SITE ASSIGNMENT!

Site assignment was yesterday, here´s a brief info to where I will be living for two years!!

Community Name: Monsefú (Mohn-say-FOO) http://www.lambayeque.net/chiclayo/monsefu/ (check out the YouTube videos with awkwardly translated English subtitles)
Department (State): Lambayeque
District: Chiclayo  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiclayo

Population is about 22,000 or possibly 30,000 (not really sure), which at first I thought was bigger than what I wanted, but I realize now will probably be perfect for small business.  There is a ton of artesan groups and some good NGOs that work with them, and I will probably be doing a lot of networking for them in Chiclayo, which you can see at the top of the map is only about 20 min away! I´m also less than 10 min from the coast, so get some good breezes- Pimentel and Eden are good beach towns, I believe.  It rains about 4 days out of the YEAR, and is consistently around 60 (low) to 75 degrees F (high), with occasional days up to 90 deg F.  Did I get paradise or what?! The food is also supposedly awesome, with a great market of fruits and vegetables, plus good local fish.  My friend Hallie from training will be in Reque which you can see is very close (about 20 min) and I think an older volunteer lives somewhere closeby as well.

Sorry this post is shorter than this news deserves, but I am quickly posting from an internet cafe since the phone-internet lines were cut or stolen in my community.  I´ll be visiting Chiclayo and Monsefú next week from Monday to Friday, so will have more info on my work and counterparts, family, and hopefully pictures to share then.  For now I really couldn´t be happier with my assignment!