Not a trainee anymore!!

On Friday I swore in as a Peace Corps volunteer and officially left behind the confusing title of 'aspirante a voluntaria' (what do you mean you aren't a volunteer yet??) It was a great day of seeing all the other ex-trainees dressed up (I have to say that we are a good looking group) and celebrating/saying goodbye to everyone. The 52 of us arrived 12 weeks ago in San Jose not knowing anyone and we have all become extremely tight; a very close family that depends on each other for support.

I'm moving to Bijagual on Monday since there aren't any buses to my site on the weekend and there is only one in and one out every day during the week (guess who is going to be making friends with someone with a car?) I'm really excited to become a part of Bijagual and get to know everyone. I was able to visit it for three days and meet my new host family (they are very nice and welcoming) and be the weird gringa that walked up and down the street saying hi to people (it doesn't take long to walk through the main 'square' in a town of 500 people) I was able to ride a horse and I cannot wait to get more chances to actually learn how. I will be working a lot in the High School teaching English and computers for employability skills as well as encouraging economic development throughout the community. I hope I can live up to the high expectations I have for myself and that I know the community has for me but I'm trying to focus on giving myself a lot of grace at the beginning as I transition in. I hope to have a lot of cafecitos to get to know Bijagualenos.

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while, it has been a crazy month, I've been very emotionally busy and life doesn't revolve around the Internet here so it isn't always easy to get around to it. But I am doing well and I am so thankful for the way that I am being stretched here.