Monday, February 9, 2009

Close of Service Conference...already??





April 24th. The day that my group is officially finished with Peace Corps service in the DR. Can you BELIEVE it?? I feel like it was not all that long ago that I stepped off the plane and thought, "Oh God, what have I gotten myself into?" Now my two years FLEW by and I am expected to figure out that ultimate question....what's next? The Close of Service (C.O.S.) Conference held by Peace Corps was really great. We learned about stuff that we probably SHOULD have known about years ago...like taking out loans, applying for grad school scholarships, saving/investing money, searching for jobs, working internationally, and improving our interviewing skills. Though I still have NO clue what I want to do next, I gained a little bit more confidence and perhaps courage to pursue things that I previously thought were beyond my reach.
We also learned about the very beauracratic process of leaving the country, including the infamous week-long medical exams. Good news for us, however! The doctor was able to get take-home poop sample jars so now we can gather up our first "specimens" in the comfort of our own homes!
As a group we celebrated our completion of service (almost) at Blue Moon Resort in Cabarete. A beautiful, isolated hostel in the hills outside of Cabarete, we enjoyed a world-famous meal of what they call Indian-Caribbean infusion. The food was served on large banana leaves and we ate it with our hands! Felicidades to all the amazing accomplishments of my peers!

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