Swear-In!

After our final Moore class, after the last French technical session, after a talent show, after our last dinner at the training center, after packing for the second to last time, we headed into Ouaga for our swear in ceremony! 

On my 74th day with the Peace Corps, I became an official Peace Corps volunteer!  We arrived at the US Embassy a full hour early.  We did a quick little run through of what we had to do and then were urged to sit in our seats and wait.  and wait.  and it was dreadfully hot and we were all starving and in need of water (or at least I since the timing of the thing hit where there was just enough time for breakfast but not for lunch before we had to get ready and bussed out).  Finally after everyone arrived and were seated the ceremony began.  There were a good number of important people there, including representatives from some of the major aid organizations in Burkina Faso, like US AID, and the US ambassador and the first lady of Burkina Faso.  All the current PCVs that had helped with our training were there and also some other PCVs that just wanted to come.  Our Country director spoke, and then a few volunteers gave speeches in their local language, then some other speeches, and then finally we took the oath.  The oath is the same oath of service to the US government that the president takes when he swears into office.  And the a few other speeches and a dance troop, and then all the new volunteers are presented to the important people by standing in a line, a very long line, and everyone shook our hands one by one, including the first lady!, as they entered into the reception area. 

After the ceremony was over we all made a mad dash into the reception hall to find a bottle of cold water (and maybe a glass of champagne…) and the finger foods that were floating around.  There were a couple cakes with the Peace Corps/Burkina Faso emblem on them that i was lucky enough to get a piece of and were delicious.  The reception only lasted a little over an hour, that that was all it took for the drinks to run out (the food ran out with in the first 15ish minutes), and once all the dignitaries left there was lots of picture taking and we started to get a little loud and silly.  Promptly at 19:00 our Country Director shooed us towards the Peace Corps vehicles that were waiting for us. 

Once back at the hotel the celebration continued.  For whatever reason our dinner plans at a nice restaurant were canceled in favor of ordering pizza, but I didn’t mind because this was the best pizza is all the BF (it had real blue cheese on it!).  Then after much attempt to get people mobilized, a large group finally made our way to downtown and to a restaurant/bar/hookah bar/ really delicious ice cream place to kill a little time before the dance clubs opened up.  From there we went to a club that happened to be only Peace Corps volunteers and we all flooded the dance floor.  It was a blast to meet the current volunteers and see all the new volunteers open up after weeks of training. 

After a little time there most of the club decided to change venues since the DJ kept talking too much.  What was suppose to be a short walk (we were being lead by old volunteers that knew the city) turned into what seemed like forever, but we finally made it.  This club was jammed pack with Burkinabe.  There were a lot of men and a few couples, but also quite a few prostitutes.  This was a down and dirty club in the BF (one girl had her purse yanked out of her hand, but she got it back), but was a ton of fun.  I was sitting at the outside bar with friends drinking a water (no seriously, I was sweating balls dancing in the hot club and only wanted water) and two of my guy friends who were sitting on the other end of the bar alone were approached by 2 prostitutes, it was really interesting to watch.  It’s good to be reminded that even though we are a bunch of American's and we’re all together, we’re still in the middle of Africa. Inside the club all the PCVs grouped together and danced like crazy.  The music was just right, even the melody of the 3 world cup songs that was played over and over again. 

The clubs here don’t start until midnight, and don’t seems to shut down until dawn.  Finally at 4ish I looked at my watch and thought “oh crap, I got to go to bed”, and joined a group that was headed home.  Tomorrow is a big day- I had to buy all the necessary things for my house as I get shipped off to site early Sunday morning!