Discours de fin de stage/End of Stage Speech

Friday, September 29th was our official swearing in ceremony. It was held at the US Ambassador's house and was televised in Mali. One person from each language class was asked by our professors to deliver a brief speech in our language of study. I was lucky enough to get to deliver the French speech. So here it is, in all it's glory (in English -- it's not letting me post it in French for some reason...) When we arrived in Mali, we were greeted with the Malian saying: You left your home, you arrived at home. Each person whome we have met -- our host families, our professers, Malian officials, the Peqce Corps employees -- all have proved the veracity of this saying. You have not welcomed us as guests; you have welcomed us as family. We have not only learned the many languages of Mali, but we have also learned much about Malian culture. It is a great honor for us to call Mali our home, and we will invest 100 percent of ourselves to satisfying the needs of our home. You have already given us so much, and we are eager to return the favor. A saying from our country says: There are two types of people in the world: those who blow out everyone else's candles so theirs alone shines bright, and those who light each other's candles so together the world can shine it's brightest. As Peace Corps Volunteers, we promise to light all the candles around us, so after two years, we will leave Mali shining brighter than ever. I've now been in Segou for one week, and I'm loving it. I spent this past week getting settled in and cleaning up my apartment. I've had people stop me and tell me that they saw me give my speech on TV. Pretty crazy. I'm starting work on Tuesday (tomorrow is market day), so wish me luck!

(I love this pic...this is Naba, the daughter of one of my language profs...just thought I'd throw it in here)