Becoming a Volunteer

Though I left home on September 12, I was officially sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer on Thanksgiving Day. I was an invitee from the time I was given an assignment, then became a trainee when I left home for Washington and only now on completion of language and culture training, I took the oath to become a volunteer.
Swearing in for our group coincided with Thanksgiving Day and to our delight we were blessed with a turkey dinner, complete with stuffing brought to us from stateside. Our host country families with our help, were responsible for the other offerings at the table – a true meaning of thanksgiving between the Macedonian and American people. My family took “shopska salata” a salad made with a mix of tomatoes, cucumbers, small macedonian onions and peppers, salt, and oil and the mix topped with “serenje” a local cheese.
The location of the ceremony was a banquet hall in a small village on the other side of Kumanovo, the city closest to our training site. During training, the staff arranged transportation and as our group of volunteers was scheduled to leave home almost 2 hrs before the start of the program, my family decided not to come with the group, but later in time for the ceremony. It worked out for the best, as everything has so far because “mojot soprug” (my husband) Prem was here in Macedonia to witness this memorable moment and join in the Thanksgiving meal.
It was a wonderful day, sunny and not too cold and the banquet hall was very elegant from the inside. The tables were laid out by the name of the training site and with the head table facing the stage – which was just an open area. Just before the start of the ceremony we, the volunteers, were assembled in single file along the stairway down to the main floor. After the arrival of the PC Country Director and his guests, the American Ambassador and the Macedonian Minister of Education, we walked in a single file into the room towards the front and sat down in alphabetical order, at an angle to the stage and the head table, facing the room.
The program started with the singing the two national anthems and after some speeches, we took the oath, that was followed by a more speeches, including a thank you given by two volunteers, one in Macedonian and the other in Albanian language. We filed out, again in a line and received our PCV certificates from our individual language and cultural training facilitator.
The meal was not as orderly as the first part of the ceremony, but that too was okay. Our table had enterprising families, bringing in “rakia” “vino” and “hot peppers”. The hot peppers a contribution from my family who like them as much as we do.
After dinner, the six training groups presented a 5-minute thank you to the families and pre-service training staff, many groups using slideshows, including our group. I also had written a poem and here are the first two verses.

“We are but passing ships in the night –
A bright star * guides us from the darkness to the light.
Mired in an unknown stony bay
Learning a language to steer us away.

Seven souls with no common plans –
Reaching out for an end; now in sight,
Leaving behind those helping hands
With sadness clouding the light.

After dancing and merry-making, we were done and on our way to our sites!