close of service conference

(Also known as Closing up Shop Conference or I Can’t Believe We’re Still Here Let’s Drink Conference.)

Some comparisons between the staging in Philly, to the end of the line conference in a village south of Nouakchott:

-In Philly we listed things we were scared and excited about. At COS we listed “soft skills” (such as problem solving, delegating, etc.) that we’d acquired.
-In Philly we watched a video of a PCV dealing with unwanted attention. At COS we shared horror stories on the same subject and confessed to unhealthy ways of coping.
-In Philly we treated every meal as if it were our last. In COS we treated every meal as if it were our last.
-Philly conversations were composed of small talk at bars downtown, awkwardly sharing home towns and college majors. At COS we voted Who’s Most Likely To for many a topic, played competitive charades and re-told stories aimed to humiliate each other.

I learned my official COS date will be August 5th. Being one day after my birthday, I will have come to Mauritania as a 22 year old, and I’ll be leaving 25. While trying to get my mind around that fact, I will also be counting down the days until I’m back on US soil, and toggling between the two feelings that I’m running out of time, and that I have too much time on my hands.