Alright, before swearing in we had to go through some last minute transition work or orientation....it was actually entertaining, besides the fact that it was orientation at the end of training, whatever. During these days we had awesome refreherios (so mis-spelled). Basically, snack breaks.
It began on Tuesday with Bryan and Stephanie (directors of the municipal and youth development programs) coming. We basically went over the rules. We got our little manuels.
Wed was the fun day. This is when the people from the embassy came over to talk to us. My favorite was the security guy. His presentation was geared towards people who would be working in the embassy so he kept skipping over slides that didn´t apply to us....like the one that said ´never take public transportation.´ That one was great! Peace Corps Volunteers live on the buses. Though, I can see where he was coming from b/c one of the last buses i was on in San Salvador had it´s CV joints break. I know it was the CV joints because i recognized the sound. (PJ) I won´t go into some of the other interesting slides, mostly because they may actually scare some of ya. Otherwise they just talked about the politics and visas. Basically, to watch the politics and tell everyone that I have no idea about visas. Then we wrote letters to ourselves to open in two years. It´s wierd talking to yourself on purpose. I, of course, started my letter by saying that I hoped that I would be reading this in two years. Vamos a ver! After this...it was off to San Salvador!
That night we didn´t really do very much...except check out a local chinese restaurant (which wasn´t that bad) and a local bar. I, of course, couldn´t enjoy all the festivities because i was still on medication....dammit.
Thursday was the big day for two reasons: 1- i finally met my counterpart and mayor 2-swearing in!
The morning was counterpart day. God was I nervious. I began to wonder what in the world possesed me to give up my life and spend two years in a small town in the middle of nowhere. My people came a little late, but not to bad. They live on Salvadorean time to which i am suppose to become accostomed. We´ll see how that goes. My counterparts name is Yessani (sooo misspelled). She is the social promoter in the town. I was soo glad to see that I had a social promoter and that she is a she. My Mayor´s name is Don Justo. We basically just introduced ourselves and went through the morning. The meeting was just to reinforce what volunteers do and expectations. Afterward, we loaded up their pickup with my stuff and waited for Swearing in.
After a quick change into my awesome dress, we were off! Swearing in took place at the Embassy. That thing is a fortrace or castle. It is built to tokyo standards for earthquakes. It took a while to get in since everyone had to go through a metal detector and there was only one metal detector. That was kinda piss poor planning, but whatever. My host mom came too...that was kinda nice. The whole thing doesn´t take much more then and hour. First my boss spoke, then Michael Wise (director of Peace Corps in El Salvador) spoke about what we can expect and the difficulties ahead. This did little to calm my nerves. Then a local mayor spoke about what to come and the country as a whole. I won´t lie, I didn´t pay the most attention to his speach. It´s hard listening to that many speaches in spanish! Then one trainee spoke, Anne. She spoke exceptionally well and I´m glad we chose here. The funny thing with most of the speeches was that half the time was spent with the introduction and thanking varios people. There is definitly a format for how to give a speech here. The final one was by the Embassador. He seems like a nice guy, though his spanish is very, very weak.
After all that, the big moment had arrived. Michael Wise introduced each volunteer. I don´t think he got a single state correctly...apprently i´m from California. We each recieved a little diploma. Then we were sworn in together! It was really funny because the Ambassador mumbled. Something about enemies foreign and domestic. So, I didn´t say the oath perfectly so I´m not sure if i´m really a volunteer or not. All well...it´s all good. All who are going to send mail should note that it is now PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) and not PCT (Peace Corps Trainee).
After a quick meal my counterpart and mayor left. Then it was time to party.....sober style. Stupid medication. I recieved the sepurlative for most likly to sleep in the Peace Corps office....cause i´m sick all the time. errrrr. We then just all went to a local bar and partied it up. It was nice to meet the other munies and dance the night away. The music alternated between a live band (they weren´t bad, not fabulous, but not bad) and a dj. I only completed some of the missions assigned to me. Basically I sniffed a girls hair (yes..i have a pic), slapped some girls ass (no, I don´t have a pic) and other similar tasks. After a late night snack, i returned to the hostel and slept well.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment