August 22nd, 2007 I attended a ceremony in Denver, took the Oath of Allegiance and became an American Citizen.
I was joined by 288 other people from 62 countries.
I am in the center of the photo – the only one waving. They gave us colored slips of paper. We had to sit according to the colors – red, white or blue.
A close up of me.
The official invite said we were to report at our registration tables by 12:30 but we arrived about 45 minutes early and were one of the first in line. The ceremony itself only started after 1pm. They had to wait for everyone to register.
We had some people from the local INS office, and Senator Allard’s office talk to us. Then we saw a video of other people from around the country getting sworn in. Very emotional. Then they called out our countries and we had to stand – everyone from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. Mexico had the most people.
The photo above is of us all taking the Oath of Allegiance.
Once that was done, then we became in that instant – citizens.
Then we had a video message from the President.
Then we had to wait for our block to be called so that we could line up again, and get our packets:- certificate of naturalization, voter registration and passport application.
That’s me collecting my certificate.
An artsy photo of family and guests.
Posing with the Stars and Stripes
Mom and I
Mom, Andy and I
This was a big day. I think that I thought that I would feel different – that I would be different. But the odd thing is I still feel exactly the same. Even without the certificate I still feel that I am “home”, even without the certificate, on my last trip to South Africa, I didn’t feel at home. Some things haven’t changed – I still have an accent, and call traffic lights, robots. But there is one very significant difference – now I can vote.
Kevin isn’t in any of the photos because he was chief photographer.
