I Swear!

Today was the big day. It’s official. I am a Peace Corps Volunteer. No more intense training. It was a nice relaxing day today. I got up early and put on the nice dress that I brought for this occasion. I made a cup of coffee and watched CNN for a few minutes before heading out the door to walk the five minutes it takes to get to the junction (bus stop). I brought my camera with me for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted some pictures of the day, and second, I’m fulfilling Jay’s request to show him pictures of Saint Lucia – so you will be seeing those in a later post.

I met Angelina at the bus stop. She is one of my counterparts (the people who request PCVs – Peace Corps Volunteers). We hopped on a bus and talked the whole way. I’ve been trying to schedule a meeting with her, so this was the perfect opportunity. She is a gentle and kind person and I felt an immediate connection with her when we met several weeks ago. When we got to Castries, Angelina had some shopping to do. We said goodbye knowing she would meet me later at the ceremony. I got off the bus at the next stop, and like a tourist began taking pictures of Saint Lucia. I snapped a picture of my favorite banana vendor, the bakery I frequent, and the fruit and vegetable market.

I got to the Super J (grocery store) just in time to meet my Peace Corps friends who were waiting for the Peace Corps staff to pick us up and take us to the venue.

We were taken to the Saint Lucia Civil Conference Room. It was decorated for the occasion. There were flowers, streamers, and balloons.

The balloons were in Saint Lucian colors as well as red, white, and blue representing the United States. The Saint Lucia flag’s symbolism is interesting:

Cerulean blue represents fidelity. This blue reflects our tropical sky and also the emerald surrounding waters – the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

Gold represents the prevailing sunshine in the Caribbean as well as prosperity.

Black and white stand for the cultural influences – the white part represents the white culture, the black part represents the black culture - two races living and working in unity.

The triangle, the shape of which is an isosceles triangle, is reminiscent of the island’s famous twin Pitons at Soufriere, rising sheer out of the sea, towards the sky – themselves a symbol of hope and the aspiration of the people.

Government officials, our training team, Peace Corps staff, our counterparts, and home stay families were all invited. We were there early and so it was one of those “Kodak” moments – a time to catch up on picture taking. The woman who is sitting down and chatting on the right was the unlucky one who was hospitalized with Dengue Fever. She’s alright now, but was really sick. My son, Jay, had Dengue in Honduras when he was a PCV, so as I heard about her illness and recovery, I became more aware of just how hard this must have been for him.
Margo is posing next to me. She is the Eastern Caribbean Country Director. She served in Africa a couple of decades ago. She is a delight – supportive, sincere, and warm. She is always a welcome sight for volunteers.

The event is televised on the Caribbean Channel. The ceremony included opening remarks, a prayer, and two volunteers from EC77 played the Saint Lucia and U.S. National Anthems on their violins. They played Saint Lucia’s first, and when the started playing our anthem I noticed a couple in the front row. They were one of the home stay families. The woman immediately put her hand over her heart – and then elbowed her husband to do the same. So here we are, swearing in…finally. We take the same oath of office that the president and all federal employees take – we promise to “defend the constitution of the United States against all foes”. We weren’t sure how that applies in this situation, but we promised anyway.

The ceremony included the Minister of Social Transformation who was there on behalf of the government of Saint Lucia. The picture was taken after the ceremony – I’m with Angelina and the Minister)

Everyone received a certificate, a Peace Corps patch and an Eastern Caribbean pin as a token gift.

So here we are – trained, sworn-in, and on our own! There are rules, but the restrictions we’ve been living under are gone. The others were sworn-in on their own islands.
Now it’s party time. All fourteen of us find a bus and head to Rodney Bay. Many of the other island volunteers also joined us. Judy, is the only volunteer who will be leaving the island. She is assigned to another island and is leaving tomorrow – so the lunch is not just a celebration, but a send-off for Judy. (The picture, from right to left, Judy, me and Hallie)
After a fifteen minute ride, and a short walk, our world is transformed from what we know of Saint Lucia to the other side. . . the tourist side. Below is a view from the outdoor café, me in front of the restaurant and a view of us at lunch.

We had a nice lunch, a few drinks, and a small break . . . but it was time to leave the tourist view and get back to reality.

I made my way back to the bus stop. Jumped on a bus and headed back to Castries to catch the next bus home. I peeled an orange and sat down to write this entry. Brendan called. I talked with him and my little granddaughter, Ava. I do miss them. Isn’t she darling! I hope my experience will show Ava that there are so many possibilities for girls – possibilities like this were not on my radar when I was young. So that was my day today. It’s 10:00 now and I’m exhausted. . . good night.