August 19: Swearing in – The world called and today we answered.

Friday morning started with taking the official photos for our Peru visas and signing the volunteer oath. We also had a meeting with Sanjay, the country director, where he talked a little bit more about the history of the Peace Corps. After his talk we had a quick meeting to give each of the staff members a certificate of appreciation for their work during training. The whole training staff is absolutely wonderful and I know for a fact that I am going to be a better volunteer because of them. Muchisimas gracias por todos! After the meeting some of us went over to the campestre nearby for lunch. We thought we’d celebrate the day with a nice meal. After lunch we went back to the center to get changed into our nice clothes; we clean up pretty well if I do say so myself :-P There was something very surreal about the whole afternoon. We were in the same garden and buildings that we’d been in for ten weeks; but this time the girls were in dresses, the guys were wearing suits and we were all getting ready to swear in as volunteers. We finally got there. And we got there as a whole group too. I am proud to say that we are the first group in almost ten years to make it all the way through training without a trainee going home. Way to go Peru 17!
The ceremony was at 3 in the afternoon and our host parents were invited to watch. The American Ambassador to Peru came to the ceremony to lead us in our oath. She’s was kept to a very strict schedule due to security reasons, but I was actually one of the few of us that got to speak with her when I gave her a copy of our group photo. Pretty cool. During the ceremony, in addition to the Ambassador, Kathleen and Sanjay gave speeches to represent the staff; Ali and Patrick spoke for the trainees; and Kelsey’s dad spoke for the host families. Then they called all of us to the front of the room, by name, to take our oath as Peace Corps Volunteers. It was a pretty overwhelming moment. While I was taking my oath I was looking at the faces of the staff that helped me prepare to start this journey and at the faces of my friends who are going with me. I don’t really know how to explain it, but I know I’ll never, ever forget it.
After the ceremony there was a reception in the garden. We took a TON of photos and did a little bit more crying. Emotions are tough little buggers to control sometimes :-P We said bye to all the staff and bye to the training center. It’s so hard to wrap my head around the fact that now things are starting…or maybe they’re just starting again…..or maybe they never stopped……. am I leaving or arriving….can I do both at the same time? One things is for sure, before we got to the Santa Eulalia training center someone told me it looked a little like the jungle when you walked in; they weren’t lying and I’m going to miss it.
After leaving the center Kelsey and I went into Chosica to run some more errands and then went back to our respective houses to eat dinner with the host families. That night though was our night. The last time we were all going to be together in Chosica. So we roamed around town going to all our favorite haunts. Dancing, eating, drinking, laughing….all the things we do well in a group. Love you guys!