Swearing In and ImMeRsIon

A wonderful swearing in ceremony indeed. A beautiful day, excellent speakers (especially Violeta, Victoria, and Chris) and yet another fantastic feast. We're officially Peace Corps Volunteers. Thanks to everyone who attended, including of course our Ambassador and his lovely wife Nancy. I shipped out very shortly after finishing my meal and said "see you in three months" to my pals. You see, policy is we're not allowed to leave our district the first three months at site. So we have to wait until the end of March to party again. Unfortunately. No worries though. The ECCD volunteers have a conference at the end of January so we get to break "immersion." FYI: Immersion used to be called lockdown.
My site has been great. The teachers and Ministry workers have been great, very welcoming and supportive. Some of my teachers through me a welcome BBQ. Also my new name is "Thabelo Khobotlo." It sounds like "Tabelo" and the last name has a lot of hacking/coughing sounds in it; Basotho are always either impressed or amused everytime I tell them my name. Been trying to make my rondavel my home with personal touches like a map of Lesotho I colored and labeled with volunteer locations (I miss my fellow group members tremendously - so guys if you're reading this, I think you're really great and hope site is awesome). I sweep constantly. The thatch roof is fantastic, but produces a fair amount of dust and fallen twigs. And spiders that sit on the wall slightly below it. But they leave me alone so I leave them alone. While I am a Peace Corps volunteer, I have gotten deadly with a flyswatter.
By the by, you want pictures? You know what? Me too. Guess what else I would like? A shower. A nice cold, beer. Maybe a cheesesteak. High speed internet would be preferable to the slow, expensive dial-up I'm on now. But I promise to post some pictures somewhere sometime soon. Please be patient. Like me, everytime I'm in a crowded, hot taxi waiting until it's impossible to breathe because it's so crowded, but we can't leave until it's packed. Hopefully next time I post, I'll post pictures. Maybe... take care dudes.