COS Conference

As I'm sure you have figured out from my previous post about my COS date, Education 2012 has recently attended out Close of Service (COS) conference, which was held at Sun 'n' Sand Resort in Mangochi.

The venue was incredible! Sun 'n' Sand is the largest and one of the premier resorts in Malawi. Located on the southern part of Lake Malawi, this resort included an Olympic sized swimming pool, very delicious restaurant, kid fun-land, air-conditioned rooms with TV, multiple bars, pool tables, and much much more! (I sound like I should be writing the brochure.)

Peace Corps provided us with transport from Lilongwe, and we arrive at the resort on Sunday afternoon. That first afternoon was pretty chill, enjoying drinks next to the pool.

Our sessions over the three days focused on closing our service (finishing projects, saying goodbyes, paperwork), life after Peace Corps (resumes, job searches, readjustment), and feedback to the office. Most of it was quite useful. Possibly the most entertaining session was office feedback, or as I called it, "The Airing of Grievances." We were actually very nice in our feedback, and didn't complain about things that had no solution, but there was a lot of feedback. 

There were many entertaining and fun activities throughout the conference, plus a whole lotta drinking. We used the diving board and pool slide (I ripped my swim trunks off on one poorly executed flip), played in the ball-pit and on the trampolines in the Kid Fun-Land, competed in pool, watched Guli Wamkuli, and best of all, we rode camels.

The last session was very nice. Everyone had drawn the name of another member of our group, and we did some sort of tribute to that person. A few people make skits, a couple people wrote poems, Travis sang a song, Cam roasted Rita, and in true Ed12 style, a few people mixed up cocktails and made a toast.

Since this was our last conference together, and possibly the last time we'd see each other in Malaei, it has the potential to become very emotional. However, since our group is so small (only 12 out of the original 22 are going to make it to the end), all but four of us will be COSing in a three day stretch, meaning we will all be in Lilongwe getting our final medical and administrative clearances together.

So, lets raise a glass to the best damn group of PCVs this country has ever seen, this strange mixture of people I am proud to consider my close friends! May we always stay in touch.