It's Official!

Okay, so I've been a volunteer now for awhile since swearing in was on October 22, but this was my first opportunity to update my blog. And as a forewarning, from now on, posts will be sporadic and timing will be off. I'll do my best though. Okay, back to swearing in. My last week of training was in Belmopan and honestly, I did not want to leave Santa Teresa. I like my village and feel so much at home here, but I knew it was pretty important to go, so I thought I better. (Actually, I don't think I had a choice.) We did some final paperwork and of course had to practice for the ceremony so it all went well. And I must confess, even during the rehearsal I got goosebumps realizing the significance of being where I am. And of course, got a little teary eyed at the actual ceremony. Roger German gave our vote of thanks and mentioned fulfilling one of his life-long dreams and how he was sharing the moment with his new family. I would say our group is pretty close, plus it's pretty amazing there are still 40 of us here, we hope to stay just as solid. But back to living your dreams. I'm not sure I'll ever get over how neat this experience has been and I'm just getting started. I can't imagine what's to come. After the ceremony we had lunch, creating a little Maya Mopan circle. It was nice to see Miss Carmelina, Mr. Fransico, and the Cus family. We had an afternoon break when the 1st years took on the 2nd years in a game of football. We lost, but it was fun. The evening was spent at the US Embassy. Ambassador Thummalapally was very friendly and hospitable, informing us that his next job would be working for Peace Corps. It's nice to have such great support from important people.