MY SITE!!!!!!

YAY! We were assigned our sites this morning, where I will be spending the next two years of my life...The whole process felt like college acceptance letters, it was really weird. The anxiety, the opening of letters describing our sites, the crazy emotions after realizing where I will be spending the next part of my future. Eek!
First off, I am so pumped. It seems like a great site, meeting my hopes for job responsibilities as well as town size and location. I will be visiting the site all of next week, hanging out with my counterpart (the identified community leader with whom I will coordinate activities at least during the first few weeks living at my site) and my future host family, learning the ropes of the community and trying to get a feel for what resources and additional information I may need to gain before heading out there...I move to my new home September 1st!!!
Ok, so now for the site itself. I will be living in the coastal province of Manabi, in the county of Santa Ana. The concentrated population in 260, and the total population in the parish totals 500. It is 2 hours from the large city of Portoviejo and 60 minutes from the large town of Santa Ana. The temperature is 75-80 degrees!-I am so thankful...no more of this wearing 2 sweaters, 2 pants, 2 pairs of socks and hat, gloves, and scarf to bed. The rainy season is between December and April; the town is located at sea level and inland...TROPICAL! I suppose this what I envisioned when I learned I was going to be living in Ecuador.
My health work in Santa Ana will often be coordinated with the local health centers of the Ministry of Health as well as Plan International, a development agency that has a very strong and well respected presence here in Ecuador (http://www.plan-international.org/wherewework/americas/ecuador/). My primary activities which have been outlined by my counterpart thus far (of which I will have the flexibility to choose and play around with when I arrive) are: provide nutrition education to children, prevention of teen pregnancy, work with youth groups, maternal health and breastfeeding promotion, promote prevention strategies for common diseases, support a youth group´s radio program, and help develop income generation opportunities for women´s group.
The upcoming site visit has been described as the worst week of the 2 years...apparently it is quite overwhelming, intense, and emotional...however, I am still looking forward to it and will send updates in a couple weeks.
Hope all is well!
Love,
Sarah