Busy, busy week! But the most important thing is: I’m now an official Peace Corps Volunteer!
We swore in on Friday at the ambassador’s house in Guatemala city in front of our host families and the other current volunteers (around 400 people!). It was also the celebration of Peace Corps 50th anniversary, so there were lots of speeches, anecdotes, and recognitions of current volunteers who are leaving soon. We made the front page of the national newspaper, Prensa Libre, the next day!
I went home with my host mom after the ceremony to eat my last meal with the family and pack my stuff up. It was very sad leaving them, mainly because Chiqui and Hugo are moving to Spain in a couple of weeks and I probably won’t see them again anytime soon.
I checked into a hostel in Antigua with the rest of my ecotourism group (it was a challenge getting all my stuff on the chicken bus- but everything got to my site safely!). We stayed in Antigua that weekend to celebrate and just to relax. I didn’t really realize how tense I had been until I felt so free in Antigua! During training, we have to follow strict rules and be in our houses before dark and were always getting training on all the dangerous things that could happen and all the sicknesses we can get, which I’m sure is so we know what’s out there, and that’s good. It does make one tense, however! It was nice to just walk around the park in Antigua, listen to live music, and hang out with good friends before we all left for our sites.
On Sunday, I left Antigua for Santa Maria and arrived safely, but very tired, that afternoon. Now it’s all a matter of getting my stuff settled and getting my new place arranged so that it feels more like home!
We swore in on Friday at the ambassador’s house in Guatemala city in front of our host families and the other current volunteers (around 400 people!). It was also the celebration of Peace Corps 50th anniversary, so there were lots of speeches, anecdotes, and recognitions of current volunteers who are leaving soon. We made the front page of the national newspaper, Prensa Libre, the next day!
I went home with my host mom after the ceremony to eat my last meal with the family and pack my stuff up. It was very sad leaving them, mainly because Chiqui and Hugo are moving to Spain in a couple of weeks and I probably won’t see them again anytime soon.
I checked into a hostel in Antigua with the rest of my ecotourism group (it was a challenge getting all my stuff on the chicken bus- but everything got to my site safely!). We stayed in Antigua that weekend to celebrate and just to relax. I didn’t really realize how tense I had been until I felt so free in Antigua! During training, we have to follow strict rules and be in our houses before dark and were always getting training on all the dangerous things that could happen and all the sicknesses we can get, which I’m sure is so we know what’s out there, and that’s good. It does make one tense, however! It was nice to just walk around the park in Antigua, listen to live music, and hang out with good friends before we all left for our sites.
On Sunday, I left Antigua for Santa Maria and arrived safely, but very tired, that afternoon. Now it’s all a matter of getting my stuff settled and getting my new place arranged so that it feels more like home!
So glad you had a chance to relax! And so glad you are all moved and somewhat settled in! Good luck with your new place and with your new family! Wish we all could have been to the swearing in ceremony. Must have been a long one!
ReplyDeleteLove, Mom