It's Official!

Finally after nine often-long, sometimes-short weeks of training, training, and more training, I am officially a Peace Corps volunteer! It feels really good to be done with training and am ready to move to my new site.

Since the last time I have written (sorry for the delay), I have since moved out of my host village of Somyaga and back into our training center here in Ouahigouya. It was actually more sad to say goodbye to my host-family than I expected, but trust me, the time had come. My family helped me bring all my stuff down to be picked up by a PC car, and then we said our adieus. I know I defnitely learned a lot about Burkinabe people and culture that I never could have without the kind of immersion I experienced, for which I am grateful. We left on Monday the 15th and we swear in as volunteers on the 19th.

Between this time, the soon-to-be volunteers participated in a Counterpart workshop. Every volunteer is paired with a specific person (the counterpart, or homologue in French) from their community who they will work with and turn to for any assistance needed during the next two years. For us health volunteers, these counterparts are the headnurses (majors in French) who work at the village health clinics called the CSPS, a term I will probably use a million times on this blog. For me, this man (they are almost always men) is named Albert and seems like a really nice man. I met him once before when I visited my home, but this time he and the other counterparts spent several days with us, learning how each partnership can work together. It was really nice to get to know him a little better, despite the fact that he speaks French way too fast for me still. After we finished the workshop, all the counterparts came to see us swear in.

Both my host-mother and father also came to our swear-in ceremony, as did many VIP guests. All the PC staff were there, as were many important Burkinabe people and the US Ambassador. This was her last PC Burkina swear-in speech, as she is soon to be relocated to another country, I believe. Doug, our Country Director (aka the big boss), also gave a really touching speech, choking up a bit when saying how proud he was that all 32 of us made it through training, a feat which hasn't happened in almost a decade we were told. The picture on the left is the five health guys (myself, Colin, Rob, Aaron, and Josh) in all of our local clothes - yes I had my suit made in Burkina for about $13. I think the next outfit I get made will be traditional so look forward to pics of that at some point. Everyone was really excited to get all dressed up, and everyone looked stellar. We were so sharp, we made the Burkina news. I still have people telling me that they saw us on TV. The women in the next picture is my APCD (my direct boss) Dr. Claude, who always dresses to the nines, and swear-in was no exception. She is in charge of the entire PC Burkina health program and is a wonderful person and resource for us health PCVs. After the ceremony, we had a banquet with some really good Burkinabe food, and were able to chat it up a bit with our host-families, the Ambassador, and all the staff members. Doug's wife even baked us chocolate chip cookies, which were no less than amazing. We are all so very spoiled here in the Peace Corps. Afterwards, we celebrated with a beer, and then I went back and relaxed the entire day. It was nice to get a break from the structured schedule for a change. Almost everyone went dancing that night, which was also a lot of fun. It almost felt like America - almost.

The next day we began another workshop with our counterparts called Life Skills, which basically taughtus how to teach about HIV/AIDS, relationships, decision-making, communication and other similar topics. A lot of this was repititive, but it was nice to get to interact and practice with our counterparts some more. This week was actually added to allow us to stay together here in Ouahigouya till after Christmas, tomorrow.

And that basically bring everyone up to today. Today and yesterday have been spent mostly in the marché, buying everything I can to put in my new house. It is actually extremely stressful, having to shop for so much, bargaining for everything, and in such a short time frame. But I am basically done. Things I can think of off the top of my head I have bought include: a matress, a table and countertop for cooking (arriving tomorrow from the carpenter), 2 mats, 2 chairs, a large trash can for water storage, long mirror, a large basin to wash clothes in, 2 buckets, sets of plastic cups, plates, and the like, sets of silverware, hammer and nails, twine, 4-burner stove and gas tank, a cot, and 2 trunks to store food and valuables. It has been so tiring but its finally done. A driver will pick it all up Friday morning and drive me to my site 12 km away, and I can start the process of making my house a home.

Tomorrow is Christmas, which should be relaxing and fun for everyone. Other than waiting for the furniture to arrive, we have organized a local Lebanese restaurant to cook for us, which will definitely be great. Also, I need to hit the marché and get the last minute perishable items like fruits, veggies, and eggs to take to my site. Besides that, it should be a day of singing Christmas carols and praying for snow. Anyway, I hope everyone has a Joyeux Noël and the next time I write, I will have moved into my permanent home. Yippay! À la prochaine!