Swearing In - I am finally a PCV

Well, it's finally here; I've graduated from intense training to being an official member of the Peace Corps in the 50th year Anniversery.  I couldn't believe it happened so fast.  To actually witness the ceremony, you can view it here http://www.ustream.tv/channel/pcv270sw1  and I promise this is the correct site.  I gave my dad this address except I wrote down an l instead of a 1, looks the same right, but the first letter I copied down was a lower capital L instead of a 1, Ouch!!.  I give thanks to my dad for actually taking time to be up at that time of the hour.  It was 12:45 am where he's at.  A 13 hour difference between Chicago and the Philippines.  Unfortunately, he wasn't able to view it due to my dumb mistake, but hey we all make them. 

To the left is Sam Salter, my TCF (Technical Cross-Cultural Facilitator) and to the right of me is the new Peace Corps Philippines Director Denny Roberston.

All the speeches were great and I even felt a tear coming on as the U.S. official asked us to raise our hands.  Many thimgs went through my mind as I was up there.  First of all, my seizure and shoulder incidents at the same time.  I thought for sure I was going home, but I was fortunate to have a great Peace Corps staff & a great host family in training to help me through my injuries.  Above & below photos of the event.

The photo above & to the left is of Brenna & Kayla in the costume she wore for her group's performance.  Click on the link above to see it; it was awesome.  The photo to the right is my Chicago counterpart Bob Baily from Oak Lawn.  He'll be with me in Zambalas; he'll be serving in Subic in the CYF section.  The photo directly above is of Wyatt & Michah; they're married & are from California.  They'll be doing their service together in Bohol, I think.

The lady standing to my left in red will be my counterpart teacher for the next two years.  Her name is Doris Lapuz.  I will be teaching 1st & 2nd year English.  However, I've also been informed that I will handle 3rd year as well.

This is one of my favorite photos because it's a picture of my cluster, but without Phyllis, unfortunetely.  Standing in for her is Rachel on the far left.  She is married to Kevin in the suit.  Kevin & Rachel will be doing their service in my city, Olongapo City.  The lady is Katelin.  She will be heading up north to Pagasina.  In the middle is Eva, our LCF (Language cross-culture facilitator).  She is the best, wihout her I wouldn't have passed my language profiency test (LPI).  Standing next to me is Julie, my neighbor in Magsaysay.  She will have a 10 hour boat ride south to a tiny island called Romblon and teaching secondary in a high school called Romblon High School in Romblon, Romblon.  That's a lot of Romblon's in there.  Not pictured is Phyllis and she will be teaching in Los Banos, an hour & half south of Manila.

Oh, what the heck, I might as well throw this in there as well.  This photo is from a previous time, but one I like a lot, because it includes all of us in there.  From L to R Sam, Kevin, Katelin, Eva, Phyllis, Julie and me.