Drum roll please...

This will be me for the next 2 years! More or less =D
(This is cacao, and I'm the one in the purple shirt and grey sweater on the left side)

So my big news is that I have now visited and finally know where my site is and more or less what my project is! I’ll be living in the east of the country. The east coast is the really touristy area, so I’ll be like 1-2 hours away from that, but I’m inland and I’ll be living with a small cacao campo (rural town, probably at most 100 houses). So from my host families house, as you walk down the only road about 20 minutes you pass a colmado (like a 7-11, but the main source of food supplies), the school, 2 association buildings, and probably about 10 houses. Everyone I’ve met is really nice, and they are very protective of me, but definitely the campo is a lot smaller then what I was used to in San Jose and San Diego. Also, it’s amusing because they refuse to let me walk around the community alone, even though it’s just the one road. I’ve mentioned walking alone if nobody is going the same way, but they look at me like I’m crazy and I’ll get lost. On the one road. Haha. But I appreciate they are looking out for me, and much prefer it to the other option. And I’m sure as I’m there longer (it’s only been 5 days) that will change.

For those of you that don’t know, cacao is what they use to make chocolate! And I am going to help them to develop a cacao trail, where people will come to learn about the whole process of processing it, visiting a typical cacao farm, and then going to have lunch and see a demonstration of some of the ways they use it (chocolate wine, marmalade, as well as just the normal chocolate bars). So I’ll be working with the organization to help them organize and establish themselves, hopefully they will be able to give tours at the start of the new year.

So it is primarily the women’s group in town that works the tourism project. Most of the guides are from the group, they do all the cooking, and also the demonstrations of the different ways to use cacao. However, the products (the chocolate wine, marmalade, and bars) they demonstrate are actually made in a different community, so the women want to create and market their own product as well. Right now they are thinking about doing some sort of dulce (sweets/candy) that has the cacao and fruit they they also grow on the farms, such as papaya, mango, pineapple, and bananas. I think it will be great to work with them to design everything and pick the dulces, and then do the entire feasibility study and plan with them. So I’m really excited about that addition to my project, and also the chance to be baking while in country!

I am officially done with training and a Peace Corps Volunteer on Wednesday, when we have the ceremony with US officials, and all that formality. And I start my official 2 years! Very exciting!

^^And this is my view for the next 2 years =D