Where’s Pauldo?

We got our sites this week. It was fun to find out where we’re each going to spend the next two years. We actually got a map and put it up at a bar in Antigua with pictures of each of the trainess taped to their site. There are three programs in my training class—municipal development, agriculture security (growing stuff) and agriculture marketing (selling stuff). Each program director had the opportunity to get to know us over the course of the last two months and also had visibility on the available sites. We got a chance to give him our druthers, but at the end of the day he tried to match our skills and desires with the needs of the available sites. It would have been fun to be a fly on the wall. I told our program director that I was willing to go anywhere and I wouldn’t mind going “somewhere shitty”. I also menioned that I thought the place I visited where all the men wear red pants would be a good fit. He had other thoughts. We acutally talked the day he finalized the list and he asked if I would be okay with going somewhere else (where they don’t wear red pants). I had to put my trust in him. I’m actually heading up to Tejutla, San Marcos near the border with Mexico. It’s about 1-hour from the main town of San Marcos, not that remote, and not that “shity”. I think the overwhelming reason I’m going there is because the guy who has been there the past two years has been extremely involved in the office and the town’s business and our director wanted to send someone who might be able to continue his level of work. At least that’s what I’m telling myself. I know from experience that it’s much easier to follow a screw-ball or chuckle-head so we’ll see how this goes. The other thing which is slightly unerving is that he was a native Spanish speaker (I you’re reading this you’re a good dude and you did a great job). I’m sure it will all work out just fine. I guess we’ll find out when I head up there in a couple of weeks!