Taking off the Band-aid

After over 2 months in country, my group and I are now less than a week away from swearing in, and exactly a week from heading to our own respective sites where we are expected to remain for 2 years. Peace Corps has weened us more and more off of it's motherly touch and deemed, finally, that we are worthy of fending for ourselves.

Yesterday and today we are all taking our final LPI's, which are the language tests that determine if we are at a level of proficiency acceptable to the standards of Peace Corps. If we are found wanting, we will be assigned tutors for our first three months, and will be given the LPI again afterwards. For some, this is reason enough to stay up all night and cram every possible scenario in before their interview. For others, that find the idea of a tutor an assurance of less loneliness and more sense of duty in the first three months, the LPI is something that is merely another piece of the long strand of events that we've had in training.

I myself took the exam yesterday, and feel fairly (jinx) confident that I have reached "intermediate low" standards, which is what I need to get by without mandatory tutor. I'll find out on Monday how I actually did, with everybody else. Regardless, the LPI is for me the last step of real responsibility before we get sworn in. It feels great to know that the next week I'll be staying in a (for Uganda) fancy hotel and living stress free with no looming examinations to worry about.

Another cool development; it seems that I have been signed up to be a part of a sponsored Peace Corps Uganda outdoor team in a white water rafting race on the Nile. Winner (which, btw, PC is defending champion) wins a free round trip to Nairobi. Loser gets a free ride on the Nile. Sounds like a hell of a way to spend a Saturday, and an extremely fitting way to spend the first weekend away from training.

By the way...the lady-pup that I was so dramatically writing about in my last post is doing just fine. Her mother has taken her back, and her wounds have healed at a rate that would impress wolverine, if you ask me. Sorry for making you cry, Meagan.

Matt