Graduation Day and moving

We were sworn in as Volunteers on Tuesday. The Ambassador did the honors. Thirty eight of us started the training, and thirty seven finished. One of us who graduated has to go home for some surgery. He will join us later, if all goes according to plan. As it happens, he will be in Santa Elena province near us.

We moved on Wednesday, which happened to be our 31st anniversary. Marguerite got carsick coming down the Andes. The trip took thirteen hours. An anniversary like none other.

I was asked to sing the Ecuadorian National Anthem at the beginning of the ceremony.  So, I found it online, studied and practiced the Spanish like mad. Whoever set the words to the music had a nasty habit of putting two and even three syllables on a dotted eighth note.  With some effort, the staff found me a recording so that I could be sure about which sections repeated, etc.  Came the big moment, and the sound system wasn't working.  After waiting a few minutes, we decided I would lead the group unaccompanied.  It wasn't really an Ecuador moment, it was a technology moment.

Marguerite volunteered to be one of the student speakers. It happens that the lady who spoke with her is from North Carolina, and graduated from NC State only 40 years after Marguerite where she attended for her first two years. The first picture is of them speaking.

The next picture is of the graduating class. As I said once before, they are a fine group, and you would be proud of them. We've gotten pretty attached to each other over the three months. Some of us will be keeping in touch.
　

The third picture is of our Tumbaco host family. There is a tradition of each class creating a mural. Since the Peace Corps will not be using the center any longer, ours was painted on canvas. It follows the style of a famous Ecuadorian artist; Oswaldo Guayasamín. You can't see it, but we all signed the mural on the bottom.

The final picture is of us with our Santa Elena host mother on the left, and the ambassador. The poor guy posed for a lot of pictures that day. I guess it goes with the job.