Yesterday was the day Eric and I have been waiting for for almost two years! Crazy... The Peace Corps did a great job with the presentation of sites. We started the day with safety and security which to be honest was tough to pay attention to with the excitment and anticipation! At lunch they made everyone leave the training center and we couldn't return back until 1:30. When we came back one of our facilitators greeted us in traditional Ecuadorian regaila.
We all walked out to the backyard of the training center where there was a huge map of Ecuador made out of rose petals. Each province had a sign. The rest of our facilitators walked out of the center in traditional dress of each province. (It continues to amaze me how Ecuador has so much different culture, dress, food, etc. in one small country!) They called each of us individually and walked us to our province.
There were plenty of jokes to go around that Eric and I were going to go to different provinces, but DON'T WORRY we are both going together :)
So now I'm sure you would like to know where we are going, huh? Alright, well drum rollll! Eric and I are going to be spending our next two years in Pinas! Pinas is located in the El Oro province. It is located on the south coast of the country (some people like to say north Peru). It is a smallish city and though it is located on the "coast" our city is still quite high altitude and on the east side of the province. This means it won't be too hot (I was worried about that!).
Some of you may know that we thought we were going to a different place. While I think the other location we were hoping for was also a good fit, I am opptimisitc about our placement. We will be visiting our site on Monday for the next week so we will know more then.
Much love,
Emily
"It is strange that the years teach us patience; that the shorter our time, the greater our capacity for waiting."
Elizabeth Taylor
"We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us."
