As the last few days of PST ticked away everything seemed so busy. There was lots of administrative things to do, packing up most of our things in order to make it easier to get things to site and of course the excitement and nervousness of going to site. It was extremely bittersweet knowing that I was leaving minha família. I had given Mano Paulo a gift a few days before leaving, an OSU paper football game. The football was actually made from leather and had a big Block O on it and the field goal post had OSU on it. After some difficulties of trying to describe how to play the game, we just decided to give it a try and learn as we went. The first five minutes were spent trying to work out the kinks and getting the hang of the game, after that though it was game on. He was actually pretty good, taking an early lead but I ended up coming back at the end to barely win. He seemed to really like the game, even the next morning during breakfast he told me we had to play again. We actually ended up tying that night, but there was still one more night left and he wanted to play again, I’m sure to win. So on my final night in Namaacha with minha família, we had our last match. He destroyed me in it, scoring over 100 points. I told him he must have been playing during the day time to get better, but he said he hadn’t. During the match we had a conversation about how goodbyes are very sad and we never look forward to them. He told before going sleep that he would walk me out to the bus the next morning.

When I woke up in the morning I finished packing the last few things I had and was trying to prepare myself for the mix of emotions. Today was a day I had been looking forward to since starting PST, Swear-In, but at the same time I was having to say goodbye to minha família. I had some chocolates and teas from America that my parents sent me, both were things that minha família mentioned they really liked. So I boxed up the gifts and wrote a thank you letter in Portuguese to them. Of course it’s difficult to truly thank someone for opening their home to me and taking care of me for months while I cannot speak much of their language. After I had everything ready to go and was prepared to leave I took the gift out and set it on the table, since they were outside at the moment. They came back in and I gave them the gift. Mano Paulo read the letter first and just about started to cry, which wasn’t the reaction I was expecting, and Ana did the same. Of course seeing them get so emotional only made me start to choke up. Both of them gave me a hug then open the box. They were extremely excited to have chocolates and tea from America, so this made me very happy. Ana said that it was all for her and Paulo might get a couple chocolates if he was nice to her.

We made our way out of the house, slowly heading down the dirt road to the bus. Mano Paulo took my bag of course and was joking that he was on his way to America. We ran into a couple other families on the road, all heading to the bus in an awkward silence, sad, knowing we were leaving and excited for everything else to come. When we got to the bus I loaded my bag inside and went back out to say my final goodbyes. After a hug with Ana she was off to do some work at school. Mano Paulo stayed around to talk a little bit, and told me that no matter what if I ever needed anything I could call him. A final hug goodbye and we all loaded up on the bus to head to Maputo for Swear-In.

Arriving in Maputo we all went straight to the five-star hotel PC had arranged for all us PCTs(soon to be PCVs) to stay at. The hotel was fully aware that there were 70 of us PCTs coming to stay for the night and we were arriving a few hours before we had to go to the Ambassador’s house for the Swear-In ceremony, yet they did not have a single room ready when we arrived. We sat around the lobby and out by the pool for a couple hours until the hotel was able to give us a few hours so we could try to get ready in about a half hour. This really didn’t provide much time to really clean up like we all would have liked but in PC fashion we made it work. Then we all hopped back into the buses to go to the Ambassador’s house.

The Ambassador’s house was amazing! The front door was as wide as a double door but swings open on a central hinge, allowing people to enter and exit at the same time. Stepping in just inside there is a large opening to the balcony from the upstairs and the beautiful hardwood floors ahead. As the hallway leads to the great room, and outdoor balcony beyond, there are openings on each side just before arriving to the great room. These openings looked down upon a small garden to one side and a Koi fish pond on the other, and there is a spiral staircase that leads down to the lower level where both of these are. Above the spiral staircase is a magnificent, circular skylight. The great room has a piano that a few PCT/Vs took the opportunity to enjoy with their musical talent, something I lack. The balcony overlooking the backyard with a swimming pool and the Mozambican Channel in the distance. As the ceremony was getting closer to beginning it began to rain, and why not it is the rainy season after all. Luckily, the rain ended just as the ceremony was beginning. There were speeches by Ambassador Leslie Rowe, PC Staff, PC Country Director Ruben Hernandez, an Ed PCT, a Health PCT, and a Mozambican official. Then finally came the moment we had all been working towards for the last 10 weeks. Ambassador Rowe lead all the PCTs in the Oath of Office, the same that all members of the United States Federal Government take, and thus making us all official PCVs!!! Then we enjoyed wonderful food, drinks, socializing and lots of pictures.

After the ceremony at the Ambassador’s house it was back to the hotel. We all finally got our rooms and relaxed for a little bit. The night was full of everyone going from one room full of PCVs to the next. We were all trying to enjoy each others company and saying our goodbyes. This was the last night many of us would ever see each other again until completion-of-service(COS) in two years from now. It was a great day with so many good memories and I went to catch a little shut eye before I had to leave the hotel at 5am to catch my flight to Chimoio.