Sorry for the extended absence everyone. Procrastinating is one of my most well exercised talents, which I’m sure all of you know. So really…this post about Swear-In may be a month late, but for me, that’s practically on time. Enjoy!
[Also, for those who might not know…Swear-In refers to the ceremony that marks the end of training and the transition from PCT to Peace Corps Volunteer.]
Swear-In was October 16th (exactly two months and three days after our arrival in country!) at the home of the U.S. Ambassador to Senegal. So that morning we all woke-up early and decked out in our Senegalese finest for the big day. Then we piled into a couple of vans and fell in behind our police escorts (I know, we’re a big deal…) for the trip from Thies to Dakar.
Miracle of miracles, we managed to arrive early. So we sat around and chatted for a bit while assorted Peace Corps and U.S. Embassy staff and Senegalese dignitaries gradually streamed in. Once everyone had arrived and was seated, the ceremony got under way.
The ceremony was more or less exactly what you would expect from such a government affair. It started with speeches from our Training Director, Demba Sidibe, the Director of Peace Corps Senegal, Chris Hedrick, and U.S. Ambassador Marcia Bernicat. Then the Ambassador had us all stand up and swear our oath. I wish I could tell you I remember exactly what the oath involved, but frankly it escapes me at the moment. Basically we swore to uphold the ideals of the Peace Corps and the U.S. Government, etc. I swear I was paying attention, but I was also rather distracted with worrying about screwing up my speech or tripping over my pagne on the way to the podium. [Pagne’s are traditional wrap skirts and they are deceptively hard to walk in. Especially for a klutz like yours truly.]
After oath, came the volunteer speeches. Our language trainers selected four people from our stage to write and give speeches in the local languages during the ceremony. Lucky lucky me (because we all know how much I adore speaking in public), I was selected to give the French speech. But first up was Shannon, who gave a speech in Mandinka. I couldn’t understand a single word she said, but it is a very beautiful sounding language. Then KC gave her speech in Puallafuta, which is a dialect of Pulaar spoken in Kedogou, a region in the Southeast of the country. After KC, it was my turn to give my French speech…
To say I was nervous would probably be the understatement of the century. One, I’ve never been a fan of public speaking. And two, it was bad enough that I had to give the speech in front of the 150 people at the ceremony, but the week before (and of course after I’d already agreed to do it) I learned that the ceremony, my speech included, was going to be broadcast across the country. YIKES! However, I made it to the podium without falling and overall, I think the speech went quite well. My hands were shaking like leafs, but I was able to hide them behind the podium. Plus, years of theater and being forced to give presentations in business classes taught me how to keep my voice steady even when the rest of my body is shaking from nerves. I even got a few laughs from my jokes about us Toubabs not knowing how to do our laundry by hand or basically take care of ourselves here, haha. So I consider it to have been a successful endeavor.
Following my speech, Byron gave the last PCV speech in Wolof. Then the Secretary General to the President gave a speech; and the ceremony concluded with the APCDs (Associate Peace Corps Director) for Agriculture and SED giving out our new PCV ID’s and letters of partnership with government agencies. And that was pretty much it for the exciting swearing-in ceremony.
After the ceremony, there were drinks (non-alcoholic, of course…95% Muslim country after all) and food out in the backyard. Unfortunately, I was way laid from my attempted assault on the mini-hamburgers (don’t judge…you’d miss them terribly too) by someone from a Finish newspaper doing an article on the Peace Corps. I’m not entirely sure why the only non-Senegalese or American press person there was from Finland of all places, but in an effort to be a good new PCV I answered his questions. Unsurprisingly I was asked if the fact that the economy is so bad right now motivated my decision to join the Peace Corps. The number of people applying to join the PC has gone up considerably over the past year so I understand why everyone always asks that question. Nevertheless, I’m happy that my answer to that question is, “No, I in fact gave up a job to do Peace Corps.” I think anyone deciding to join PC, regardless of their reasons, is a good thing; but I do like to remind reporters that the state of the job market is not the reason that the majority of people decide to become a volunteer.
Anyway, that was a tangent…but after I finished talking to the Fin, I again tried to make my way over the food. No such luck. I noticed that the Press Director for Peace Corps was waving in my direction trying to get someone to come over, but I just assumed she was waving at the group of LCFs standing behind me. Not so much. It took me several minutes of awkward, “Wait, are you talking to me?!” type gestures to realize that it was me she wanted to come over. Next thing I know I’m standing in front of a news camera being interviewed in French. I had no idea that they’d want me to do that, so I was a little flustered, but I think for the most part it went well.
After my brief, but shining moments in the press (HA) were over, I got down to taking lots of group photos. Then all of us newly minted PCVs went over to the Atlantic Club for some relaxing by the pool before we headed back to Thies. That evening we also threw ourselves a “Hurrah, we made it!” party at the local speak easy. (Otherwise known as the home of the Catholic guy who has a bar in his courtyard, haha). All but one person from our stage came to the party, which was great. It was nice to have one last night to relax and hang out with everyone before we scattered across the country. All in all, it was a great day and I couldn’t be happier that training is over!!
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