pcV, wmphasis on V

I"m finally official! Yesterday we swore in at the US Ambassador's house. It's a pretty swanky place with a really great view of the ocean, but enough about that. The ceremony was very basic and to the point. Dressed in our matching fabric, all styled to each person''s own taste, we opened with Islamic and Christian prayers, both national anthems and then all of the necessary speeches. As we took the oath, i got a little choked up and teary eyed as I thought about all of the waiting to get to that moment...well more waiting for the moment of officially arriving in village ready to get working, but having something like an oath to really cap it off was significant. It was also really sweet because we had to sit alphabetically which put me next to Wells, a character I met almost a year ago at Madagascar's non-staging. We took a moment to "debrief" and savor the moment and of course pose for a picture with our certificates and big dopey smiles! We also sang a song in our languages, it wasn't the most spirited of songs, but it was neat anyway. The whole thing was televised and no long after all was said and done, a couple in our group got text messages from their host families that they saw them on tv! Following the ceremony and photo shoot we made our way for lunch and some light shopping to get ready for today; the shopping extravaganza. A wild party later ensued. I won at some coin toss game and for the first time in all training, was at the front of the food line! I went to sleep instead of going out dancing so I could be ready to go for our day of shopping. We had a lot of money to spend to get the bits and pieces to settle into our new places. These are the things on my shopping list:
-mattress
-double burner, with accessories and gas tank (i had a lot of trouble getting this and my burner's fate was in the hands of a man who said "trust me." I'm glad I did)
-cups
-plates
-plastic medicine cabinet
-pizza pan (because I"m teaching the neighbor how to make pizza)
-kettle
-rope
-cutting board
-floor mat
-sheets
-pillow
-small trunk
-plastic lawn chair
-paint and a brush
-any food items I can find
-soap, soap soap

In all the process was very easy and I'm glad I only have to do it once, i guess that's why they call it the jungle baby. So now all I have to do is help pack the truck on Monday and then bump out to the middle of the country. I'll be there getting settled in and enduring the "three month challenge" as they call it, which is just time we're to spend in village as much as we can to get familiar with the community and continue working on language. I do have a visit to Senegal planned so I can be in the know about the evacuation routes since I am a cluster warden (a person who does the head count for the folks in my region in the event of an emergency). I'm thinking this trip will be around February, but who knows. I'm not sure when I'll be able to make it back to internet next, that will be part of the experience, so this will be the last big email for a while. I will still get mail once a month so if you feel so inclined write! (address below). I hope to have many new pictures to put up of the adventures! If you haven't seen pictures yet, see if this link works: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2037496&id=50801709&saved#/album.php?aid=2037496&id=50801709
I tried to get a video tour of my house online but the connection is too slow here. I'll have to find some other way. I'm sorry to get hopes up about that.
I hope everyone enjoys the winter weather, I know I am :). It will soon be getting HOT here though so you'll be able to make similar weather jokes to me. Be well and safe all!
I love and miss you much!
-Katie

Katie Cahoon, PCV
C/O Peace Corps/The Gambia
P.O. Box 582
Banjul, The Gambia
West Africa