so, the cos conference… i can’t believe it actually came and went. how have two years flown by so rapidly? it seems only yesterday we were training and being sent to our sites… now we have to start planning our trips back, write our dos statements and complete our final trimester reports. it’s an uneasy feeling. everyone was so hyped up about leaving, many talking about leaving in april.. jess and i sat in the back, rather somber, because for us we are leaving so much more (community, friends, children, life, …). this has become home for the two past years and i have been blessed with amazing friends and family here. it would have been a completely different experience without these people. i love them very much and the thought of having to leave them and my life here is a bit hard to digest, but it’s life and we all know there is a time and place for everything, so going into something like this we have a small voice constantly reminding us it will soon be something new, met with new people and new challenges. some of us grow deaf to the small voice and we block it out, thinking we have somehow escaped, but just as quietly and easily as it left, it comes back loud and rather alarming, shaking us back to reality. and it is through this we transition, adapt and grow. we learn how to cope and are then better braced for the next big thing. we become stronger, more confident and more daring. anyway, it will be a hard time soon enough, but all we can do is hope for the best, keep our heads to the sky and try to make the most of it.