It's time for an update on my life here in Poti. I've been very busy and have lots of great stories for you all. So let's get started!
Georgian Independence Day (May 26)
I was in Poti for Independence day this year. I went with my host sister to the parade and festivities in the park. It was a very hot day and we both got very sunburned. They had boat races, booth in the park for each school, an art show, and live music and dance. That nigh there was a big concert in front of the city building in the center of town that I went to with my host family. The road was closed and everyone just walked around having a good time. It turned out that the band was one of my host sisters favorites, so after we waited around to meet the lead singer. He was very nice and gave her a free signed CD.
Believe Youth Start-Up Competition
This is a project I've been working on for a long time with my counterparts. We put together 4 teams of kids with mentors from the community. Each team with the help of their mentor wrote a business plan over 6 weeks of lessons. After the 6 weeks we had a pitch competition were one team won. The mentors and kids were great and I was so proud of how the project turned out. This is a photo from the pitch event.
Swan Lake
I had to go into Tbilisi for a meeting one Monday this month, so I went in a little early and hung out with some friend over the weekend. The highlight was a girls night were we went to a nice dinner and then to Swan Lake at the Tbilisi Opera House. It was amazing. The whole thing was so well done and I just loved the set and costume design. I don't know a lot about dance, but I really enjoyed what they did with the story. It was also just fun to get dressed up and do something fancy on our night off.
Maroon 5 in Batumi
After that weekend in Tbilisi and my meeting Monday a group of us headed to Batumi for the Maroon 5 concert. It was a rainy day and the weather only got worst the closer we got to the concert. By the end of the night we were all soaking wet, even with our amazing red rain gear. There were so many people smashed into the concert area. The "doors" opened at 5, but the show didn't start until almost 9. It was a lot of standing around and waiting, but when they took the stage it was all worth it. They played all the songs I love and Adam Levine even played the guitar a few times. The rain didn't really stop all night and at one point the drops were so big you could feel them hit your face. I was going to have a good time no matter what, so I just went with it and danced in the rain.
Kiev Ukraine
Melody, Logan, and I did a temple trip to Kiev. It was so much fun. Kiev is such a fun city. The food was amazing (both Ukrainian and international). Logan did a good blog post about what we did everyday you can read here. For me the high light really was going to the temple. There is a peace there that I've missed not being able to go. We met some truly lovely people there and they were so helpful to us. We also had a great time looking at all the old churches they have in Kiev. I've always loved the design style of the gold domes and love being able to go inside the churches. We went up into the bell towers at a few of the churches and got some good photos, like the one below.
Let's Play Together Kutaisi
The weekend after Kiev I was able to help with a really cool event some PCVs put together here in Georgia called Let's Play Together. The idea behind the event is to get children with disabilities and able bodied children together to play games and interact. They have held it a few times in different cities around Georgia, but this was my first one. It was really cool the kids working a playing together. We will be hosting one in Poti this fall, so it was helpful to know what we had gotten ourselves into.
Believe's Annual Charity Gala
I had a few weeks at home after let's play together to get ready for my next big event, the Believe Charity Gala. This is the social event of the year, or so I've been told. The Believe team worked very hard on the event and it turned out so well. It is a full dinner and auction. One painting sold for over 5000 gel. The auctioneer was so good at his job and really got people into it. The money made at the event goes to helping people in need in Poti and runs the Believe programs. I got to talk a little bit about the projects I've worked on with the Believe Youth and the grant we got through the Peace Corps. I don't get to dress up a lot in my day to day life, so getting all dolled up for the evening was fun. I looked at maybe 100 different hair styles on Pinterest before picking one I like. Then I had to pick a different style that worked better in my hair. Below is a photo of the Believe team and the entertainer for the night.
Girls Camp
I went from dressing up at gala to an outdoor girls camp at the national park. I got a grant for this camp through the let girls learn program. We had 17 girls come to the park and stay over night for two nights. It was the first time a lot of the girls had ever stayed in a tent or really camped at all. It rained the first night in the early morning and all night the second night. The second night we ended up sleeping in the visitors center on the floor. During the day we kayaked, fished, had first aid and eco lessons, and cooked lots of food. The girls learned how to cook over a fire one night, but after it started raining we moved into the visitors center kitchen for the rest of the meals. I am really happy with how the camp turned out. Here is a photo of me and Sophia supervising the girls during kayaking the second day.
