Special Announcement: I am officially a volunteer! (but ill explain the week first)
Sorry its been so long, things have been very busy, so ill try and catch you all up quickly.
On Monday we had our thank you ceremony for our host families and spent our final night at our homes. It all went very smoothly. When I got home from the ceremony I finished packing all my stuff, and when my mom got home she had with her a dress and shirt that she had made for me as a parting cadeau (gift). The dress fit pretty well and was very nice. It is a pagne with the American and Burkinabe flag on it, its all the rage right now especially among my fellow volunteers because Burkina just had their independence celebration last weekend. The shirt however, was a different story. I remembered having seen the particular pattern my first night staying with my family. The last volunteer they hosted was wearing the same shirt, and my mom was wearing a matching outfit of the same material. Unfortunately, she had gotten the same size shirt made for me that she had made for the previous volunteer who was a boy who is not my size, so I looked pretty ridiculous, but lets be honest, it’s the thought that counts and now Trent (previous volunteer) and I have matching clothes! The rest of the evening was spent laughing, doing a photo shoot and helping me pack.
I woke up Tuesday and spent a little time with my family before riding off to the center for the rest of the day for exit interviews and last minute administrative things to do. I spent the day with friends, we had a leisurely lunch and then I ran back and forth to see the tailor to make sure my dress was almost finished for the swearing in ceremony Thursday. That evening we had a talent show and it was fantastic! Virtually everyone in our stage had something to contribute and it was pretty hilarious.
We left very early on Wednesday for Ouaga. We had an administrative session and received our checkbooks and then hit the town to buy lunch, get money from the poste and shop for our soon to be homes. Since I will be living in a big city, I didn’t do much shopping and just spent time with my friends and helped them shop for their new homes. We went out to dinner, took it easy and just enjoyed having internet in our hotel room on Wed night.
Thursday was the main event. We woke up early, did some shopping, and then came back to the hotel to get ready for the ceremony. Our entire stage of 30 people all bought matching pagne (fabric) and had outfits made for it, so we were a little overwhelming. (Incidentally, later that night a few friends and I were mistaken for stewardesses because of our matching attire.) The ceremony took place at the U.S. Ambassador’s residence in Ouaga and it was a BIG DEAL. Dignitaries from the government, NGOs and associations were there and it was taped for national tv. The country director, the ambassador and a top ranking minister gave speeches in French and it was very well done. 7 of my stage-mates were chosen to give speeches in each of the local languages that our stage has been learning. They were all truly amazing even though I could only really understand the speech in French and a little of the Moore and Jula speeches. Then we were officially sworn in as volunteers by the ambassador. It’s the same speech that they use for the President, so I am sure you all know it, and it was really cool. Interesting and exciting as it was for all of us to FINALLY be volunteers, the real excitement came in the fact that there was cold draft beer and cake to eat after the ceremony. It was heavenly, the cake tasted like cake and the little quiches had actual cheese which was really a treat for us. It was kind of embarrassing for 30 well dressed and official Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) to be stalking the cater waiters to see if they were serving more finger foods, but you get over that kind of thing quickly here. After the ceremony I went out for dinner with friends from stage, and then we met up with more people and went dancing. It was a great way to end our training. I slept for 2 hours before waking up at 6 to get ready to leave for the bus station (gare). For me, it was a tearful goodbye with my friends the next day. As excited as I am to get to site and start my new life, I can’t help but be sad about leaving the people I have come to know so well over the past two months. It doesn’t seem like it should be a big deal, since I have only known these people 2 months, but its difficult to say 2 sets of such important goodbyes: to family and friends at home & to my new host family here, and to my friends. But as is generally the case, goodbyes, though sad, lead to new hellos somewhere else and today I begin the journey to my new home.
It is 7 am here in Bobo, and I am leaving in a little less than an hour to go to my new home. Most of my friends have already been at their new sites for 2 days, and I will be the last volunteer who left Ouaga Friday to arrive at my new home. I am very excited, a little nervous and ready to start my new life here. I had the opportunity to meet my counterpart (ill explain in a different posting) 2 weeks ago. Her name is Odette and she is the secretary of the women’s association that I will be partnered with for the next two years. This organization’s priorities will be my top priorities over the next two years and I will work closely with them to improve/expand their agro-business. I am hoping that Odette will meet me at my house and show me around the city a little bit. I have NOTHING in my new house, since it has just recently been built, so I will have to buy everything I need from a chair to sit on, to spoons to eat with over the next few weeks. I am waiting to buy supplies until I get to site so that I can get to know people in the marche, vendors, work on my language skills, and get to know my way around, and start to integrate into my community all at once. (hopefully this strategy will prove effective) In any event, check out my photos on my facebook page and wish me luck on my big move! As always, thanks for reading! Miss you all!
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