WEEKS 9-11 (Apr 10- Apr 21):

Week 9 was our last week of pre-service training. We had our last tests and interviews and said our last farewells. On the 14th we left for Kigali. The next day a total of 32 trainees, including myself, were officially sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers at the US ambassador’s house. Many people were there to congratulate us including some of our counterparts and returned PCV’s. National news reporters attended the event too and filmed and interviewed a couple of us. There is a picture on the Peace Corps website of our swear in. The next day we went to Lake Muhazi (north of Rwamagana) for a celebration. The lake is gorgeous and bigger than I thought. A couple people, including me, did some wake boarding. Unfortunately, at the end of my run I fell off but I let go of the rope a little too late. My life jacket brought me to the surface right away and I was nailed in the face by the wake board. It cut the bridge of my nose and my eyebrow. I had to get 2 stitches in my left eyebrow (the 7th time I have had stitches, all on my face) but my nose didn’t need stitches luckily. On the 18th, I departed to my site. Now the 2-year commitment begins. Kinyarwanda is coming along. People are impressed that we are learning Kinyarwanda because most people don’t put forth the effort to learn Kinyarwanda.
Every morning here at site it is very foggy and beautiful. Sometimes I am even lucky enough to hear the Muslim call to prayer.