I officially swore in as a Peace Corps Volunteer on Thursday, August 4. All 23 of us made it through stage. It was a nice ceremony. The country directed gave a speech, along with the interim ambassador (the previous ambassador retired at the end of July and a new one should be chosen by the end of the year), a Togolese representative and the 23 of us. One person in our group gave a long speech in French, which I was really impressed with because he didn’t come in speaking the most French and right before we left for the ceremony he discovered that he’d spilt water all over his speech. The rest of us gave speeches in our local languages, although I must admit there were very short. I have a recording of my formateur saying my speech which I’ll try to post so you can hear what it sounds like. There were multiply press people there and they broadcast the ceremony on Togolese television the following Monday.
We had two very short days in Lomé that were spent doing administrative stuff, buying supplies for our new houses and enjoying our last moment as a group. The next time we’ll all be together is in 3 months when we have in-service training (IST). My big purchases included a mattress and gas stove and my indulgent purchases were a bottle of champagne and a ball of mozzarella cheese. The night before we left we had a swear-in party. A lot of current PCVs came into Lomé especially for the event and it was so much fun hanging out with them and dancing to American music.
We got up super early the next morning (Friday), loaded all of our stuff onto bush taxis and said goodbyes. Admin decided to make our trip a 2 day one, so I didn’t arrive at my post until the next morning (Saturday). I had left my keys with my homologue because they were going to paint the walls in my house. Well, there was a lot of confusion as to who had my keys and where that person was. I ended up spending the night elsewhere and not getting into my house until Sunday afternoon and not having all my stuff moved in until Monday afternoon. But it all turned out alright! I’m excited to start organizing and decorating my house. It’s nice to have my own space and to finally unpack, since I’ve been living out of my suitcase for the past two months.
The first 3 months at post are meant for us to get settled into our houses and get familiar with the community. It’s not until after IST that we can start projects, which is nice to not have pressure to immediately jump into things. I’m still learning French and now I have to learn some basic Moba too. My French comprehension has definitely improved but speaking (and actually being understood) is still a struggle. It’ll come though.
Two of my closest (distance) neighbors hosted a science camp for girls in their villages this week and I was able to go and observe one day at each of their sites. Watching them was really inspiring, especially because they both came in with little to no French and now can easily communicate in both French and basic Moba. One is about to finish up her two years here (she should be replaced so I’ll be getting a new neighbor in November, exciting but I’m sad I only get a couple months with the current PVC) and the other is SED like me and just celebrated his one year. It was the first time I’ve been able to observe PCVs working in their community and I really appreciate them letting me come.
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