Moi with my lady friends from training.
My side kick Daniel El Pato Hinkle
&
DOÑA Krystal Trigra Atha
Juanmi and la DOÑA
celebration after swearing in ceremony
Dancin' shoes
PCV - Peace Corps Volunteer. I'm OFFICIAL!
Yesterday was a huge day. We started early by going to a nice hotel and meeting with our counterparts. I met two of the businessmen that I'll be working with in my site. I'll reserve my first impressions/opinions as they are usually wrong (at least in this country).
"site" is a bit of a stretch...I'm in a unique situation where I'll be working in three different municipios in northern Morazan with a Tourism Association. I'm pretty excited to roll up my sleeves and get to work.
After the long orientation - meet & greet we went to the U.S. embassy. Its huge and beautiful. In fact from what I hear its the second largest US embassy in the world. Was nice to dress up and be taken care of so well by the Peace Corps. The swearing in ceremony was wonderful. When the U.S. national anthem came on I got a bit home sick. But then I quickly got a little taste of home as they served up chilli dogs and burgers. mmmmm ... After food, drinks, and lots of photos it was time to move onto the third phase of the day. DRINKS! Adult Drinks.
We went to Tony Romas for the $1 drink specials then went to another bar where we took over the dance floor.
You know its a good night when you wake up with sore feet from dancing your little heart out all night.
Now once again I find myself in limbo...I'm at the hotel killing time till my friend Pato Hinkle and I head out to the terminal to catch a bus and continue the next leg of this Peace Corps journey. But I made sure to take a nice long warm shower since it will be the last time I will get such a luxury for a long time.
I'll be enjoying a latrine and and bucket baths... And since I'll be in north Morazan where its bien Fresco.... they will be ice cold bucket baths to boot.
Anyway, the mood is a bit somber as the other volunteers trickle out to their sites. Some only have an hour while others have a solid 6 to 8 hours. I've already told myself about 100 times... "well girl, this is what you signed up for".
More soon as I think I might be having a bit more time to blog now that I'm a volunteer or not... one of my counterparts already has Pato and I going to a food fair with him tomorrow.
current status: anxious, excited, optimistic, scared, alive, healthy
