Graduation (April 24, 2008)

First, to be clear, I did not graduate, though most of my classmates did. I will graduate at the end of June (my project has two months extra) in a small ceremony with about half a dozen of my classmates. Since the majority of students graduate in April (about 150 of 180) there is a nice ceremony and party. Carlitos' parents arrived a few days prior, as well as friends and family of other classmates. It was great to finally meet the husbands, wives, parents, and children of my friends.

The institute requests that students graduate in their "traditional dress". About half the class actually does, and it looks amazing. I love the traditional Ugandan dresses, which have enormous puffy shoulders and lovely sashes that I never expected. The Nepali men wear colorful hats with white tops and pants and then add a navy blazer on top. The Ethiopians are also in white, but usually with a scarf that is patterned like the flag.

The rest wear suits and cocktail dresses. I didn't. I wore my sari instead. I figured that that would probably be the only chance to wear it for a while. And fortunately two of my Nepalese classmates saw me attempting to wrap 15 feet of fabric around me and helped me dress. I had googled it beforehand and figured that it can't be that difficult to wrap. But I was wrong. I wouldn't have made it without their help.

The ceremony itself was a typical graduation, followed by drinks at the auditorium, then a typical IHE party, plus an after party that is rumored to have finished in a fight. There's not much to say about the graduation, except that it was very sad having to say goodbye to my classmates...some left for home the very next morning, though most went a day or two later.

It's a bit lonely now. But I have a thesis to keep me company :)