Swearing In

On Tuesday we left Namaacha for Maputo and were officially sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers.  Many of you are probably thinking, wasn’t she already a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV)? Actually, no. I was just a Peace Corps Trainee (PCT).  Until I raised my right hand and repeated the oath after the ambassador I didn’t have the full status of a PCV.  Now that I switched my T for a V, I do.  Don’t ask me what the real difference is, because I’m not quite sure.  I just know they make a big deal about it.  The ceremony took place at the ambassador’s residence in Maputo. All 51 trainees wore clothes made of matching capulanas that we had gotten tailored in Namaacha (I’ve been meaning to write a post about capulanas…soon to come!). People wore vests, ties, dresses, shirts, skirts, etc. We joked on our way to the ceremony that we looked like a choir walking down the street in Maputo, and it was true. 

Here we are (at least the people that could fit in the frame) all dressed up for swearing in.

(photo courtesy of Sam)

The ceremony was short—only about an hour—and included speeches from the country director, the ambassador, and….yours truly! I was nominated by my peers to give the “graduation” speech in Portuguese during the ceremony. I was incredibly honored to be selected. I wrote the speech in Portuguese and worked with a language teacher to correct my errors.  I was extremely nervous, but I don’t think it showed in my voice when I spoke.  I’ve always been terrified of public speaking, but I actually kind of enjoyed it this time! I would attach a copy of my speech, but since it’s in Portuguese I guess I’ll just summarize. I talked about our experiences in training: what we learned, what we did, what we ate, etc.  Then I talked about what was next and the challenges that we face.  I ended with a comment about what an accomplishment it was to finish with training.  We completed 453 total hours of class in the last 10 weeks!

Here I am giving the speech...the woman in the background is the ambassador's wife.

(photo courtesy of Thelma)

Something very special about swearing in was that my friend Steph Newton from college was able to be there! She is just finishing up her service in Mozambique and happened to be in Maputo for her end of service activities.  It was so fun to see her!

Wellesley in Mozambique!

We spent Tuesday night in Maputo and on Wednesday flew to Chimoio, the capital city of the province of Manica.  We have been here for two days participating in a conference with the representatives from our schools and doing some shopping for our new houses. The director of the school in Zobue wasn’t able to make it, but he sent a representative from the school.  During the conference we talked about the history of Peace Corps, expectations for host schools and volunteers, etc.  It was pretty repetitious for us volunteers since we talked about all that stuff during training, but it is a good opportunity to help the host schools get on the same page with Peace Corps.  Tomorrow we head to Zobue! My life as a real Peace Corps volunteer is finally about to begin!  The next few days are going to be extremely overwhelming moving into a new house, meeting tons of new people, and trying to start our lives in Zobue.  I’m definitely nervous, but I’m also extremely excited to finally get to start what I came here to do.  Here we go!