Final Weeks of PST

The end of PST is a lot harder than the start. Even though we get a lot thrown at us in the first few weeks of training (homestay, language, etc.), the last couple weeks have been much harder to bear. After getting a small taste of what service would be like from shadowing we had to go back into training mode. I know that I personally never fully came back. I was just ready to go and start my service, and I am sure many others felt the same way.

Unfortunately, we still had to endure 3 weeks of training with lots of language, medical/safety, and Peace Corps policy sessions. Even though much of the information was important it was difficult to stay focused. Each day seemed a little be longer than the last. I think the only thing that kept us going and kept us positive was the light at the end of the tunnel. We all knew that September 25 was just around the corner.

It wasn’t all bad however. We had a couple of fun days during our last weeks of PST. We went to the Von Bach Dam, just outside of Okahandja, for a braai (bbq). We swam, jumped off the dam into the water, and ate some good food. It was a much needed fun and relaxing day. Also, on our last Friday we got to return to Windhoek. Myself and others went to a Chinese restaurant for some pretty tasty food. A lot of people bought supplies for their sites. I did not since I knew I’d be able to get everything in my town, so instead I just hung around and enjoyed the day. The next day, our last Saturday, we held American Culture Day. We cooked our favorite American foods for our Namibian host family and trainers. We split up into different regions and cooked different dishes. I obviously was in the Northeast Region. We prepared pizza and chili dogs. Unfortunately, lobster and clam chowda was not in our budget (nor really available). Other groups made brats w/sauerkraut, chips and guac, gumbo, apple crumble, etc. There was even iced coffee which reminded me of Dunkin Donuts. It was nice to show our appreciations for our host country nations by showing them a little of our culture.

Finally, the last week rolled around. On Monday we prepared to meet our Supervisors/Counterparts from our host organizations. Then on Tuesday we met them. I was lucky enough to have two representatives come to Okahandja. There was Ivan the center manager and Katrina the SME coordinator. We had the chance to talk and get to know each other a little, but there were also sessions to attend. The purposes of the sessions were to reiterate the roles of each person and organization and to make clear the purpose of the Peace Corps’ being. This continued through Wednesday, then September 25, 2014 finally happened.

Looking back to our first day of training, it had seemed like this day might never come. It came…and then it went. First, since I was leaving after our Swearing –In Ceremony I had to have all my stuff packed and ready to go. For those of us leaving we kept our things at the training center so that we could leave immediately. We all gathered at Kukuri where we had stayed our first week in Namibia. Everyone was dressed to impress. Some of us wore suits and dresses, while others wore traditional clothing depending on what language they had been learning. The hall was packed with PST Trainers, Peace Corps Staff, Host families, and other community members who had helped us. The ceremony included performances by the Okahandja Youth Choir, speeches, our swearing-in, awards, and presentations from each language group. The Youth Choir was great. They sang two songs and each was amazing. Speeches were given by our PST Training Manager Benna, Peace Corps Country Director Danielle, Charge d’Affaires Mr. John Kowalski, and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce & Industry Mr. Tarah Shaanika. We were sworn in by the Country Director and Charge d’Affaires. Then each language group had a presentation. One of the Afrikaans speakers made a nice speech. Other groups did speeches, dances, songs, and poems. Overall the ceremony was short and sweet.

Following the ceremony was some finger foods and a lot of goodbyes. It was bittersweet. While I couldn’t wait to get to Swakop, I also had to say goodbye to a lot of great people. Fortunately, we will all see each other again in December.

And so concluded 10 weeks of training. Now the real fun and work begins.