I Swear... By the Moon and the Stars in the Sky

The last week of stage, we had more sessions at the Peace Corps Center to prepare us for site posting. The last day as trainees was reserved for our fun day. We had Stage Olympic where we broke up into multiple teams and competed against each other for glory. However, we were rudely interrupted when we started to notice a stenchy smell in the refectoire. Turns out the septic tank had flooded and filled the dinner room which was conveniently where we were going to hold the Swear In ceremony with sewage. Because of the obvious delimma, we were going to hold the ceremony in the dorm rooms. Which also meant we all had to make our baggage disappear by the next morning at 8.


Along with the Olympics, we had our last talent show that night. To set the mood off, Eli and Phillip did Tai Chi for a good 5 minutes. They hosted along with Amanda and Sam. I did my part to make it an awesome talent show by doing a nice step routine with 4 other girls. It was a fun ending to our life as trainees.

The next morning, August 28th, everyone woke up excitedly. We all stuffed our bags in the storage rooms and watched as the staff transformed our dorm room into something presentable. The ceremony started a little after 10. All 76 of us were seated on the floor. We are the largest class in this country and made it through training with only 1 early termination. We're kind of a big deal. Obie Shaw, the director spoke and introduced the US Ambassador. We also had a trainee give a short speech in each of the 5 languages spoken in the country- French, Hassaniya, Puular, Sonnike, and Wolof. We all swore that we would uphold the United States Constitution and the Peace Corps goals and values. It almost felt like graduation where you get that big pat on the back and the culmination of your work is recognized.

My favorite part was by far seeing all the faculty and staff cheer you on. They have put in as much hard work as each trainee to see us reach this point. The language facilitators, the directors, all the model school teachers, and a lot of the second years were there to commend us. Afterwards we had a nice lunch with refreshments.

The rest of the day was spent cooking for our big Swear In party. We had lots of food and I got to sneak little tastes of cheese before it went in the dishes. The party was held at a hotel about a 10 minute drive away. We got to meet a lot of the 2nd years and made for a very entertaining night.

The next day was reserved for packing and saying good byes. We all actually left on time for posting. The Hodh ech Gharbi all climbed into a big SUV and got ready for our big 2 day journey to Aioun.


My language class with our Hassaniya Facilitator.
L-R Diego, Moctar, Austin, Lindsay, and I.



The main road in Rosso.