Swearing-in!

August 23, 2008
It finally happened! After 10 weeks of miserable weather, rice three times a day, and endless miscommunication between myself and my host family, I AM A VOLUNTEER! and the last week has been CRAZY! We left the training site last Saturday, but not without a goodbye party. Peace Corps Madagascar rolled out the red carpet (well at least for Madagascar...) with white linens, serving an amazing lunch of rice (of course), fried chicken, roast pork, new potatoes, salads, and piles of brownies, cakes, and cookies for about 200 people...and let me say no one was shy about eating! I can't even describe the piles of food people ate...WOW! Xavier, the edu director, Steve, the country director, Robert, the training director, Vola, the mayor, and one of our amazing trainees, Derek, all gave great traditional Kibary (Malagasy speeches) and each of the families was awarded a really nice plaque thanking them for their efforts as hosts. But the highlight of the event was really the conclusion, not because we were finally leaving training, but because of the events that ensued...while most of the moms had already loaded their purses full of cookies and brownies, Robert announced to please take the leftovers home and the next few minutes were a flash and frenzy of plastic sacks being stuffed with food. However, my personal favorite was Natalie's host mom. She pulled out a garbage bag sized sachet and started asking all the tables for their left over food scraps and bones to feed to the pigs. ha ha ha.
From the party, we loaded into the PC vans and headed off to Montasoa, the PC Training Center aka summer camp. We had a good day and a half to relax, process the end of training, spend some last quality time with each other (including bonfires and singing by the lake!) and also to start preparing for the next legs of our journeys. Monday it was off to Tana for one day and then back again to Montasoa, why we did this I'm still unsure. But! we did make it to then alleged “Cookie Shop” and it was just as good as everyone had said it would be...My latte was not all I had hoped for, but my tuna melt bagel is still haunting me with deliciousness and the brownie might be better than any brownie i have ever eaten in my life. I know that is saying a lot, but seriously I am in a place to be making these sorts of statements!
And today, today was the big day. Swearing in. Going to the event, I really thought that it would be a formality. Get dressed up, meet the ambassador, listen to some speeches, repeat the oath and vola, title goes from PCT to PCV – something to check it off the to do list on the way to getting to my site and starting work. I was surprised at how emotional I got! Both Steve and the Ambassador, also both former PCVs, gave really touching speeches about the process of personal growth through service abroad and the impact that one volunteer really does make on a community. whether that be the actual projects that they completed or just the friendships and understanding between people of different cultures. They both made reference that both of these accomplishments are valid and neither is more or less important than the other. And as they are both professional development workers they thanked us for the doing the hard work out in the field and how much they thanked us personally as well as extending from the US Govt. Cheesy I know, but let me tell you, tears flowed. At times I still ponder how important the work i will be doing here...teaching english in one of the 10 poorest countries in the world...but i think that over the course of the next two years my perception of what I am actually do here will change. My job may be teaching, but my work will likely be something related but different...who knows, right?
A funny side note. Laila, my fellow crazy, curly-haired girl, asked if I wanted to go get my hair straightened with her the day before swearing-in. Of course! So about 4pm, we make the 30 minute trek into the little town of Montasoa to find the Coiffure. We ask around, we arrive, we struggle through our lack of necessary vocabulary (come on PC, lets add a style section to the language curriculum!) and finally it is clear what we want done. The woman decides I am first. I sit down in a plastic lawn chair, she gets out the blow dryer – and no electricity. Oh Madagascar! So we ask what time the electricity comes...she doesn't know. But she says just hang out and we'll wait for the electricity. We wait. She brings us her family photo albums, Laila goes out for snacks, and about 10 pictures in I realize these are all pics from funerals. no thanks. After about an hour and 3 runs for snacks (it was rough day...) Laila convinces the woman to let us borrow her dryer and brushes for 3000AR (about $1.75) to do it ourselves at the training center. she agreed. Oh Madagascar!
I digress...tonight we have plans to go over to a volunteer's house here in Tana for a little swearing-in celebration and then we are going out dancing! But not before going to the Hotel du France - from what people tell me they brew their own beer and it is supposedly good. I'm intrigued.
Tomorrow, at 8am we begin Installation. Over the next few days, all 25 of us are scattering about the country accompanied by various PC staff. Lauren and I are going with Robert (aka Chocolate) and Doda out West to Mahajunga first: to shop and get ready to move into our new homes this coming week. eeeee! Then to my site, and then across the bay and down the road to Lauren's site!