I'm Official!

Well everyone, those three little letters behind my name are now PCV as of yesterday. The official Peace Corps swearing in ceremony took place yesterday morning, and despite the fact that our group came nowhere close to saying the oath properly (there was a long section in the middle about defending the constitution that lost most of us), all of us are now real volunteers. I even gave a speech in French in front of the ambassador and other bigshots, and apparently I was on national television happily saying my oath. Hopefully that cameras did not catch that I was shaking like a leaf during my whole speech. It was a rather pleasant event, all in all, and it definitely reminded my why I came here in the first place. After the ceremony, we went over to the ambassador's house for a pool party. I don't know if the US Ambassador to Mali will be reading my blog, but I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for the condition of the pool after we left. Apparently we were not tan, we were dirty. Now we are clean, and I fear that your pool will never be the same. I almost feel that your pool should be the first project of the water sanitation volunteers. It was so fun though. In the evening we had a formal party with members of our homestay families (because I didn't cry enought the first time I said goodbye to them in village), and after that the real party began in Bamako with all of the other volunteers coming in to town to welcome us into the fold. And just like that the world of training is over and a whole new unknown is opening up. And, as always, I will keep you posted.

Chez Samake

Well I have officially reached the required language level need to become a volunteer. I am so relieved. The best part is that I did not even realize that I had passed the test until yesterday (a good 5 days after taking the test). Again this might have been conveyed to me in French, but we are going to hope that the language professor just forgot to tell me. Otherwise things are going to be pretty bleak for me in a couple of weeks when I realize that my test results were just a fluke. In other news (and this is not for the weak of heart), there was a big meal prepared by my host family last week in celebration of my brother's wedding. Apparently this is the first meal that his wife prepares alone as his new wife (But in reality they have been married for 3 years and Oumou makes my food everyday. See, this is confusing in English. Now imagine the explanation in French and Bambara). So anyway I got to help prepare the meal, which my family gets a big kick out of, and which is incredibly challenging most of the time - Malian woman have the most ripped arms I have ever seen. I went to market with Oumou and picked out the vegetables and condiments (spices for the sauces - not Heinz ketchup and mustard). Moussa (my brother) asked if I would eat some goat for the occassion, since it was a big celebration. I agreed and they delivered me a cube of grilled meat. As I ate I had a tough time identifying what part of the animal I was actually eating. Well my French is good enough to know that I ate the heart, and not only that but it was a baby goat. So PETA and Chenoa Manor, I understand if I am now on your black list - it is a little crazy that the first meat that I have eaten in years ends up being baby goat heart. I hope my brother doesn't take a second wife in the next few weeks. I don't know how many more celebrations I can take.