On December 18th, I, along with my fellow trainees, were sworn in as official Peace Corps Volunteers. The swearing-in took place in one of the training villages, Ha Mabekenyane, and was attended by our host mothers, various important personages from the Lesotho and U. S. governments, and Peace Corps Staff. I was concerned about sitting out in the sun, as I was wearing my traditional short-sleeve Seshoeshoe (seh-shway-shway, after the founder of the Basotho nation, King Moshoeshoe) pattern shirt, with a V deeper than I am accustomed to wearing, and had also recently shaved my head, but these fears were allayed when I saw that big tents had been put up for us to sit under.
The ceremony was about two hours long, and there were many speeches in Sesotho and English. Right before things got underway, there was a small point of contention over phrasing in the oath (as you know, I love points of contention over phrasing); we were permitted to decide for ourselves whether we wanted to solemnly "swear" or "affirm." Not having the Oxford English Dictionary handy (I know, I'm still kicking myself over it), I decided to use "swear," because it sounded weightier.
Here are some pictures from swearing in:
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| Tumisang, Rorisong, Rethabile, and I. I swear we have American names, but I can't seem to remember them. |
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| Tumisang and I with Tumisang's host mother, 'M'e Maqanahelo. |
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Tumisang and I with my host mother, 'M'e Makeisara "Mama K" Kose.
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