Friday, December 23, 2011

Swear In


So it finally happened, after three long months of training we became Peace Corps Volunteers in a beautiful ceremony at the American Ambassador’s house in Kigali. It was ironic, to say the least, that the whole thing happened in a little slice of America. The Ambassador’s home is a  towering gated mansion in the nicest part of Kigali. When you get past the security screening, you are confronted with a home that somehow looks both like it could belong in the hills of northern California or a more mountainous Midwestern locale. Of course, we were not actually allowed in the house other than to use the spacious bathroom – which we took full advantage of – but it looked nice. We were especially intrigued by the Christmas tree we could see through the bay windows.
            The ceremony, being coordination for and by Americans, was much shorter than most Rwandan affairs. There were speeches from our director, the minister of education, ourselves and the ambassador himself. The whole thing took place under a white tent on the sprawling lawns of the home. I could imagine swanky affairs, ala The Great Gatsby, happening on the lawn as it was lined with huge flower bushes and studded every few feet with white lampposts which wouldn’t be out of place in either Charleston or Disney land.
            Finally the moment came to take our official oath, lead by the Ambassador. We take the same oath sworn by all state employees and thus it is not all that interesting or Peace Corps specific. I can post a full copy of it later but essentially we pledge to, ‘uphold the constitution,’ ‘defend it and America,’ and to always be loyal. There are some big words in there, however, and at some point we definitely all got lost. There was an awkward moment when the Ambassador clearly read off more than we could repeat and the group got lost, dissolving into giggles and awkward mumbling until we could compose ourselves and begin again. I think that next time trainees will be provided cards to read off of.
            Then it was done. In the same slipshod fashion that we spent most of our training, mumbling and bumbling and laughing our way through it so, also, we became volunteers. Yes, we embarrassed ourselves on national television (granted Rwandan television so who really sees that?) but really it was the perfect ending to our particular experience.
            After all the hugging was over we volunteers were released to the lawn to take some press photos for the newspapers and offered drinks and American style appetizers. The Rwandan food went untouched as pizza, chocolate chip cookies, veggie dip, lays potato chips and meatballs disappeared from the premise. Sorry to any of the higher ranking officials we didn’t get as much food but really, I don’t feel that bad, they can afford to pay for it and they live in Kigali.
            Precisely 45 minutes after we became volunteers the Ambassador left his home and the catering staff magically disappeared all lose plates. It was our cue to leave. Apparently, the ambassador doesn’t like to ask his guests to leave so this is how most functions at his home come to a conclusion. We were driven back to the Peace Corps hostel and set free on the city. After buying a few necessary kitchen items that were easier to find in Kigali, the celebrations began. Nothing too crazy really went down, we had some beers and food and talked about how crazy it was to be done. Then came back to the hostel and bonded some more before everyone passed out from exhaustion and relief. 

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