The Swearing-In Ceremony for the remaining volunteers who didn't return home (37 out of 40) was a very official and formal event. Our host families were present, many of our new NGO counterparts, Moldovan government officials, and of course the US Ambassador who swore us in. What you DON'T see in this video (unfortunately for you, but fortunately for me) is the speech I gave in Russian. But that means you also don't get to hear the roar from the crowd with all the cheering and applause I received for my tenuous effort. (Later at the reception a man came up to me and told me I was a genious. Yes, a genious. He said it was amazing I learned so much Russian in only two months. Little does he know that my language teacher translated my English version.. the only work I really put into it was trying to pronounce it well enough so people could understand me. I'll take the praise anyway.. I need as much encouragement as I can get when it comes to learning Russian.)
Ironically, in order to become a PEACE Corps volunteer we had to solemnly swear to uphold the constitution (fine with that), but also to defend it against foreign and domestic enemies! Interesting.... I wish I knew that BEFORE I signed up. I figure the enemies I'll run up against are open man-holes, faulty electric sockets, and homicidal drivers who don't care about pedestrians. Not sure how I'm suppose to defend the consitution from them, but confusion and ambiguity have become a normal part of my life anyway... Ehh!
So there you have it. I'm an official Peace Corps volunteer in Moldova!
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