Nicaragua: Swearing In

"Fachenta" is a word here that is used to describe something fancy and extravagant. Last week could be described as being pretty fachenta. It included approximately 5 farewell parties, 30 accumulated hours of meetings, 10 accumulated hours of bus riding (not so fachenta), a day at the embassy, speech writing, speech delivering, air conditioning, hot showers, and a 17 dollar brunch. Not a typical week for your average volunteer.

That's because last week was the final week of our training period. I think my fellow trainees would agree that the past 11 weeks have been a combination of excitement, exhaustion, and effort. At times we may have gotten lost between confusion and mayhem as well. It all became worth it as we officially swore-in and transitioned from being trainees to volunteers. 

And now it's time that we enter into the volunteer "real world." That doesn't sound scary or intimidating at all...

As a child, did you ever think that by a certain age you would have it all figured out? You looked up to grown-ups and saw that they knew everything about anything and one day you would too. As you got older, you realized that maybe all adults aren't as put-together as one would think. The questions only seem to become more complex as a person moves from one phase of life to another. 

Perhaps us newly sworn-in volunteers feel a little on the apprehensive side of integrating into our new communities and starting work on our actual projects. The challenges ahead are probably many, but that means so are the opportunities to triumph. We are collectively relieved that training is over and looking forward to establishing ourselves as successful volunteers. 

Last week we completed training requirements and celebrated a pretty big milestone in a PCV's life. We laughed, we cried, we danced, and we ate lots of cake. We celebrated in true fachenta fashion, and the celebration was well-deserved. As for now, however, it's back to the simple life.