Last week Group 11 and 11.5 (plus Chuck) gathered together for the last time at our COS conference. Over the next few months, we will all start the process of finishing our service and starting in May, we will, a few at a time, leave Albania. The COS (Close of Service) conference seemed to fulfill two main purposes- give us lots of information about the next few months and the COS process and give us a time to get together one last time and be a group. From the start, our conference seemed to be a bit cursed, but only for the staff. On the first day we found out that our PCMO (medical officer) had broken his leg, our AO (administrative officer) had a death in her family and our SSO (saftey and security) got food poisoning! Luckily nothing else went wrong and after some schedule shuffling, we carried on with the conference.
In so many ways it is kind of incredible to me that I have only known the people in my group for about two years. Even though I have tried to stay in touch with people back home, in truth it is these people, people that were total strangers to me a few years ago, that I turn to the most right now. On the one hand it seems like I have been here forever, but on the other, looking back at pictures from staging and training, it seems like such a short time ago. And it is so strange to think that in a few months we will all be headed our seperate ways. Many group members will be returning to the states to go to grad school. A few have jobs lined up. A couple are planning on staying on in Albania for a while longer, either with Peace Corps or with other organizations. There are one or two others like me that will travel for a period of time before going home. A few have no real plans yet (except maybe to crash on Patricia's couch). It was great to find out what everyone else is doing and nice to know that I am not the only one without a real plan for the future.
2 comments:
How ironic that the medical officer was absent because of a medical condition and that the safety officer was absent because of food poisoning!
I look back on my PCV years with amazement and a little time shift strangeness. Sometimes it seems like I went directly from Laramie to Denver and that those (almost) 5 years (3 1/2 years as a volunteer and 1 more year in travel) in between were just a dream.
You are lucky in this internet age to be able to keep in touch with the members of your group so easily. Since we got home we only have seen 2 others from our group and one of them lives here.
As for plans for the future - I still don't have them!
I don't know why, but I can't see the photo you have for this one. Is it our computers? blogspot? or just a problem with the uploading of that picture?
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