Yes I know I have not written in a while! Ok a long while…. (thanks dad for the daily reminders!… haha). But I am back now. I have been doing lots of stuff since my last posting. Lets see where to begin. I finished up training at the beginning of August, did my last LPI (Language Proficiency Interview, more like inquisition, seriously I have had IR exams in college that did not dread as much!) hahaha. But I tested out of Spanish at Intermediate-Medium. But they still wanted me and six others to head out to the coast for two more weeks of language training, really it was for learning how effing fast they speak on the coast. Really it would have been helpful to have training on the coast, but I will settle for two weeks!
Well, after we finished up training we all headed back down to Quito for Swear-In. That was actually a fun trip because our bus got pulled over for ‘violating a traffic law’. I will admit that we were probably violating a few traffic laws with all 40+ people and all our luggage crammed onto one bus. But we all made it, checked into the hostel and had a great time the next couple of days. Though I was fighting a bad bout of tonsillitis the whole time :(.
The we all became volunteers on the 18th. Quite the experience, mostly because, as sad as this is, the bagels and cream cheese after the ceremony! The ceremony was held at the US Ambassadors residents, which was, to say the least SWEET! There was a really nice lawn and gardens, it was nice because we got to hang out after and soak in some sun. Later in the afternoon we got to have a picnic at the office. It was actually quite an amazing, burgers, hot dogs, pasta salad… your typical BBQ fare…
Later that night we had a little party at our hostel, a very fun night that was! The next morning we got up early and headed to Chone for two weeks. Here are some pictures off it all.
The Cariacu training group. US Ambassador & Country Dir.
The view from the lawn. On the way back to the hostel. 
Party time.
