Officially a United States Peace Corps Volunteer!

WAHOOOO!! Yesterday I was officially sworn in as a Peace Corps volunteer! We have spent the past few days in Managua getting ready for our ceremony. We spent the day on Thursday at the United States embassy which was really interesting! I wish i could have brought a camera. It was a beautiful building, oddly placed in the city of Managua. We spent the morning meeting different people in the embassy and receiving briefings regarding safety and security issues in the country amongst other information. At about 10am we all got really excited as one of the women in the embassy brought in a huge plate of bagels and philadelphia cream cheese!!! Everyone swarmed the table, we were so excited! I have yet to see a bagel in the country so i was in heaven. After that we had the pleasure of meeting the United States Ambassador in Nicaragua. He was really cool... I half expected a super serious military man to come in and have a dry sense of humor but he was so laid back and talked about his baseball team and the things he loves about Nicaragua and made jokes. We did cover some serious conversations regarding the elections and other security information we need to know. After speaking to him it was lunch (pizza.. yuck) and then back to a few more meetings.

Yesterday morning everyone was really excited, up early and ready to go! We were picked up at our hotels and brought to a VERY nice hotel down the street. We were met by our host families and sat together talking until the ceremony began. First we were called up, volunteer and host mom (typically) and we presented them with a certificate to thank them. I laughed because my host mom probably has over 20 since they have hosted many volunteers. After that we were given some snacks and time to mingle and talk to other volunteers and their families as this is our last time together :(   Then we returned for the actual ceremony. All the volunteers sat together in sectors and alphabetically. We received some words from our training director, the country director, the director of MINSA, Mr. Ambassador himself and then we had volunteers who gave speeches as well. After all these we sang the Nicaraguan anthem and then our national anthem, received some quick words, raised our right hands and swore in as Peace Corps Volunteers! It was a good feeling to finally be here after a looooong journey through the application process and everything else that followed. Training, although i had some rough moments was great. I was lucky to have a wonderful family to help me through it and the support of my family and boyfriend back home. Although at times training seemed like it was going forever, in the end time FLEW by! I am excited i am here but super nervous to start my service. I will be leaving for my site nice and early tomorrow morning! Looking forward to getting settled and having an idea of what I am doing here! Its an over whelming feeling of not knowing where to start! I will try to keep everyone posted and much as possible. I love you all! Feel free to call or text me :)

Mr. Ambassador

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