Later Tassete…Its Been Real

It’s been two months already? Really? And now they expect us to go off on our own and survive without anyone to hold our hands?? Sounds crazy, but its true…pre-service training is officially at an end!

After my birthday we had one last day of class and then it was time for the dreaded final language test. In order to be sworn-in as an official volunteer, we all had to reach the level of Intermediate-Mid in our languages. Since I had already met and surpassed that level in French, I had hoped that I could just start learning Wolof without having to reach some specific level to swear-in. False. Those of us who transitioned from French to Wolof had the lucky distinction of needing to test at a certain level in two different languages. So our last day in Tassete, Jackie and I had a language test in Wolof and we needed to reach Novice-Mid.

Now to put it into perspective…some of the people who learned Wolof from the start of training were at the Novice-Mid level during the second language test. Which was at the 4-week mark in training. We had to get that level after 6 days. Yeah…talk about pressure. While I’m sure I would have benefited from another week of formal instruction in Wolof, I did NOT want to be held back and have to stay in Tassete instead of going to install (aka move to my permanent site).

The boys did their French interviews first and then it was my turn. As I mentioned in an earlier post, my biggest problem with Wolof right now is being quick on the uptake when someone asks me a question. So right off the bat, Sakhir asked me something like, “What did you do yesterday?” Totally blanked. Took me at least 30 seconds to remember that “demb” means yesterday in Wolof. Bad news Bears. The interview did go uphill from there, but when I finished I was pretty seriously worried that Novice-Mid wasn’t going to happen.

After the fun interview, I practiced my speech for swear-in (which I’d finally gotten around to writing the night before) with Sakhir and my classmates. They seemed to think it was pretty good and I got a few laughs, which is what I was hoping for. So here’s hoping it goes over well with everyone else. Then it was time to finish packing up my room, have one last lunch with my family and say our goodbyes…

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been living with this family since AUGUST already. For most of training it felt like time was crawling by, but looking back now…I feel like I stepped off the plane yesterday. And yet the fact that I just finished grad school in May totally blows my mind. College seriously feels like another lifetime.

I’m looking forward to getting to Nioro and finally being able to unpack my suitcases and feel settled. But at the same time, I’m going to miss Tassete. I was talking with Jackie the other night and she mentioned something about how our lives will never again be as simple as they were in Tassete, and its true. It will be nice to have a shower again and access to the Internet and all those luxuries. However, there is definitely something to be said about living, even for a small amount of time, without all of those things. Frankly, it’s a lot less stressful and you really do appreciate the simple things like rain and the moon. I know that probably sounds ridiculous, but seriously, its true…we all noticed that even after the first 5 days in village. So while I wouldn’t want to do it forever, I will miss the steady pace and the routine of life in a village.

[Oh and spoiler alert: I did pass my Wolof exam…Novice-High! So yay…there is officially nothing left between me and becoming a full-fledged PCV!]