So, I'm officially a Peace Corps Volunteer! I'm at the hotel in Managua right now trying to get my stuff together to make the move to Chinandega...and feeling refreshed and energetic after having a tranquil evening in the hotel room. I have lots of pictures posted from the ceremony so you should check them out...including one of me shaking hands with the ambassador. Neat-o. Well, as soon as I can find a good internet cafe in Chinandega, I'll post again. Might take me a bit, I think I'll be pretty busy right at first but I guess that's good. --Elizabeth

Me and Katie...about sums it up for day #2 of meetings in Managua.

ROAR.

Made it to Managua! Staying in a hotel til Saturday that has wireless internet....SWEET.

So, we have NONSTOP meetings until the swear in ceremony on Saturday. About random things. Boring things. They last for hours on end. And I only got like 2.5 hours of sleep last night! I went out to dinner with a friend and didn't get back til 11:15. Then I had to pack up my entire room in Dolores to get ready for the final big move to Chinandega. But dinner was totally worth it.

Well...lunch is over. I probably have some lecture on AIDS or community integration to go to.

First Photoshop Project

So, who wouldve thought that in Nicaragua, I would actually become more technologically savvy? I got Adobe Photoshop! I had a class in college while I was still a journalism major that taught me the basics of using the program (its surprisingly difficult) and have managed to forget everything I learned with the sole exception of the ´drag and drop´feature. But, since I had 6 free hours yesterday after spending 5 in a staring contest with John, I decided to make a new Slack family portrait. Which is what you are looking at. The Slack family in a candid photo at the volcano in Masaya, Nicaragua.

P.S. Check out my pictures again, I uploaded more since yesterday. Too much free time?

Happy Anniversary Mom ´n Pop, here´s a blog entry!

<-----WITH DANICA

Definitely haven´t written in a while. Things are getting hectic and mundane at the same time if that´s possible. Like, we are really busy some days with 8 hours of PC presentations and workshops...and then some days, we don´t have ANYTHING to do. But, just do do a quick update... I´m going to live in Chinandega, Chinandega for the next 2 years! It´s in the northwest corner of Nicaragua, on the coast. It´s home to the tallest volcano here (btw, it´s visible from the ATM) and about 20 minutes away from a gorgeous beach. Unfortunately, it´s the sticky armpit of Nicaragua. It´s SUPER hot, even hotter on average than Managua. And air conditioning is nonexistent except for in the banks. Too bad I don´t have much business there. Haha.

Well...It´s Saturday night. We haven´t been able to leave our training towns today because today´s a national holiday. The Sandinistas are celebrating the anniversary of the revolution, so there will be lots of political rallies and events. It´s pretty controversial, and political events are known to get a bit hairy, so just for safety concerns we had to stay in our sites today. Oh well. I woke up around 6:50 to pee (couldn´t hold it any more) but knew it was a death sentence. I can never fall back asleep on that mattress after I wake up and get out of bed. So, I got a head start on my laundry today. There was actually enough sunshine today to get my bedsheets washed and dried! Then I called my parents. Then I went over to John´s house and we sat in the hammock and stared at eachother for a few hours. Then I decided to come here to upload some pictures (check them out by the way) before I go home for dinner and more excitement. If someone doesn´t take me salsa dancing soon I´m liable to gnaw my own arm off.

If you don´t hear from me for a little bit, it´s cause we´re all getting ready to go through another transitional phase that´s going to require lots of ´patience and flexibility´. We´re finally swearing in and moving to our sites!! The ceremony is in Managua this upcoming Friday, and Saturday morning, Danica and I leave for Chinandega. Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention. Most of the volunteers got sent one by one to different spots all over the country, but a few of us got sent to the same place. Danica and I are going to be sitemates in Chinandega! She´s great. We´ll make great partners in crime.

My address will be changing soon, but you can still send me mail to the Peace Corps office in the meantime. That will always be there. Hint hint. :)

HASTA LUEGO.