WENA-na-naaa...

I guess it's about time that I post about the past week or so, which was obviously dominated by WENA Newie Conference 2006, hosted by sunny Malta :-) And sunny it was - we were blessed with 8 days of gorgeous weather, which for such a long stretch of time in February is really lucky. In fact, here are some of the beautiful views which could be enjoyed from the hotel...clear skies, light breeze, sparkling sea - nature at its best!

Apparently, one of the sessions included a walk on the beach, which must have been surely enjoyed by the delegates.

Anyway, back to the conference proper...it was 6 days of good fun, which personally bought back a lot of memories, but of course unlike other international conferences I've been to, I could now truly see and appreciate the hard work that goes into organising such a conference, through the work of my friends on the OC (big round of applause to them) and helping out myself. Logistically, I think it was a very good conference indeed, from the location (and hotel food, which usually leaves much to be desired!) to smaller things such as the abundant variety of stuff available for coffee-breaks. And the delegates' feedback showed that this will remain a memorable conference for quite some time to come! Also, an innovation was that one of the parties was held outside the conference venue, at TGIF, where we had a popular Maltese rock-band and DJ entertainig the delegates and the public...and for once there were no AIESEC songs at a party...well, almost - they managed to come up with a specific dance for Bob Sinclair's Love Generation too - oh, well. But the party certainly rocked and it was thoroughly enjoyed by all. I attended three parties out of five since I wasn't there for the whole conference, but from photos I've seen, the Carnival and Uniform party looked great too.

Global Village was, like in any other conference, one of the major highlights. One of Malta's Ministers attended the event and made a short but touching speech on diversity. As we showed him round the stalls, we were delighted to see that he was really enjoying himself, and told us several times how much he envied us and wished he was younger to be able to participate in such a thing! He particularly appreciated the stall of Morocco, which he voted as the best of the night, and it was in fact beautifully arranged with the scents of rose-buds, incense and brewing mint tea surrounding us. Of course we then proceeded to the Global Village party where people let go of any inhibitions! The party was followed by a chill-out session with guitar playing and singing, courtesy of the very talented Mehdi :-)

Official Dinner was also a rather nice evening...I was bugged by a bit of a nasty cold (I can't go to an international conference without catching a cold at some point!) but I still managed to enjoy it to the full, going back to our room to try get some sleep at 5.30 am! Less than 4 hours later, we were busy with closing preparations and check-out of delegates. Closing was both emotional and entertaining with some very interesting role-calls, including a (very) spiced-up version of Angels from the UK and a belly-dance!

And so six days have truly flown by in characteristic conference fashion. We had been eagerly waiting for this conference to start ever since we won the bid at IC, and fast-forward six months WENA Newie is now over. I wonder if it will be my last international AIESEC conference for the year, or a long time to come (at the moment it definitely seems like it, but who knows). At least I was lucky to experience one in my home country, and from a different perspective, but definitely with the same spirit! Nothing beats some of the dances in plenary and during the party, the friendships made, some crazy moments, working hard and partying harder - endless memories! I was so glad to see some friends from past conferences who came to facilitate, namely Lucy, Makis and Amritha, and of course I'll treasure the new friendships I made, mainly from Morocco and France - oh yes, I even managed to practise my beloved French language :-) which had become a bit rusty.

The last international conference Malta had hosted before this was IPM, one of the hightest-level conferences. This time, you could say we were at the other end of the scale, but it is a very important conference none the less as it plays a significant part in determining those who will take on more active roles in AIESEC. And so, hopefully, AIESEC Malta, together with the faciliator team, has given delegates a conference never to be forgotten, for all the good reasons, and which will give them all the motivation they need!

More photos will follow soon!