Official

And today is the day / We break free / Its clear in my mind / After all of this time / What I feel my love / There are so many times / That the sun doesn’t shine / But I’m here my love / And today is the day
-Poe, "Today"


So, today was the big day! We’re OFFICIALLY volunteers! We had a really nice swearing-in ceremony!

First- the past couple of days- Monday we said goodbye to our host families and shopped in Kampala. Monday night we hung out at our guesthouse…our accommodations weren’t the greatest, but the bar was super nice. I would go back for the bar. (But not for the 3 bunkbeds in a super-small room and a generally non-functioning common shower and toilet.) Anyway, Monday night was fun. But, by “night” I mean we left the bar at maybe 9:30 or 10… super late, I know. But, it was late, for us.

Tuesday was the most inspirational day ever! First we got up early and went shopping, and we also stopped at an internet café- that’s the last time I posted. I wanted to write about who I was getting ready to go see, but I can’t really write about important places I’m getting ready to go to… security reasons. But, I think writing about it afterwards is okay. (Wow, I just sounded waaaaay cooler than I actually am.) So, in the afternoon we went to the American embassy! Several really cool people talked to us- many were RPCVs- that’s what they call people who have completed Peace Corps service- “Returned Peace Corps Volunteers.” Anyway, they all have super cool jobs now with various agencies of the American government, and were just really encouraging. Encouraging because they used to be just like us, encouraging because they told us what a great place Uganda is, encouraging because they have continued to do awesome things with their lives, and encouraging because they made us feel the same way you feel they day you get your official Peace Corps invitation in the mail... amazing and excited and idealistic. (And, it was just exciting because maybe we could BE them, someday!?!) So, after meeting everyone, we headed to the US Ambassador’s house!! We had a nice tour of the house by the ambassador’s wife- really cool lady, I’ll definitely be seeing her again. In their house they have shelves full of all my favorite books and all of the books I really want to read… they could be my personal library for the next two years. Anyway, we hung out for a little while and then headed to my Country Director’s house for dinner. Now, my Country Director (she’s my highest-up boss), is from The South, and her cooking is everything you would expect and more. It was SOOOOO good. My favorite was the sweet potatoes… oh man. (When I was a waitress at a southern cajun restaurant in Chicago, I used to eat mashed sweet potatoes literally every time I worked- we got free side dishes. Herberto, my favorite cook, knew of my obsession and would always give me an extra large helping. Yum.) Anyway, my Country Director’s sweet potato casserole tasted like… America. And the gravy for the chicken- wow. This lady needs to teach cooking classes or something. Not like she has time, but you know, you’re only allowed to work for the Peace Corps for five years, so it’s a possible future career option for her. So, Tuesday we were stuffed, went back to the guesthouse and hung out with some current PCVs who were also there. We went to bed very full and very happy.

Wednesday we had a “Supervisors Workshop”- it was an all-day thing for us and our supervisors, just reviewing rules and stuff, nothing too exciting, but really helpful for our supervisors. Wednesday night the volunteers all went out for Italian food! It was so good! Nora and I split spinach ravioli, a veggie pizza, and a bottle of pinot grigio, and it was great. Mostly we’re continually shocked by what things can be found in Uganda… things like halfway decent Italian restaurants. These past couple of days have been days of good good food. So, we hung out more, went to bed late, and got up early for….

Today! Today was our swearing-in ceremony. So who is now protecting and defending the Constitution? Me. (haha, just what you always thought I’d be doing, right?) Me and 11 other amazing women- we ALL made it through training! It’s really unusual for a whole group to all stick around- usually at least one person, or two or three, decide that the Peace Corps is not for them and head home. But, not us!! We’re all here, and we are ready to go! Our ceremony was really nice, and we had a great lunch afterwards. Then, we headed to the office to pick up our luggage, and parted ways… it was really really sad.

The new volunteers! Erin, Hannah, Nora, Brett, Me, Courtney, Tiffany, Amanda, & Christina; Alexis, Sarah, & Carrie:

The Luganda language class- Alexis, Erin, Sarah, Nora, Me, Irene (our AWESOME teacher!), and Amanda:

McGrath (my country director), Me, Jeffrey (my assoc. director- he's my most immediate boss)

With the flags... Erin, Nora, & Me; Hannah & Alexis:
There were several tears, but I think that we took comfort in the fact that we’ll all see each other for Christmas- they’re giving us special permission to be away from our sites so we can get together! The timing of our service is a little unusual because we miss two really big American holidays right off the bat- Thanksgiving and then Christmas! And when you’re already missing home, it just makes things extra hard. My family had a good Thanksgiving and they all called me (thanks guys!), but talking on the phone and having a huge meal with your family is not quite the same thing. This is the third Thanksgiving in a row that I haven’t spent with my family, which is sad because Thanksgiving is my all-time favorite holiday. My family has never celebrated Christmas, so it’s not as big a deal that I’m not home in December, but everyone else is pretty sad about it. It’s really cool that they’re letting us get together though- I can’t wait to see everyone again in three weeks!

Most people are traveling to their sites this afternoon, but I’m not heading out until tomorrow!

And this is all I have left to say:
Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow, you’re only A DAY AWAAAAAAY!