On December 1st my fellow trainees and I were sworn in as volunteers at the Ambassador's personal residence. The embassy here is the 3rd largest U.S. Embassy in the world. This place is well manicured with the Ambassador's house being a beautiful Mansion. We sat through the ceremony and then we were off to celebrate with the other volunteers at the Guadalajara Grill who nice enough to provide drink specials.

The next day was Counterpart Day. 4 painful hours on the responsibilities of the volunteer and the counterpart (government office, NGO, school) . Afterwards each new volunteer grabs their bags and heads for their new site with their counterpart. After the meeting, my counterpart went on vacation. I was supposed to stay in the hostel until Monday (2 more days) but instead, I had him take my bags with him and I would take the bus alone the next day. And everything went well.

So now I've spent a week in my site speaking nothing but Spanish. I have gotten so used to speaking Spanish, that when I speak English I'll throw in a bit of Spanish accidently. Mom and Dad know what I'm talking about.

So I have been in El Salvador for just over 2 m0nths. I have learned a lot, here. Peace Corps, so far has been a real blast and I have to give them a hand at being well prepared. They have walked me and my trainee friends through every step such as public transportation, speaking Spanish, getting over being stared at every second of the day, and getting used to the food. Overall, we have had a real big and extensive introduction to the culture of El Salvador. Moreover, they have been excellent at training us in an efficient and concise manner.

So now that I have this Blog, I can, hopefully, keep everyone posted on what´s going on. Feel free to email me personally. I always look forward to personal correspondence with folks.