Service and Sand: Goodbyes...for now (aka Swearing in)

Tuesday and Wednesday we had a supervisor workshop. Pretty much every supervisor and volunteer met and then attended workshops that focused on roles, expectations, and what Peace Corps is. My supervisor did not show up. BUT my friend Brittany's supervisor did show up and she is the principal of the primary school of my town so she was able to give me some information about my school. For example, my school has just been renovated and has a nice computer lab. My school is relatively small (around 400 kids) and there are no more than 15 teachers. I will be able to move into my small flat by the hostel and I'm going to have to buy everything for my apartment. However a few of the workshops focused on discussing in private the role of the volunteer including what classes they'll be teaching and what not. So unfortunately I wasn't able to discuss that with my supervisor.
Today we swore in as volunteers. I borrowed a traditional Herero dress from one of my host mom's friends. It was a bit tight around the chest and I couldn't quite snap myself without help (my chest got in the way of seeing where it was suppose to snap into) and my host sibling helped me. I wore a single petty coat underneath the dress. My host mom went on to say that she usually wore 6 underneath her dresses. The dress was then completed with a belt and the tradition hat that refused to stay on my head. It was really emotional taking pictures with my host family because this was one of the last things we would do together. As I walked to the center where the ceremony would take place in I got a lot of comments and looks. I think most people were just really surprised to see a white girl in a Herero dress.
The ceremony started at 10 ish (good ole African time). The youth choir sang in the beginning and then we walked down the aisle to our seats. It was a lot like graduation except I was in a huge dress. The ceremony started off with the singing of the national anthems. We sang the Namibian one first (the recording was a lot faster than we were singing), then the African Union one, and lastly the American one. Our group was introduced by a training staff member. We then watched this really awesome video that showed what our PST life had been like. Our training director then gave opening remarks and asked the Country Director to accept the 47 trainees who had completed their training to swear in. Then our Country Director "accepted" us and gave a really great speech about how we define ourselves. She spoke about how she doesn't know us all individually but she knows we're "adventurous, selfless, courageous" and a whole lot other words. She talked about how she felt like our surrogate mother and how she was really proud of us. She then passed it off to a special guest the acting ambassador for the U.S.A who then gave a speech. Then we said two oaths. One was saying we would serve the U.S.A and the next pretty much saying that we would serve as a volunteer. After this a business guy gave a rather dull speech about the importance of volunteers in Namibia. A youth choir then sang a really cool song. Then each language group presented something. Africaans and my language both gave a speech (my friend adam gave the otjiherero speech). The Kavango region did a dance. The Oshiwambos sang. And the KKG's and Zambezi's said a poem. After this the national anthems were sung again in reverse order.
I can't believe that I am finally a volunteer. I am really excited to begin my service. I can not wait to meet my students and get started. The next few months are considered phase 2. Pretty much we will be observing classes, getting to know our schools and communities, and working on integrating. Then in December we all meet up for a conference known as "Reconnect" where we talk about phase 2. FINALLY in January (the beginning of the school year) I start teaching.