Swearing In - I made it through training

This week has been tremendous. Let’s start with Sunday. So if you remember, I have been working with a group of students from a local high school to make a mango flavored hot sauce and commercialize it. For 5 hours Kate, Amanda (my group partners) and I worked with these kids to get the final labeling, business plan and presentation details finished before our competition that was held this Monday. We cooked our product and bottled it in old beer bottles that came with tops that some lady was selling. This really worked out spectacularly and solved our weeks old problem of not being able to find proper bottles.
Monday morning came around, and we met the kids at the bus station where the Peace Corps drivers came to pick us up to take us to a nice hotel about an hour away to have the competition. To our amazement they showed up decked out in school uniforms, brandishing a large Nicaraguan flag, a school flag, as well as bringing a table cloth and ingredients to help with the table presentation of the product. We set up shop and it looked great, our table was by far the most impressive out of the 13 teams. Each team had to present their product to a 3 person panel of judges for 10-15 minutes. The judges would then ask some relevant questions to see what the kids really know. The criteria for judging was based on, presentation, packaging, labeling, taste or quality, depending on the product, and creativity.
Well the third place team received 86 points out of 100 for their bean sweet treat. The second place team received 89 points for their homemade shampoo as well as winning best overall packaging for their hand crafted bamboo painted containers. Finally, the first place team received an astounding 96 points for their incredible mango hot sauce. Haha, that’s right, we dominated and also won best labeling. Our kids received new backpacks and cell phones. They were so happy!
Then on Tuesday we all left our host families for good to go to Managua for the last few days of training before being sworn in. It was sad to say good bye to a family that has been so kind and generous to me over the last 3 months, but it was equally exciting to start the next phase of this Peace Corps Experience. We are split up into 2 hotels by the Peace Corps office in Managua, the Agriculture volunteers in one, and the business volunteers in the other. It has been phenomenal eating at restaurants and sleeping in a comfortable bed, and taking hot showers for the last 3 nights. Especially because when I get to El Rama, I have no running water, so I have to take bucket showers.
Throughout the last few days, we have had some seriously boring lectures and presentations. However, On Thursday, we went back to the U.S. Embassy to talk with and meet with some interesting and intelligent people. The U.S. Ambassador, Robert J. Callahan spoke to us for a while, and did a Q and A session as well. He was a really great guy – Funny, humble, intelligent, firm, diligent, and detailed, all the things that would make you a good leader. He told us some great stories, including experiences with the current president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega. We also met with some people that worked at USAID, the world’s most preeminent international aid organizations, and people from the Foreign Service. I really thought that Thursday was a pretty cool day. That was a nice lead into today, Friday July 30, 2010.
Today we all woke up around 6 am to get ready for the big day. Everyone was dressed in their Sunday best. I wore a nice light blue tie and a white shirt, the tie was done flawlessly and I must say Donald Trump himself couldn’t have done it with more precision and excellence. We were driven to the Intercontinental Hotel for our swearing in ceremony at 8 am. This has been a very long 11 weeks of highly intensive training, so needless to say, we were all ecstatic to be finally sworn in. 42 of the 45 original aspirants (trainees) were actually sworn in. Throughout this process there is a lot of stress and people looking over your every move so the freedom that comes with this is incredible. The Ambassador came by the hotel for 2 hours to do the swearing in. Our host families, all the language facilitators, and the other Peace Corps workers participated in the ceremony.
Tonight we will have dinner at the director of the Peace Corps house. On Sunday I will leave for good to El Rama to begin Stage numero dos. I’m feeling better but I think I still have some bacteria growing in my stomach so I have had to take round 2 of the antibiotic treatment. I hope I get better.
Take Care.