COS Conference

A lot has happened since my last blog update. Last I wrote was when I had site visitors from the new volunteer training group. Since then in mid-July I’ve been to the COS conference, so I’ve been closing out my service, saying goodbye, and reflecting on the past two years.

The last weekend of July was the COS Conference, and it was nice. COS stands for “close-of-service”, so the conference was specifically for all the volunteers in the group I arrived with two years ago. All 70 of us were brought to spend the weekend at a nice hotel in Maputo and we had sessions about out-processing on our given COS dates (mine is November 10th!), we also discussed RPCV benefits, and re-adjusting to American life and saying farewell to Mozambique. What was most helpful was talking about re-integrating into American life. Here’s some of the stuff we discussed during over the weekend.

It’s a strange feeling knowing I’m going home soon. I’m excited to go home and be with my family and friends again, but it’s also sad having to say goodbye to the people I’ve grown to love here. I’ve never felt so many different emotions about a transition like this.

I’ve adjusted to Mozambican life, even the way I speak English has changed a bit. I’ve had to learn Portuguese, so when speaking to other PCVs here during our conversations we’ll throw in Portuguese words and phrases to express ourselves. For example, if an American friend says to me here, “I’m going to go do this, so wait for me.” I would reply, “Ok, well are you going to demorar?” And sometimes I accidentally shoosh my S’s like Mozambicans… I won’t be able to do that when I go home. I might accidentally come out with that and then it will just be awkward.

I’ve missed a lot since I’ve been here. I’ve missed holidays, weddings, graduations, birthdays, anniversaries, current events, a funeral, my sister’s baby shower and the birth of my first nephew. For the rest of my life I feel like there will always be a gap when talking to friends and family about things that happened during this time.

What else will change in my life? I’m going to lose my rock star status. It may sound conceited to say, but it’s totally true that I’m a celebrity in my community. Everyone knows who I am. Other PCVs would understand what I’m talking about. Along with that status you receive a lot of unwanted attention, which has been a constant annoyance throughout my service, so I’m REALLY looking forward to fitting in again.

One of the best things to come out of this experience are the friendships I’ve made. I feel like after this it will be hard to relate to people back home about certain things. When I go back home and people ask me about my Peace Corps service, there’s only so much I can say while I have someone’s attention to share with them. How do I briefly describe over two years of experiences? During COS conference we talked about creating an “elevator speech”, which is how to describe all of your Peace Corps service in a matter of minutes before the person loses interest. I’m still working on mine, but y’all be ready for that!

Amidst the feelings about coming home, excitement is the most prevalent! I’m REALLY looking forward to being around my friends and family again. I’m sure I won’t have much of a hard time re-adjusting to running water, air conditioning, hot showers, Mexican food, fresh coffee, big comfy couches and malls. The list goes on…

I’m so grateful for this experience it’s helped me personally and professionally. So, what’s next for me? I’m not 100% sure yet and I’d be lying if I said that doesn’t scare me. But, I’m confident that I will get into grad school, that I’ll get into nursing school if I pursue that, that I’ll graduate with excellent grades, that I’ll find a good job that I like, that I’ll always be in the right place at the right time, and that I will forever appreciate the people and the things in my life. I feel like there’s nothing I can’t do and like nothing can bring me down.

My Peace Corps service is actually coming to an end. I’M COMING HOME, AMERICA!!!!!!!!!