I Know Where I WILL BE living for the NEXT TWO YEARS!

Friday, August 24th was SITE ASSIGNMENT DAY! It was a weird day because all the volunteers were a WEIRD mixture of nervous and excited at the same time. The next two years of our LIVES were about to be determined…

As for me, I will be living in CARIBE DE CARIARI. Hahaha. I am sure your reaction is the same as mine was….”Great. What does that mean?” Hahahaha. OK so Caribe is located in the Caribbean side of the country and in the province called Limon. I am about one hour (by bus) from the Caribbean Sea and the tourist area of Tortuguero and only two hours (by bus) from the capital, San Jose.

About Caribe de Cariari: Located in the lowlands region (alt: 100 meters), it is very hot and humid. The rolling hills and wide open spaces make Caribe unique amongst all the other PC sites in terms of geography (copied that directly from my packet of info J). Most of the people work in banana and pineapple plantations. Caribe has a population of 2,000 and is about 2km west of the large commercial town of Cariari which has a population of 8,000-10,000.
-Basically, I get the best of both worlds because I live in a BEAUTIFUL area where I can know everyone (I mean honestly, I can totally know 2,000 people in 2 years!) and still be only a 10 minute bike ride from everything I might need.
-However, my favorite sentence of my packet of information says: “It is said that there is internet service in Cariari, but this is unconfirmed.” Hahahaha…

About my family in Caribe: I don’t know much and as is the case with a lot of volunteers…everything could change or be completely different when I arrive in Caribe – but for now, I know that I will live with a mom, grandparents, a 30 year old disabled nephew, and a 13 year old adopted brother. I also have a 24 year old niece who is a medical doctor and a 21 year old brother who works in tourism who apparently visit the house frequently. OK – so I am sure you will hear about how much I love them soon, and the description says: “This is a busy and active household that often has guests, and grown children returning from visits.” YAY!

About my house in Caribe: My FAVORITE part of the description of my new house goes as follows: “Though the backyard is much like a zoo, the animals do not seem to get into the house area.” YES!!! I’ve never had pets! “There are plenty of fruit trees in the backyard, and some nice places to sit in the shade.” And “just outside the PCV room is a small patio with a hammock and a quiet independent sitting area.” You should all probably start being jealous.

Other good news: Caribe is only 1.5 hours from where I currently live and my family and neighbors here have already started planning trips to visit me.

The only bad news: I am VERY far away from my other PCbffs. Jenna is about 5 hours south of San Jose – so say 8 hours to get to her…if all the traveling goes smoothly. And Glenn is basically in Nicaragua. And Jenna & I have a couple good friends in the other program and they live in such rural areas that there is ONLY one bus a DAY that goes their sites! So we’ve all started prepping ourselves for TRUE immersion.

Finally, on Thursday and Friday, we have a retreat to meet the Costa Ricans with whom we will be working for two years. Then on Saturday, I will leave to go alone to my new LIFE for four days!