This is going to be a pretty short post because it's about 11pm here and I leave tomorrow morning at 7am to go to my village. Anyone who knows me can probably guess that I still need to pack up a lot of my stuff!
So I officially swore in as a Peace Corps Volunteer on August 25th. The ceremony was at the ambassador's residence where we had to take an oath where I think I said something about protecting the United States from all enemies foreign and domestic. Not sure I fully realized what I was signing up for when I joined the Peace Corps. The ceremony was good - a lot of the new volunteers dressed up in more traditional burkinabe clothes that they had made during training. There was some pictures taking of all of us as a group so hopefully I can get one up at some point.
Most of my time since the ceremony has been spent doing additional language training. Last Saturday I took the language test again and finally made it to the required level for teachers - intermediate high. So that brings us to tomorrow being the big day, heading up to my village where I'll be spending the next couple of years. I think I'll be spending the majority of the day travelling and hopefully will get to my village about 5pm or so if everything goes ok. From there, it'll be moving into my new house and trying to get everything setup. I spent a good portion of the day shopping and buying some groceries for my first few weeks there - the essentials like cookies, wine, and some mango tang. The whole living alone and cooking for myself should make for some interesting stories, although I won't be surprised if the villagers take pity on me and offer me some food. (who's helping who here?)
So wish me luck! The whole training experience was intense, but good for the most part. However, in some ways the biggest part of the experience starts tomorrow with getting up to my village and moving into my house. It's a little unbelievable to think that I'm going to have my own house in the middle of an African village. I don't really know when I'm going to be able to write again because I don't think I have very good internet access near by if any at all, but I'll find that out soon. Hope everyone is doing good at home! A la prochaine!
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5 comments:
let me know when you get your place set up Bry, it's good to know if I have a few too many beers in Africa I have a friend with a couch to offer :-)
Bryan - I am glad to see that you have your priorities in order when you pack. Same as me. Love dad
Bryan,
I knew you had a lot of your father in you, but never realized how much. You have the same priorities, wine, cookies and mango tang. I hope you're settled in and that the natives are treating you well. Your mother was telling us how they Killed the village chicken and cooked it for you. You must be like royalty to them. Keep up the good work.
Love Patty
Good luck my friend. I'll check in to see how you are doing.
Steve M
Brian,
J'ai bien apprécié lire ton blog. D'ailleurs, t'as vraiment le dont pour l'écriture. Maintenant, que t'as déménagé dans ton village, j'imagine que ta vie va changé énormément. J'espère que tu vas bien et tu nous manques ici a Needham. Je n'ai pas besoin de te dire comment ta présence et ton expertise nous manques tous les jours.
Thea
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