Swear-In Ceremony

I am now an official Peace Corps Volunteer, as of last night, August 25, 2009. I am also a year older, as of August 24, 2009 (thanks for all the birthday wishes!). The swear-in ceremony was last night at the ambassador’s residence, at which 32 of the initial 32 people who started training in June got sworn-in as official PCVs. So all of us have made it through training! The past few days in Ouaga have been glorious, mostly due to the feasting of wonderful food that has been occurring. I chose a great time to be born, because in Ouaga I have been able to eat pizza, ice cream, and hamburgers. Other than eating a lot, I have been spending my time shopping for site. Because I am a replacement site, I get life pretty easy because I will inherit many things from previous volunteers at my site, such as a stove, bed, furniture, and mattress. Because I am inheriting a basically furnished house, I do not have to buy many items for moving to site, unlike volunteers who are at new sites, who have to furnish their houses from scratch. Therefore, I have spent a majority of my move-in allowance on food for site, such as olive oil and oatmeal, purchased at one of the two grocery stores in Burkina. I also bought a thin mattress for a cot, which apparently a lot of volunteers prefer over a bed for sleeping, due to the heat. Right now, I am very glad that I am a replacement site, because things are very easy for me this week, while other volunteers have been stressing out about getting everything for site. However, once at site, I might wish I was at a new site, because I very easily might be compared to the previous volunteers for months. So we will see….

The swear-in ceremony was last night and many people got affectated to their sites this morning. It was very sad to leave the people who have become my best friends in the last few months. It is especially difficult because these people have become my family and due to living in completely different parts of the country, I may not see some of them for months. Although most people left for site this morning, I am staying in Ouaga with several other volunteers until Friday, when Peace Corps transport will take me to my site.

I must admit that now that swear-in is over, I am getting more nervous about getting to site and being all alone. I contacted my counterpart (my advisor at site who is a teacher at my school) this morning and found out that she will not be at site when I arrive on Friday. So I am a little anxious about getting to site and not knowing anybody and having to go around and greet all of the people in town by myself. However, many people (functionaries) will not be in village until at least half-way through September because it is still vacances, during which functionaries travel to their home villages or to Ouaga. So I am hoping that my counterpart arrives in Tougouri before too long. I also hope that my school director comes to site soon, because I would like to get my teaching schedule straight and begin lesson planning, which I know is going to take some time. However, I have been told not to expect my director before September 15^th which means no lesson planning for at least two weeks, therefore I am going to have TONS of free time. To keep myself busy and not go crazy while not speaking to any Americans for a whole month, I plan on giving my house a thorough cleaning and of course bug bombing my house, painting my bedroom yellow (I bought paint and paintbrushes today), reading a bunch of books (I borrowed 10 books from the transit house library today), getting back onto a running schedule, and of course getting to know my village and community I will be living in for the next two years. So I know it seems as if I will be busy for the next month, I have a feeling that there will be a lot of down time and I will be taking many naps, which I am not complaining about. Also, because I am leaving for site, I will not have internet access at site, so I am not sure when I will be updating next. In order to use the internet, I have to come into a larger city, either my regional capital or Ouaga. I do not see myself wanting to go that long without internet and contact with the rest of the world, but volunteers are discouraged from leaving site for the first three months, because those months are very important for integration. However, that being said, I do not plan on leaving site all that often, but I have a feeling I will be going stir-crazy before too long. So we will see how long it is before I need to get away. Therefore, do not be alarmed if I do not update until next month, I am fine, but am just busy integrating!

The whole group

Those of us in the Northeast of Burkina