Lately, Volume 2

Lately I’ve been all over the place. I’ve been working really hard on several different projects as evidenced by the scattered trail of to-do notes all over my room. I’ve physically been all over as well– Batumi for meetings, staying after school to meet with my director about my grant, visiting Mark’s village for the first time, and Tbilisi for a meeting and to welcome the new group of volunteers (G13s) at the airport. The whirlwind of activity shows no sign of stopping soon either. I’m off to Armenia later this week for a little vacation with friends and then will be going to Khashuri twice in May to help with the G13s’ training. Here’s a little recap of what’s been going on lately:

Multi-Purpose Room Grant

There is a large empty room upstairs at my school that is seldom used. Students, teachers, and parents are packed in here like sardines for school concerts, and I have recently begun holding my weekly girls’ fitness club in this room. Other than that, the room remains unused and in a decrepit state. I have been working with my counterpart and director over the past few months to write a grant to get funding to renovate and refurbish this room. We hope that this room will be used for meetings, trainings, and concerts in the future. After numerous meetings, the grant is pretty much finished and hopefully we will receive the funding we are requesting. I’m really excited about this project and happy about all the effort we have already put in the project– trying to figure out the logistics of renovating a room while conversing in Georgian is no joke!

Falling apart doors

Holes in the walls

Pile of broken desks and chairs?

SELF Camp

I am currently working with several other PCVs to plan a four-day three-night girls’ summer camp that will take place in June. SELF stands for self-esteem and leadership through fitness and 40 girls will attend the camp. We are working with an organization in Batumi to put on the camp. Currently we’re working on selecting our camp counselors and campers.

Bakhvi Girls’ Fitness Club

At the beginning of April, I started the Bakhvi Girls’ Fitness Club. The club is for girls in grades 7 through 12 and meets once a week for about 45 minutes. It’s been a big success so far! The girls are really excited for the club every week and ask me all week long if the club will be happening on Thursday. So far we’ve done strength and cardio circuits as well as kickboxing. I’m hoping to introduce them to yoga soon. I’ve had to get pretty creative with which exercises we can do without any equipment inside, but we’re making it work.

Girls after the first club meeting….we’re still working on the “don’t wear jeans to work out” thing

Trips & Realizations

I recently went to Mark’s village, Mitsabogira, for the first time. It’s always interesting to see where another person lives and to meet their host family. It was a nice visit and I’m glad I finally went.

Last week I was in Tbilisi for a meeting and then stuck around another day to greet the G13s. Spending time in Tbilisi is always a treat– peaceful runs by the river > constantly dodging cow poop and angry dogs on my village runs. And of course I eat as much non-Georgian food as possible.

G12s at the airport

It was a strange experience to be at the airport when the G13s arrived. I remember myself in their place about a year ago. I remember how jet lagged and dazed I felt in the middle of the commotion of hearing the PC country director’s speech and being greeted by the PC staff and current PCVs. I remember how it felt to know about three words of Georgian and how scary it was the first night in my host family’s house.

When I look back on that time at the beginning of training and where I am today, I feel so much more settled. I’m happy and content in my village and with my work. Some days are really easy and some days make me want to scream, but it’s just how life is here. Each day is unpredictable, but I’ve come to embrace this.