"Dear Katherine,
"Congratulations! It is with great pleasure that we invite you to begin training in Guatemala for Peace Corps service."
Et cetera
I have roughly 5 more weeks until January 4th when I will fly to Washington D.C. for one or two days, then head off to Guatemala where I will begin 3 months of language, cultural, and job training. After those 3 months I will be placed in a village or town where I will live with a host family for at least 3 months; these people who speak some Spanish and more likely will speak one or some of 22+ Amerindian indigenous languages. The program is "Sustainable Community Tourism" under which falls Environmental Education, Ecotourism, Conservation and Management, and a bunch of other job titles related to sustaining a healthy and natural environment both for the people and the ecosystem as a whole.
I can take 80lbs worth of stuff, and will have to be able to carry it all on my person at some times. I have to pack prepared for both cold cold, and humid, and warm, and rainy, and neutral. I won't know exactly where in the country I will be going to until I actually get there, pass their language proficiency exam, and wait for them to determine where my skills would be best used.
