The Reveal

After all of the anticipation and build-up of the last two and half months of training, and really of the last year or more since I decided to join Peace Corps, I finally have a home. My directors received feedback about me from my interactions with nearly every human for the last few months, always watching to see how I reacted in certain situations, what kind of personality I had, how I adapted to the culture, along with a whole array of other factors, to determine where I would end up. With all of that information, combined with everything I've said in my interviews and questionnaires, they have placed me in... that top right corner spot, far away from everyone else in the picture. Note: this floor map of Honduras was made entirely of masking tape and good old-fashioned American ingenuity. The faint outline of the flag in the top left is my personal handiwork.

Subirana, outside Yoro in the department of Yoro!

For those of you unfamiliar with Honduran geography, Yoro is a department in the northern part of the country. It is not the famously popular north coast. In fact, it is a landlocked department typically known for being jungle-like and hot. However, since I will be working with a couple coffee cooperatives, I have the good fortune of being placed in a mountainous, temperate-weathered site. I will also be partnering with a couple of the schools there to implement some business charlas (lessons). There are also opportunities to teach English to some of the teachers, start a business with some of the colegio students, and implement a recycling program, along with who knows what else! The town has a few thousand people and I'm told the leaders have a lot of initiative, which sounds perfect. My host family (from the reading) seems very well connected and fairly well-to-do. I almost cried when I read that there is an electroducha (electric shower-head) in my new home. That means, if all goes according to plan, I am just a week away from taking my first hot shower in-country. That's 80 days of semi-cold to freezing cold showers, folks. Not to mention, I will have running water (YAY!) and my own personal bathroom (double YAY!). My new host parents own a bodega (supermarket), my host mom is an elected official for the municipality, and my host dad is a coffee farmer - they dry coffee on the back patio.

There are a few other Volunteers from the other projects that also got placed around me, but within an hour or two, it's just me. I'm finally leaving America! I'm definitely excited to get out on my own and put myself and all my skills to the test. We've learned a lot throughout all of this training; the rubber is about to meet the road, and I couldn't be more ready for it. Thanks to all of you for the prayers and well-wishing. I am so appreciative for everything that God has done and is doing and I have only good things to expect from Him in the future.

Amen.