Saturday, September 8, 2012

I Swear to Protect and Defend…. Peacefully



Congratulations everybody! I have officially become a volunteer. This means I won’t have to cancel this blog, and you get two years of my tirades. Exciting, I know. So basically what just happened was that I went through a two year pre-interview, then I had a two month test crash of being a volunteer, and now as of Aug. 23, I can say I have a job! Finally finally FINALLY! The moment we all have been waiting for (I say ‘we’, because I know on the other side of the globe my mom already has her Peace Corps regalia as if she is a volunteer herself. Now that my brother Jordan is out of the Marines, I’m her new outlet. lol).

The swearing in ceremony was really cool. I’m glad Peace Corps makes a big deal about it, even though I’m only a volunteer. The Charge of Affairs for the US Embassy was there to swear us in. We took the same oath that the President, the military, and congress take… to protect and defend the constitution against all enemies (we just do it “peacefully”). The CoA forgot to have us raise our hand, so we’re still undecided if we’re actually official or not. The first prince of Swaziland, the acting Prime Minister, and the Minster of Health were there, so I think that’s enough verification to say we’re official. 

At the ceremony I choreographed another dance to perform. This time the four of us dancers wore traditional Swazi attire and did more cultural moves, including a high-kick. I don’t think Swazi’s love anything more than American’s dancing like them. I’m serious! The Prime Minister took out his own ipad and started recording the dance! We also were on the nightly news, and we made the front page of the national newspaper, and were featured in the newspapers for the next three days! 

Now I’m ready to go out on my own. I’ve passed all my tests, I can say my name in Siswati, and I can do a high-kick—Peace Corps and Swaziland have declared me ready. So what’s next? Well I move into my official community and set up shop for the next two years. Honestly, I don’t know what I’m going to do, but when I do figure it out, I’ll be sure to let you all know!

There is me front and center.





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