CAJABAMBA!

Today I finally learned the exact location and details of where I will be living for the next two years: the town of Cajabamba, in the region of Cajamarca. According to Google, Cajabamba's main square looks something like this:

As you can see a bit from the photo, Cajabamba is up in the mountains, with an elevation of ~8,500 feet. The town itself has a population of 8,500, but the surrounding mini-towns add up to a total of around 18,000. Cajabamba is three hours away from the regional capital of Cajamarca City, which in turn sits a 15-hour bus ride away from Lima. Mom, get out your dramamine for those curvy mountain roads :)

Peace Corps has already picked out a host family for me, complete with host parents who are an art teacher and farmer, a set of host grandparents, two host brothers a bit older than me, and a cousin - should be a full house! I've also learned that, luckily for you blog readers, my town has internet, hooray! I will have a youth development site mate, who has already been living in Cajabamba for a year. In addition to the volunteers already living in the region, six of my Peru 19 amigos will be heading to Cajamarca as well - a good-looking group, plus Regional Coordinator José, to spend the next two years with!

All in all, Cajabamba seems like exactly what I was hoping for in a site, and I am so excited to go visit in two weeks (before swearing-in August 17). Aaand, in case I haven't totally convinced you to visit me yet, here's another little tidbit: Cajamarca is home to the craziest, paint-covered Carnaval celebration in all of Perú - watch out for water balloons if you're here in February!