Soy una voluntaria...

(In advance, I have to apologize that this post is not only boring, but also lacking pictures. I am running on four hours of sleep...give me a break.)

I can't believe it, but we, the group of engineers, economists and those of us with little to no qualification, such as myself, have completed ten weeks of arduous training and as of Thursday night, swore in to become full-fledged Peace Corps volunteers. It absolutely does not feel like it's been ten weeks since I stepped off the plane into the suffocating humidity of Panamá, with 41 other people I barely knew and who intimidated the hell out of me. Now, a month and a half later, I had to hold back tears as I said goodbye to the last three volunteers left standing at Playa Sta. Clara.

The ceremony itself was nice. Nothing huge, attended by other volunteers in country, the American ambassador and a couple of representatives from the Panamanian government. We all stood up, said our names, states of origin, where we would be living and in what sector we worked, and rose our right hands to repeat the oath that I guess officially clinched the deal. It was also the first time since arrival in Panamá that I have seen the entire group cleaned up and in dresses, ties and button down shirts, and everything ironed. We clean up nicely, but I didn't take my camera along, so pictures will be up when I can steal them from other people.

Of course, with swearing in came the after party that ended up lasting three days. To celebrate our triumph, the group headed out to the beach, where we all got dressed up for Halloween. There were some pretty ingenious costumes that, as soon as I can steal some pictures from someone else, I will post them. The whole weekend was great, and a nice end to our training session, but now I am sitting here in Panama City, waiting to face the inevitable awkwardness that is going to define the next three months in my site, or until I can build my own house. But, when it comes down to it, the first three months of 27 are done...that's a little over ten percent of my service, which is bad ass. I have no clincher or anything witty to say as a termination to ths entry, so I will leave it with, WRITE ME, I am sorry about how exhausted I am that this is not that interesting, and I will update you all in a week, ma' o meno', with fotos.