Hey everyone!
Well, its been a long and hard week for us new Peace Corps volunteers. Last Friday, we found out our site assignments. I am going to live in La Venta, Ica for the next two years! Its about 30 to 40 minutes south of the city Ica. Which is nice, because a current volunteer lives 10 minutes drive from me north, and another new volunteer, Kate, 5 minutes south! So I am definitely going to ask for a bike from the Peace Corps. Especially since my houes is 2 km outside of town. I live out in the country with a family of 3 boys, all 23, 22, and 21 years old, a mom and a dad. My dad works out in the chacra(fields) on asparagus every day. He's a farmer. My 23 year old brother goes to school for agricultural engineering, but I think right now the professors at the school are on strike, so he doesnt have school and is working out in the fields as well until he can go back to school. My 22 year old brother went to school for dentistry, but now is in school again for pharmacy. He work part time as an assistant dentist for his aunt. My youngest brother is a mechanic at a mine in norther Ica. He and the second brother only come home on the weekends, and live closer to their jobs/school. My mom, who is one of my counterparts for the Peace Corps, is a pharmacist, and the president of the develpoment committee in La Venta. I dont have a door for my room, only a cloth that is see-through if I have my light on (Peace Corps requires a door for all volunteers, so they are going to put one in pretty soon). There is no running water, only a barrel near the house, I have an outhouse, and no shower. So it is going to be bucket bathing for me for the next two years. Which is fine, because I had practice when I was in Africa. We have 5 puppies, all of them are muts, and dont look like any breed of dog and all breeds of dogs at the same time, and one cat. The house is all cement, except for the kitchen and my oldest brother's room, which is basically in the kitchen. I think he used to live in my room, but kicked him out so I could live there. Its pretty weird. Its always sunny, and in the middle of the desert. Save for all the fields that surround me. I was quite surprised my my site, because My APCD told me that I would live in a city of 10,000 people at least. And there is no way 10,000 people live there. Its a pretty small town. Which is fine with me, because I didnt want to live in a big city anyway. Living in a city and having hot water and bathrooms doesnt sound like volunteering, or Peace Corps. It sounds like an internship in a foreign country. Some volunteers do live in cities and have running water.

As a whole, I am very excited and happy with my site! I just have to get a door for my room, and a closet to put my stuff. We have a pretty cool group of volunteers in Ica, and it will be fun to get together from time to time. At least once a month for regional meetings. I am sad though, that I wont get to see some of my friends who are in other departments of Peru. But I will visit them on vacations and all sorts of things like that!

Hope everyone is doing well!
Happy travels,
Teigan