This was the second day of training in Nicaragua. There are so many things to learn! One of the very special things this morning was Peace Corps director Aaron Williams' visit with our group. He has been in office for 10 days and this is the second country that he has visited as director. It was interesting hearing him describe his own experience as a volunteer many years ago. He was the first person in his family to graduate from college and everyone told him that it was crazy and a complete waste of his time to serve in the Peace Corps. Only his mother supported him. Now he considers it one of the best experiences of his life.

Tonight he was on Channel 8 here in Nicaragua and was interviewed for 20 minutes in Spanish. He answered some very difficult questions very diplomatically. He talked about how all 170 Peace Corps volunteers are helping the people here and he mentioned those teaching English as a foreign language.




After the director's visit, we all took language placement exams, got our rabies shots, and talked with a doctor about our medical needs while we're here. Later we talked about how we will be teaching English, learned about safety, and got our supply of malaria pills that we have to take for the whole time we're here.

Tomorrow our luggage, which was diverted to Haiti, will hopefully arrive. All 38 trainees in our group have been wearing the same clothes since we left Washington at 1:30 AM on Wednesday morning. Tomorrow we will also be taken to our families' houses where we will be living for the next 3 months of training.

I am really impressed with the training group that I am with. Most are recent college graduates and very dedicated to what they are doing. What a great way for them to start their careers. There are two other people my age - all of us using this as a new way to start on a new path.