La Libertad which is a department in Northern Peru with a combination of Coastal and Mountainous areas. Everyone was jumping around and analyzing the other members of their group, who will be their main American social network for the next 2 years. My group is definitely pretty awesome, but it was also kind of sad to look around at the other groups and see friends who will be up to 20+ hours away. Regardless, we were all thrilled and the excitement resonated throughout the training center.

We met with our regional coordinator of La Libertad to hear the details of our site, and I found out that I will be in a pueblo in the foothills of La Libertad called Poroto. It is sunny year round and pretty temperate weather, but it is also pretty close to the mountains and the coast, so I think I’ll have the best of both worlds. I’m not sure what to expect, but I can’t wait to see it for myself. I will only be about an hour and 20 minutes from the department capital, Trujillo, which is pretty awesome. Trujillo is the 3^rd biggest city in Peru and is supposed to have a lot of cool history and attractions, so I’m excited I’ll have easy access to it. There is one other volunteer who is about 30 minutes away from me, and then a few more within an hour or two. My town I will be working in is definitely rural, and there are only 1200 people, but I think that’ll be so awesome! It’s exactly what I wanted- access to a bigger area, but the opportunity to really engage with a small population. With only 1200 people, I should definitely know almost everyone, which will be really exciting! Apparently my site is one of the biggest pineapple producing areas of Peru, so that should be delicious. I’m not sure what the situation is with water/electricity/communication, but we’ll see! It will definitely be interesting.

After our site assignments, we all furiously researched our new towns and regions to uncover as much information as possible. I looked up Poroto on Google Maps and found a giant mass of green and not much else, so I think I’ll just have to wait to see it for myself. Afterwards, we all went out to celebrate and excitedly discuss what lies ahead in the next two years. It is crazy to think that my life will be here in Peru for the next two years. When I thought about the Peace Corps before actually getting in country, it seemed like an alternate sort of life, as if time would stop while I completed my two years of Peace Corps service. However, life isn’t stopping; in fact, it is quite the opposite. The longer I’m here, the more I realize how excited I am to spend two years here in Peru. There are so many aspects of my life that will be dramatically impacted by this experience, and I am just inspired and excited to get to know this amazing country and its people. There is so much need here, and I hope I can truly make an impact with the work I do and the relationships I make. I already know that I’ll personally be transformed by this experience and I haven’t even finished training. Life in Peru will definitely be an adventure, but one that I am ready to take!