Site Assignment - Where We Will Live For The Next Two Years

The way things work in the Peace Corp is that your first three months are training. Around week 4 they take you on a week trip to some part of the country (a "tech trip") to learn more about the country and the type of work you may be doing. The photos from our tech trips are in the blog post just before this one. Then, in week 6 they announce to you where you will be stationed for the next two years. You have NO choice whatsoever in the decision, so as you can imagine there is a lot of anticipation wrapped up in hearing what your "site" will be. Yesterday we found out our site is called "Bucay". It is the large red dot surrounded by a star in the photo map below:

To give you some reference:

*This is a map of Ecuador, outlined in red.

*The large red dot surrounded by a star is where we will be living!!

*The two large red dots together are Quito, the capital of Ecuaodor, and the town next door is where we are currently training.

*The X on the right side of the map is where Rich went for his "tech trip" in the Amazon - you can see photos in the blog before this one.

*The X towards the top left of the country, on the coast, is where Cherith went for her "tech trip". You can see photos in the blog before this one.

*There are two international airports into Ecuador. One is in Quito (where the two red dots are), and one is in Guayaquil, which is the large red dot to the left of the dot with the star (in case any of you ever want to fly in and visit - ha, ha!).

Our town is about 10,000 people but it sounds like there is another town right next door with another 10,000 or so. So, we are in one of the more populated areas compared to some of our other volunteers. It is a 3 - 4 hour bus ride from the coast. It is in a "transitional" zone which means its in the middle between the mountains, the ocean, and the amazon. The temperature is 64 - 82 degrees year round and humid. We will be living with a family for the first 6 months. Three local organizations - a foundation, a tourism board, and the state government have requested help with development of tourism in the area and some possible environmental education and/or assistance. The area seems to have four or five rivers that run into it, as well as numerous waterfalls. It is a very bio-diverse area with a lot of potential for tourism as income for the local population. We have learned all this from Peace Corp staff. We will actually be going to visit next week, for a week. After our week there, we have four more weeks of training here at the training center, and then we move there officially for the next two years.