April 20th, 2011
It’s official, I have my “diploma” in my hands, “Heather Siegmund, Voluntaria en El Cuerpo de Paz de los Estados Unidos en el Ecuador” Translation: “Heather Siegmund, Volunteer of the United States Peace Corps in Ecuador” That’s not exactly what the certificate says, but that’s the gist of it J Wow, a dream come true. I’ve been waiting 2 years for this day!!!!!!!!!!!!! No words can explain my excitement!
Receiving my "diploma"
Before I go on to tell you about the whole ceremony I want to thank EVERYONE who has supported me throughout this journey: First and foremost, my mom, dad, sister, and Josh! Without your support I never could have done this. Thanks for all you did to support me! Also, a HUGE thank you to my extended family, my best friends, acquaintances, co-workers, family friends, fellow trainees, PC staff, etc. I’m sorry if I forgot anyone!
Today started off with tons of picture taking! Then, a delicious catered breakfast of croissants, fresh fruit, kishe (no idea how to spell this), juice, and coffee. The ceremony started at 9 with some opening words from the Training Director and Country Director, then, we were sworn in by a member of the US Embassy, a few remarks from 2 members of my group, and ended with us receiving our “diplomas”. It reminded me of a mini graduation. We even got our picture taken with the country director and member of the US Embassy with our “diplomas” in front of a few flags after we walked across stage, just like college. The ceremony was very nice. Short and sweet. When the ceremony was over we hurried up and took some pics of our whole group. I say hurried because half of us were leaving to go to our sites at 10:30am. Nothing like kicking us out into the Peace Corps real world right away. Haha.
Girls before the Ceremony
Guys before the Ceremony
Aaaannnnddddd, we're official! OMNIBUS 105!!!
The rest of the day I just went home, finished packing, ate lunch one last time with my family, chatted
with my mom and Josh for a few minutes, then headed to the training center to make dinner with my friends before the bus picked us up at 6. We made salad, pasta with pesto sauce, and had watermelon for dessert. Awesome last meal!
with my mom and Josh for a few minutes, then headed to the training center to make dinner with my friends before the bus picked us up at 6. We made salad, pasta with pesto sauce, and had watermelon for dessert. Awesome last meal!
Oh man was the bus terminal crowded. We were traveling on the eve of the busiest travel day of the year with ALL of our belongings… 21 white people (aka gringos), 3 luggage bags each…we weren’t screaming “GRINGOS are here, rob us!” now were we? Haha, but we found a corner stacked all of our stuff, bought our bus tickets, and then sat and waited for a couple hours until our buses left. My bus was set to leave at 9:45pm. We all got out without any hassles or robberies, you can breathe again.
To my surprise, I didn’t shed a single tear yesterday… I could not believe. That is unusual for me. People who claimed they never cry were even crying when we were saying our last goodbyes both to our friends and host families. I honestly can’t believe it I didn’t break down. I think it was because I knew I was going to see all my friends again and I was just that excited to embark on the journey I had both worked so hard towards and waited so patiently for!
Thanks again to everyone for all the support, couldn’t have done it without you all!
Heather
US Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador(Sounds official, doesn't it? haha)
US Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador(Sounds official, doesn't it? haha)
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