Year 2 - Week 34: COS Conference

We know that we're close to the end, and this week only confirmed what we already knew. The fifty-two remaining Moz 13 Volunteers convened in Inhassoro this week for our Close of Service conference. The conference had two main purposes: to give the Volunteers one last time to see everyone together; and to give us some information about our transition from Peace Corps life to normal American life.

On the second front, the conference was fairly successful. Over the course of three days in Inhassoro, we discussed resume writing, how to talk about our service, jobs and grad school, and how to leave our sites as smoothly as possible. Time was also spent describing all of the things we have to do in Mozambique before we actually leave, like closing out bank accounts, wrapping up projects, and making sure that we are healthy before leaving. A lot of the discussion was common-sense stuff, but it was still informative.

As for the first purpose conference, I have mixed thoughts. On the one hand, it was really nice to see some people who I don't normally see. There are some people, especially in the north of the country, that I would not have seen otherwise had we not had this conference. On the other hand, there were a lot of people that I could have gone without seeing and it wouldn't have made much difference to me. There are plenty of people with whom I didn't talk much during training or any other conference over the two years. And the people with whom I'm closest -- like the people in Vilanculos or some of the Volunteers in the Central region of the country -- I'll be seeing at least one or two more times before leaving.

So on the whole, it was a week of conflicting feelings. This was goodbye, but not really. This was our Close of Service conference, but we're still here for three or four more months.

Outside of the conference, things were actually pretty exciting for me. I got my hands on the book "The Blind Side", which was turned into a movie this past year. The book was written well, though it tailed off the end. I found some information about U2's tour dates for next summer. It's not a matter of whether I see them: it's a matter of how many times and where. Most exciting for me, though, was I had the opportunity to download Arcade Fire's new album. This was a rare moment where I got something here on its release date instead of months afterward.

Finally, Mcel made its valiant return to service and, as such, I have switched back to my regular number. For those of you who have been out of touch, I'm sorry if you've tried to be in touch the last couple weeks. It's always a little concerning when we lose contact, but everything is okay and back to normal now. If it's been a while, I look forward to catching up with you.