Training is going well. We're meeting with representatives of government programs for social services, economic development, academics from the universities and advocates for various causes. We have also been through a series of interviews that they will use to select our worksites. Assignments will be announcemed on Monday.

The worksites are spread across the north-atlantic region with one lucky person headed for the foot hills of Santa Marta. Others sites will include areas known for bananas, coal mining, palm oil, tourism and cattle. The towns range in size from 3,000 to 30,000. All have electricity and most have running water. We'll live with families and can eat with them or cook our own meals. Malaria isn't a problem now, but a number of other mosquito borne diseases are. We have been issued mosquito nets for sleeping.

The days are hot with many rain storms that help to cool things off. Streets are built for maximum drainage and the water runs of in torrents carrying with it a lot of the garbage left by the curbs. Much of it ends up on the beaches.

We moved to a smaller town on a beach on the third day. The population of Puerto Colombia is about 25,000, but it feels bigger. The streets are busy with motorcycles, cars, buses and the occasional donkey. Night life for me has been walking around he town peering into the multitude of shops selling shampoo, toys, hair dye, soft drinks, hard drinks, lottery tickets, clothing, cookies, and all the other necessities of life. There is also a boardwalk where people hang out on hot night. Here's a proposal in the sand.

During the balance of the two-week training period we are staying in the Hotel Puerto Colombia. Four of the group, myself included, are staying in a hotel for the next week crammed in a small windowless room. The shower is great, like a hose. There is a working air conditional which is likely to be the last airconditioned sleep I'll have for a while. It's pretty hot and humid otherwise.

Two luxury purchases are on my list of options. I found a pawn shop that sells locally made guitars,the only ones that I have seen here. They are made in a town with a wonderful name, Bucaramanga and at $80,000 Colombian or $28.57 a pretty good deal. I'm wrestling with that just because it is so hard to move all the stuff I already have here. I can wait to the last minute and see. I'd like to build a Ukulele when I'm on site. Time will tell all. I also found a small bike repair shop. They have a beater of a mountain bike for $100,000 or $35.71, a possibility, but difficult to move with all this stuff.