“…I will well and faithfully discharge my duties in the Peace Corps. So help me God.”

After moving back into the Training Center, we had 9 days until moving out again. We were in kind of a unique situation in having so many days – usually it wouldn’t be so long, but because we were having our Swear-In at the Presidential Palace, we had to work around the President’s schedule.

We spent most of our time continuing with Peace Corps sessions. Everything from medical to safety and security, to a talk with the US Ambassador to Mali, etc. (By the way, she’s awesome and has such a good relationship with Peace Corps!) Our last official session was on Saturday – I almost couldn’t believe after all this time that was it! Friday night we held a talent show, which was followed by a 2-hour impromptu dance party. Let me just say that our stage is very talented! Saturday night we each invited one member of our host family to come for a “thank-you” dinner at the Training Center. Of course Moussa was my guest, and it was wonderful to see him again, and so hard to say goodbye again!

On Sunday we convinced our training director to arrange a shuttle to take us into Bamako to go to the “Suguba” – which literally translates to “big market.” I’ve been to small markets in the Dominican Republic and Mexico, but I’ve never been to anything quite like this. It was so intense! It goes on and on and winds around all over the place. I got totally lost. We just wandered from one shop to another, both looking for specific items as well as “window shopping.” Sometimes people followed us, trying to get us to go to their shops or buy their products. Sometimes we had friendly conversations and sometimes we got annoyed and wanted to be left alone.

I bought a ring, two new headwraps, a pencil sharpener, an extra cell phone battery, and fabric. And out of all of those things, I managed to bargain a little bit and the fabric guy was the only one who totally ripped me off! My friend and I left his shop extremely frustrated and upset, but we decided to take it as a learning experience, and we did get some beautiful fabric out of it. I also had an awesome chicken chwarma for lunch…mmm…

Monday was our big celebration day, since it was our second-to-last day with all of us together. We went back to the American Club for lunch and a few fabulous hours at the pool. When we left the Club, Peace Corps vehicles drove us to a hotel and then bowed out for the night. After that, the rest of the night was run by current PCVs and transportation was through a private company and paid for by us. At the hotel we split up into rooms of 4-6, got ready, and all went out to various places in the area for dinner.

Two of my friends and I found a delicious Vietnamese restaurant of all places! It was fancy and completely empty, so we had all the service. It was crazy, I felt like I was back in Boston. We were served water in wine glasses and the waiter kept coming back to refill our glasses. We ordered 1 appetizer and 2 entrees to split, and the meal was sooo delicious! Unfortunately we had to scarf it down in order to sprint – literally – back to the shuttle on time, but we made it!

The shuttle drove us across the city to a bar with a huuuuge dance floor – my dream come true! Swear-In is an awesome time for Trainees and current volunteers to meet each other for the first time, and over the course of the night lots of people showed up. As for me, I spent all 3 hours at the first bar on the dance floor (I had no idea my body could physically produce that much sweat), and by the time we went to the second bar, my knee had had enough and I was confined to a booth for most of that place before shuttling back to the hotel for some much-needed sleep. The next day I was able to finagle some ice from our kitchen staff, and I walked gingerly up and down stairs for a few days, but it was totally worth it!

And of course, the next day was Swear-In! I was so excited to wear my new outfit that had been carefully tailored for the occasion. And for the special event, I had my makeup done by a professional make-up artist – my lovely friend from way back as roomies in DC, Miss Ashley Tiffany! It was so cool to see all 61 of us dressed in our finest, most of us in Malian clothes.

We loaded onto a big bus and drove to the President’s house. Known as Koulouba, the Presidential Palace was gorgeous. It sits on a hill overlooking the city and is big and white and beautiful. We filed into the room where we’d be sworn in as official volunteers, mingled with current PCVs, RPCVs (Returned Peace Corps Volunteers), PC staff, our teachers, and each other.

