Off we go!
Well, after nine weeks of training filled with speculation and anticipation, we have finally learned where we will live and work for the next 24 months. Jenny and I will be relocating to Chordeleg, a town of 12,000 people in the south of the country known for its goldwork and jewelry. Apparently, there are 280 jewelry shops in this little town.
Jenny will work locally in public health, while I’ll commute four miles north to Gualaceo, a town of 40,000, to work on youth and family projects. I will be replacing a volunteer who recently completed her service. She ran after-school sports programs, so I’ll probably start there, but I’ll have the freedom to pursue other work if I find something that interests me more. Jenny is replacing a volunteer who built a community garden, but that’s not really her vibe. Instead, she’ll look for opportunities in nutrition, maternal health, sex education, and related areas.
So, what is Chordeleg like? Take a look at the 360° image below. We will be living on the third floor of the tan building to the right of the church. Our hosts—and landlords—are a retired couple. More on them in the next post. Drag the image left or right to see the amazing view we’ll have of the town square, the surrounding community, and the mountains beyond.
We are super excited to move on from training and start our service. We will be sworn in as official Peace Corps Volunteers on Wednesday, we will meet our counterparts (a person designated to be our initial co-worker at our sites) on Thursday, and will take the 12-hour bus journey to our new city on Friday.
Below is a social media post about our site reveal day put out by Peace Corps Ecuador.
And finally, here’s a little slideshow of selfies with all the kids we were in training with over the last two months. Super kind, smart, ambitious people we were honored to spend our days with and call our friends.
As always, thanks for reading and we love your comments. It definitely helps to know we are not alone on this adventure.
Much love, Andy and Jenny
