Vuelta de Jorco

I've moved in with my host family; Dona Alba and her three children: Carlos, Javier and Irene My community is Vuelta de Jorco (Jorco is a type of tree/tree branch) and there are around 6,000 people who live here. It is a VERY hilly area (which means it is really beautiful) and I'm not completely sure how some of the cars are able to go up them (everyone has Toyotas here)

Jorco has a couple of sodas (small snack/lunch kind of places), some pulperias (small stores) and a soccer field, a church and a paper store. We don't have a bank or a post office so I still have to figure out how to buy stamps here.

Monday, Wednesday and Friday I have language training and since I'm in the advanced group (I'd better be...) we are going to do a lot of projects within the community to really learn more about the culture here and practice getting integrated into a new community. On Tuesdays I go to Tarbaca for project training. I will be getting together with all the other community ecomonic development people and going over what economic development looks like for us. On Thursdays I go to San Jose (an hour away) for training in safety and security with the whole group. I'm excited to see everyone again; you cannot imagine how close I've gotten to everyone in only four days and I miss being around so many of them.

As you can imagine, I'm eating a lot of rice and beans. I really miss having a lot of fruit and vegetables but the fruit I have had is amazing.

Oh, I forgot! On Friday I lived through my first earthquake. We were all hanging out at the retreat at 11pm when it felt like something huge hit the building we were leaning against. It was only 4.2 but it was very interesting.

Hope all of you are doing well!!