Officially a Volunteer!

This morning my training group and I officially swore in as volunteers! This means that we are now Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) instead of Peace Corps Trainees (PCTs), its a good feeling to finally be there, and also a bit scary! Anyways, the ceremony consisted of a first part where it was just our training staff, the trainees and our host families. I made a picture slide show that was shown that had pictures of all the families with their host kids, and then other fun pictures from our training. It ended up turning out really well and all the host families really liked it. So that part of the ceremony was thanking our host families. Then the second part was much more formal with the U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua, the Minister of Health from Nicaragua and all the Peace Corps staff including the country director. It all took place at the nicest hotel in Nicaragua, the Intercontinental. The ceremony ended with the Minister of Health swearing us in as Peace Corps volunteers in Spanish, and then the Ambassador swearing us in as volunteers for the U.S. government in English. It was a really nice ceremony with all of us dressing up nicely for the first time since we've been here! Here are some pics from the event and afterwards:






This is Danny and Kadesha, two members of my group that spoke at the family ceremony giving thanks to the families for hosting us. My picture slideshow thing is in the background.

This is me and U.S. Ambassador just after swearing in. He looks like he's not happy, but really he is super thrilled that he finally met me.

And right after that previous picture, the Ambassador was mobbed by Nicaraguan news reporters. I'm not sure what they asked him, but basically after every event where the Ambassador speaks, the press asks him to comment on something. Hopefully we'll get in the newspaper here!

This is a picture of the of our whole group after the swearing in. The guy in the middle with the suit on is our Assistant Peace Corps Director (APCD). He is basically our boss because he is in charge of the Peace Corps Health Education program in Nicaragua.

Here is the guys pic. A couple of the guys in our group grew beards all through out training that they called their "swearing in beards". I am a little sad that I didnt participate because I've never had a full beard in my life. But, at the same time, having a beard while being in 100 degree heat for 3 months sounds like a nightmare. And they agree, they are shaving them off later today. The three guys in the suits are Peace Corps staff. Our APCD is on the left. The man in the black suit in the middle is our Peace Corps Country Director who is in charge of all things Peace Corps in Nicaragua. And the guy on the right is Nicaraguan and was in charge of our training.

Anyways, that was swearing in. Its was really exciting for all of us, but we all feel really anxious too because for the first time since we got to Nicaragua, we are all going to have to separate. Our group has spent a lot of time together and have gotten really close, but starting this Sunday we are going to scattered throughout the country. Also, throughout training we had something planned just about everyday with assigned tasks and were usually surrounded by other Americans. Now that we are actual volunteers, we go off to our sites to live surrounded by only Nicaraguans and we have to create our own job and form new relationships from nothing. Pretty exciting and pretty intimidating!

Anyways, our group is in the capital city, Managua, this week and we plan on going out and celebrating our swearing in. Then tomorrow and sunday we will be saying goodbye to each other as one by one we leave for our sites. I will be leaving Sunday morning for Corinto. It will be quite a mix of emotions.

One more thing...During the swearing in ceremony we thanked a lot of people that helped us throughout training and our friends and family from the states definitly was mentioned. So I just wanted to thank everyone who has sent me emails, cards, or packages! Every little bit helped me to adjust to my life here in Nicaragua. And thanks for reading my blog and emails, every time I could vent a little bit, or share a great experience helped me to organize all my new thoughts in my head. Anyways, thanks to all!