Swearing-In Ceremony

Pictures from the May 2 Swear-In Ceremony for my intake of 18 RAP and 22 LIFE volunteers at the residence of the U.S. ambassador to Zambia.

Brett and Katey. They’re married and matching. It was pretty awesome.

Brett modeling a potential addition to his Swear-In outfit. We thought it was amazing. Katey nixed it.

Chris, Lucas, and Mike messing around, I mean practicing, our cultural performance before the ceremony.

The first cruiser full of RAPpers heading to the ambassador’s residence.

So as it turns out, there is at least one tiger in Africa.

Congregating at the ambassador’s residence where we were served breakfast (real coffee! quiche! chocolate chip cookies!) on fine china.

Holly and me before the ceremony. She has a hilarious blog – check it out at hvangroll.tumblr.com

The spread for breakfast. Because I couldn’t in good conscience steal a plate, I had to make do with stuffing a few napkins embossed with the U.S. seal into my pockets.

Luke chowing down. The timing on this shot couldn’t have been more perfect.

My invitation to the Swearing-In Ceremony. Fancy.

Morgan was a good sport and agreed to smile for the camera. After I promised to take unflattering candids if she didn’t. Check out her great blog at gemaymarks.wordpress.com

The ten guys in the RAP ’13 cohort dressed to the nines, er, chitenges.

Inside the snazzy pool house at the ambassador’s residence. Malaria is serious business; never sleep without a mosquito net.

Kate and I wore matching chitenges so we had to get a picture a la high school prom. To be fair, she picked out the pattern first. To be fair, I looked more like a tiger.

And Kate’s other chitenge matched Meggan’s dress! Bam, another photo opportunity.

Me with Chris, Jacob, Michael, Ryeon, and Lucas, the five other new volunteers whose sites will be in Luapula Province. The next day we all shared an 11-hour Land Cruiser ride up to Mansa, the provincial capital, where we’re currently staying until we’re posted next week.

Morgan and me, and Morgan’s awesome chitenge dress.

All 40 of us waiting to be sworn in. Check out Holly’s face (sorry, Hol).

Mike and Holly. I tell him to smile and this is what happens.

Paula and me bolstering the back of the line with dry humor and witty repartee.

It’s official, Mom and Dad – I’ve joined the Peace Corps.

Mark, Lucas, and me with Ba Mwelwa, our fantastic language trainer.

The gang’s all here. Except for Logan, who is here in spirit and took off for our ride before I had a chance to assemble the group for some last pictures.

Katey and Brett walking off into the sunset. Actually, we were walking to get Thai food for dinner. Same thing.