It's Official- the swearing in ceremony

Although flag day is technically more exciting for us, the big deal day for the government is the “Commissioning Ceremony”; this is where the new class of diplomatic officers are sworn into service by the secretary of state. Jacob’s class was fortunate enough to have Hillary Clinton, our secretary of state, come and perform the swearing in herself.

The ceremony began with several speeches about of how wonderful this class of officers is, and how talented and great they will be. Finally the secretary arrived and she gave a 10 minute speech regarding how important their role as diplomats are, and how crucial their jobs are to American policy. She also talked about how talented the class is and how difficult it is to be accepted into this elite rank in the government. Finally she recited the oath, and they were officially officers of the foreign service!

Washington, DC- Flag Day

Well we finally made it to DC, I’m sure you have all been wondering what happened to us? So I apologize for not writing this entry sooner, we’ve been enjoying the life in DC and Jacob has started training.

On Friday April 23^rd, they had a ceremony they call “flag day.” It is the only time in their careers where they will receive their posting in a ceremony and it is celebrated. In the future they will be told where they are going via email.

Anyway, the ceremony is one of the more stressful things we’ve been to, as you have very little control over what you will receive, and it is 45 minutes of your life that determines the next 2 years of your life. They had several speakers talk about the class and then they proceeded to announce each country with its flag on the big screen. They would follow this up with the job this person would be holding and the name of the officer. They would present each officer with the flag of the country they were heading to, and a folder with their training schedule. After they had announced about half the class they finally announced “Gaborone, Botswana”, and stated that Jacob would be taking on this job. So the moment we have all been waiting for, well at least Jacob and I, has come and we are headed to Botswana in July!