Its hard being so amazing....

So the title to this post isnt exactlly accurate, but there is good reason to think this. Mosly, my site placement. The long and the short of site placement was that I had a complete breakdown when my director said ¨Tucker: San Carlos, Rio San Juan¨. Now would be a good time to go and look at a map and see exactly how far Rio San Juan is from pretty much everything else. To make the trip especially fun, half of it isnt on paved roads...its on dirt roads. On sunday I had my first experience of what my life will look like when I need to go to the office, adn I am happy to report that it only took 9 hours, instead of the 12 I thought it would be. I am unhappy to report that it was on a school bus discarded from the US in, I would guess, 1990. Ha. Also, that most of the time I will be riding this bus is when I need to go to see the doctors in Managua. So picture me, sick (Latin American sick...aka intestinal issues) for 9 hours on a bus on unpaved roads! hahaha, my life is hilarious.

Good news, there is also a boat! The boat takes 15 hours, but there is a bathroom. So assuming I can time my sickness right (It only runs 2x a week), I think the boat with the bathroom might be the way to go. As well there is a place for me to put up a hammock, and most of the ride- well, part of the ride, is overnight. I wont get to take the boat this time, but hopefully next time I can check it out.

Anyway, back to being so amazing. I say this because of my breakdown and the consequences of said breakdown. I just couldnt, for the life of me, realize why they would place me (MPH what what) pretty much in Costa Rica. The reason is that San Carlos is cursed. As far as I can tell, not one volunteer has made it through their entire service here...sure there have been medical reasons, and pregnancies, etc but the rumor is that San Carlos is cursed. And the reason why I am here is because my APCD, aka director, believes that I am the one to break the curse. And that I am bad-ass enough to not only last the 2 years here, but to love it. And to do some great work. So being amazing has its up and its down, I havent figured out which one this is...but we will see. I am taking my placement here as a compliment and not an insult although I am the furhest volunteer south in all of Nica, out of all 200 vols.

San Carlos is not the prettiest city, and it doesnt even have a grocery store, even though it is the deparment capital (the closest grocery store is in Costa Rica). But it is the main city of the craziest department in Nica. I am living in a tropical jungle, where the river between Costa Rica meets the huge lake in Nica. There are jaguars and monkeys and sloths and of course the famous fresh water shark (bull shark to be exact). There are also some 80 types of orchids and birds that bird watchers go crazy for, although dont ask me to namy any of them.

Hopefully I will be working on the boarder to educate sex workers and truck drivers about HIV, as well as working in the city of san carlos and the outlying communities. In the first month I am going to help implement the vaccination campaigns, and because we are surrounded by water, we will be using a boat! I had my first full day here in San Carlos today and leave Weds night to go back to Managua, finish the last 2 weeks of training and finally swear in as a volunteer!

More on San Carlos after the visit. Google it. And be warned, most people call it the ugliest city in all of Nica. I dont know if I would go that far, but it might be the hottest. Welcome to the Peace Corps.