Gringa en Nica: Swearing in...finally it came!

John (TEFL) and I in front of our PC Nica "crest" before Swearing In aka Judamentación

So Nica 47 finally made it through training and were sworn in as volunteers on Friday July 25th, 2008! Hard to believe 3 months went by so fast, even though during 8 hour charlas we thought Swearing In would never come.

I stayed in Managua from Wednesday till Saturday afternoon, I could have stayed Saturday night but I opted to leave ASAP which turned out to be a great idea (less money spent and got to go on a field trip on Sunday morning). Wednesday and Thursday we had more charlas all day long, but luckily one charla was getting to hear Ambassador Paul Trevilli speak and then have a Q&A session with him. He actually only has 2 weeks left here and then a new ambassador will be coming in. Diplomats are usually switched around every 3 years in hopes that they will always remember what country they are serving (the U.S.) and not cling on to the host country. Makes sense. There were alot of questions from the group about Foreign Direct Investment and what the U.S. mission is doing about the promotion of democracy. I asked him how he felt about constantly moving his kids and wive around the world, to which he replied that it made them a very tight knit family and feels his children have a very amplified view of the world.

On Friday morning all of us jumped out of our beds around 6:30am to start getting ready for the 9:00am ceremony and then we drove to the InterContinental hotel down the street. The 9:00am ceremony was a thank you to our host families and Avi and Scott did a great job with their thank you speeches. Each family received a certificate which we signed and then we took pictures up front with our mamas or whichever family member came to the ceremony. Afterwards we had really good refreshments and took some group pictures. Around 10:00am or so the Ambassador arrived and we were quickly coraled into the room by PC Staff (I guess he arrived early?). What most surprised me was the amount of press that came to the ceremony, but they mainly came to bug the Ambassador. Still though, they shoved plenty of cameras in our faces during the ceremony and one of us had an interview (approved by the PC Country Director) with one of the national news stations.

First we sang the Nicaraguan Natioanl Anthem and then the Star Spangled Banner, where I pulled out my fake broadway singing voice (AKPsi and Rosine knows what I'm talking about) and got a couple compliments afterwards actually. I'm naturally an Alto II, so when I sing the Soprano part I have to make it a little operaish to make it sound good. Then, we gave an oath of service (in spanish) to serve the Ministry of Education to the best of our ability...blah blah... Then the Ambassador went up to say a couple of words and give us the oath of service to the U.S. (same one the military gets, or any other public service, except you place "PC" in place of "Army" or whatever agency). After that we were officially volunteers, oh and each one of us had to stand up in front of everyone and say our name, where we were from and where we would be working for the next 2 years. Our Country Director said a few words after this and then we were finished! They had a big cake for everyone and the guests gobbled it up within a matter of 10 minutes or so. It was an amazing experience to say the least and I felt so relieved to have made it past the training and start the next 2 years of my life. I consider myself so lucky to be a part of PC and to have the chance to serve my country. Some do not get this opportunity due to pre-existing factors like spouses and kids and real life jobs. I can only hope this service will turn me into a more humble person and that I will continue to see a positive side in even the darkest of situations.