It's Official.

Peace Corps Panama swore-in its 61st group of volunteers on Thursday at the house (read: mansion) of the U.S. ambassador to Panama. All the trainees got all gussied-up, and we marveled at eachother’s metamorphosis. Because the Peace Corps was celebrating 45 years in Panama, the ceremony was attended by the global director of the Peace Corps and a couple distinguished Panamanians from the ministries of health and agriculture. While the ceremony was wonderful, the highlight for me was a speech delivered by a fellow SAS volunteer Andi. She recounted the hotdog consumption, sicknesses without diagnosis, and mysterious skin afflictions that kept our training interesting and spoke about our next new beginning. The night followed with dinner at an Italian restaurant and dancing in Panama City and concluded at a karaoke bar with a Bruce Springsteen song.

Following swear-in, Peace Corps gave us two days off to relax, celebrate, and prepare ourselves for our arrival to site. Most of the group headed to the beach near San Carlos on the Pacific Ocean. We prepared fabulous food, played pool side charades, saw plankton luminescence, read, reconnected with home, and tried out surfing (or watched, as in my case; the waves scared me). Group 61’s bonds grew even stronger through the weekend, and today we all said tearful goodbyes, wishing each other well in our sites in the coming months and years. Training is finally over. This is where the Peace Corps begins, and I am feeling very small, but I am ready to go.