The ceremony was attended by the President of Mali, His Excellency Amadou Toumani Toure, the President’s full cabinet, and the American Ambassador to Mali (who had come to the Training Center to speak with us earlier that week), Mrs. Gillian Milovanovic. Over the course of the ceremony, speeches were given by our Training Director – the fabulous Mr. Bocar Bocoum, PC Mali’s Country Director – Mr. Mike Simsik, Madame Ambassador, six of the trainees who each gave their speech in a different Malian language, and finally the President himself. Each speech was excellent. While all of the speeches were given in French (the official language of Mali), some of it was translated to us in English, and sometimes the speaker spoke directly to us in English. The Ambassador is a wonderful person and a huge supporter of Peace Corps. She administered our oath, and we all stood, raised our right hand, and repeated the oath after her. As I said it:

I, Michelle Surdyk, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge my duties in the Peace Corps. So help me God.

It felt so good to say those words and then be called an official volunteer! I have finally completely the last stage of actually becoming a PCV. I’m no longer a Trainee, but a full-fledged volunteer. I’ve made it this far! And better than that – we’ve made it this far. The 60 other people who have become my newest family, who have shared my struggles, my accomplishments, my frustrations and fun. I could look around and see myself surrounded by an amazing group of people – fellow Peace Corps Volunteers. Those who had completed their service decades ago, those in service now, and those of us who have just barely begun. What an honor to be a part of this community.

The ceremony finished with the President’s speech. It was clear, even in French (which I don’t understand), that he is a genuine and charismatic man who was hosting and attending this ceremony because he wanted to and because he truly believes in Peace Corps. He was both serious and funny and I wanted so badly to know what he was saying! My friend Chris translated bits and pieces for me. Some of the highlights (forgive me if I get any of it wrong): The President praised Peace Corps and its mission, saying it is one of the greatest aspects of American foreign policy. He applauded PCVs for going to some of the harshest villages where even some Malians won’t go, to try and improve the lives of the people. And he said if he were American he’d want to join the Peace Corps! I hope eventually someone in PC is able to give us a full translation of the President’s speech.

After the President had finished speaking, the final touch on the ceremony was wheeled out – a cake with a giant “sparkler-style” candle, to celebrate Peace Corps’s 50th anniversary, and Peace Corps Mali’s 40th anniversary. And then it was over! We all rushed outside to take a quick picture of all of us with the President, and then we hurried on to the food…delicious! We also had a little bit of time to mingle and check out the view from the backyard balcony overlooking the city before climbing back into the buses to journey back to the Training Center where we had one final dinner waiting for us, our last meal together.

(Our Training Director Bocar and I)

A final important piece of information: Our Stage Name!!
Each stage is given a group name at the end of training. The name is chosen by the current PCVs who help train the new stage. It’s a pretty big deal, as the name become part of your Peace Corps identity from there on out. Previous stage names: The Breakfast Club, Honey Bunches of Oats, Risky Business, and Team America (that’s as far back as I know). The PCVs who trained us (and who will be returning to the States over the summer and fall) are from Risky Business, and the group who came last July is Team America (lame name, sorry Team America!). Every time we meet a new PCV one of the first questions is, “What stage are you?” So you can see how important the name is.

We were highly anticipating receiving our name. We had already unofficially given ourselves a name – “Moustage.” Somehow the guys in our group banded together and grew out full beards and moustaches for the last 3 weeks of training, and then all shaved right before Swear-In to display fabulous full moustaches. (On a related note, several of the girls cut off their long hair!) We even got T-shirts made with a moustache on the front and “Moustage 11” written on the back.

Anyway, back to our official name! It was announced by our trainers at the first bar during our night out. We are officially…The Kennedys!! Everyone loves our name!! Reasons why we’re Kennedys:
1. We are currently celebrating PC’s 50th anniversary when it was begun by President John F. Kennedy.
2. More than any other stage, our stage, like The Kennedys, is a family. And even when there’s drama, we keep it in the family!
3. We’ve received soooo much special treatment:
*Aaron Williams, Director of Peace Corps and the Malian Ambassador to the US both came to, and spoke at, our staging in Washington DC.
*The US Ambassador to Mali came to, and spoke at, both our training and our Swear-In.
*Our Swear-In was at the Presidential Palace!
*We were often accommodated by our wonderful staff, agreeing to shuttle us to Bamako for shopping trips, etc.
Basically, we’re Peace Corps royalty! And let’s face it, the other stages all kind of want to be us. (These are their words, not mine!)

So what better way to celebrate such an iconic family, and monumental anniversaries, than to name us after our founder? And so we are the Kennedys, and Kennedys we shall forever be.

*You can read a press release of the Swear-In Ceremony here.