Yesterday we made our first visit to the Peace Corps office in Lima. It was nice to switch up our schedule for the day and spend a little extra cash on a large fry from McDonald's (they really do taste just like they do at home!).

More importantly though we talked with the Youth Development director about our site preferences and needs. I think, like most people, I've always had a pretty set idea of what the Peace Corps would be - living in a shack with lots of alone time, no running water, and little or no contact with the "outside world."

During the past 5 weeks of training, they've pounded into our heads that there is no "right" way to rough it in the Peace Corps. At least in Peru there are urban sites and rural ones, sites with a hole for a toilet and sites with wifi. But yesterday we had our moment to give our two cents- a nice change from Peace Corps' usual "wait and see!" attitude.

So what did I ask for? Well basically I asked to be way out there working with teachers and schools in a small community. When I also tried to ask for a homestay without pets, my director laughed at me. "When you're all the way out there, the animals live right in the house with you," she said. And when she said animals she wasn't talking labrador retrievers, she was talking chickens and roosters, rabbits and, you guessed it, guinea pigs.

Not sure if I've mentioned this to anyone yet but no, it's not a stereotype or urban myth about Peruvians- they really do eat guinea pigs. The Avancenas would be outraged! Remember the pen of guinea pigs they used to have in their basement??

Anyways, they still can't (or won't) tell us just how much how preferences will be taken into account but, for better or for worse, that's what i asked for! I definitely had a moment afterward...maybe I'm still having it...of doubt. What did I just do to my next 2 years?

Living "way out there" in Peru isn't like renting an apartment in Brookline. Will there be running water? Will I be okay peeing in a hole? Will I get sick of listening to my own inner monologue and little else?

Maybe it won't matter what I asked for- maybe there's some swank inner city site already picked out for me. But, while I worry the Peace Corps will ignore my requests, I worry even more that they'll listen to them! This could be a wild two years.

For now though, we're off tomorrow to field based training in Lambayeque. There we'll visit volunteers in their sites and get a feel for Peace Corps life! Youth development is split into 3 groups for these trips and, God knows how, but I have ended up with a group of Peru 15's most notorious troublemakers, complainers, and pests. One big disfunctional family we will be! Add to that one 13 hour overnight bus ride, many possible trips to the beach, and lots of sublimes con galletas (the most amazing Peruvian candy bar out there) and there you have it- our 1st week in the field.

I'll try to call or post while I'm there but keep me in your thoughts and prayers! Watch out Lambayeque, here we come!