Swear in!
A lot has happened in the last few days. It’s all pretty overwhelming actually. Let’s recap:
Wednesday- last day of classes. We finished logistics and review of our final language exams. And guess what? I scored advanced low for Wolof! (There’s a breakdown of novice, intermediate, advanced and superior for languages, and we’re required to achieve intermediate-mid to swear in. Thus, I win.) Also got perfect scores on my tree ID and tech exam, so if you’re are ever wondering if the tree you’re looking at is a Delonix regia or a Leucaena leucocephala, hit me up. We had a soccer match of staff vs. trainees Wednesday night too, which was rather amusing. Senegal vs. America minus 2 or 3 American trainers. The soccer game is a tradition at the end of stage, and America has lost the last 10 years in a row or so. Last year they did not even score. This year, we lost 2-3, so all things considered, I’m pretty proud of us. I got to play about half the game, and there’s a couple of pictures in the swearing-in album.
Thursday- Family reception! Fatou, my homestay mom and namesake, came to the center and brought her baby, Ndaiy, with her. It was really nice getting to hang out with her one last time and enjoy a good meal. We had a small ceremony for the families and gave them a chance to speak to everyone, and everyone wished us luck and congratulated us on making it through PST despite the obvious difficulties.
Friday- Swear-in! We all shipped it to the ambassador’s house in Dakar where we immediately commenced picture-taking and head-scarf wrapping (see pictures) and watched the ceremony. It was a bit like graduation all over again- they had speeches, had us take the oath of service, and 4 of the other trainees gave speeches in local languages that they had prepared ahead of time. Then they called us each up to receive our official PCV ID cards and documentation that we are, in fact, part of the organization. The important thing occurred after the ceremony- food. As any PCV knows, good food must be cherished and hoarded, and they had lots of it, so we ate all sorts of fun delicious American finger foods. Afterwards, we got on the bus, went to the office to do the necessary paperwork, and proceeded on to the so-called “American Club” where rich white people go to send their children to school or go swimming. It is actually called Club Atlantique, but they have American food and menus in English. We jumped in the pool, had a beer and chatted with other volunteers who came to share in the occasion. It was, all around, quite entertaining.
Today- moving. I packed up all of my stuff, went out to lunch with some friends, and now we are waiting for the busses to take us on the bumpy pot-hole filled road that leads to the magical land that is Kaolack. More madness will occur- moving all of the stuff I own into the house (there’s more than I stared with because we now have so many things that Peace Corps gave us or we bought here), and we also have to store the major purchases tomorrow- beds, trunks, cots, etc. We’ll see how that goes.
I cannot believe that I am already going to install. In some ways, it really does seem like we just got here, and in some ways, I have been over training and ready to move on for a while now. I guess that’s what happens with everything- it was the same with graduation too. I miss college to no end, but I can’t imagine wanting to go back and start classes again at this point. Life moves on. On another, related note, I am surprisingly ready to go back to the village now. Yes, it will be stressful trying to integrate into a new family, and it will probably suck a lot going back to village food and lifestyles, but it is also quite tiring having ceremonies and going out with people a lot. It’s fun at first, but after a couple of days in the center, the idea of going back to someplace quiet, having some time to myself to organize, collect and read a book actually sounds quite tempting. Also, I know it will not be as bad as going back to homestay the first time. While I am by no means fluent in Wolof, I know I can start to converse, talk about myself and express my needs right off the bat. It’s useful. I am also looking forward to having a routine again- not having to think too much about my daily activities to make sure I am not pissing anybody off. By the time I was done with homestay, it was normal for me to go running or change in the shower. It takes a lot of stress off of having to explain yourself for every stupid little thing you do. Also, I got amazingly close with my family in the two months I was there, and then we had to leave. Now, I get to bond with my family and actually stay for a while. I still get calls daily from my family saying hi and good morning or just teasing about random jokes we have. It’s sort of hard to talk on the phone in Wolof because a lot of the conversation is lost when your communication ability depends greatly on gestures and facial expressions, but we get the point across that we miss each other and they want me to come visit when I can. I suppose I’m going to go need to buy more phone credit soon.
So before this gets too long, you can check out pictures of swear-in now on the picassa album! There’s a whole album for soccer, family day and swear-in that I posted. Also, I should have my new address when I get to Kaolack later so I’ll be able to post that, and care-package sending can commence immediately thereafter. An idea that Tim and I started- take videos of stuff and put them on an old flash drive or burn them to a cd and send that. That way, I don’t have to depend on the internet to download stuff about your lives, and you can give me tours of things like new apartments (you all know who you are) or projects/bands you are working on. I’ll be putting together a flash drive on my own and shipping it back to the states once I get a chance to settle into site and get some videos of it, so you can see glimpses of my life here and hear a bit of Wolof. Look for that probably in a month or two. Thanks for everyone’s support and emails, you mean the world to me.
~E
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