January: One of the highlights of January was the first camp I got to help with as a PCV. I have gone on to work on lots of camps over the year. This one was an American camp for both girls and boys. My favorite part was teaching the kids to do "American" dancing. The other highlight of this month was IST (In Service Training). Whenever you get a lot of pcvs in the same place at the same time shenanigans insue.
January update video
Orthodox Christmas and Old New Year
February: This month was slower then some of the others. I went to my next camp, this one was about fitness and was just for girls. There were 3 other pcvs at this camp, and we did a lot of hanging out in our room and eating candy when the girls couldn't see us. You know how it is.
March: My trip to Istanbul was by far the highlight for this month. We had so much fun and got to see so much of the city. It is one of my favorite cities and I was amazing to see it with friends. I also went to Batumi for a weekend with some other pcvs and all we did was eat. For almost three whole days. I really can't explain how much food was eaten this weekend, but know that everyone got their own Ajarian Katchapuri and we never looked back.
Istanbul Trip
April: My life was taken over by Technovation. A project that teaches girls to code and start their own businesses. I had a team in Poti and helped run the national conferences for all the Georgian teams. We had some truly amazing girls working on this project and I am so proud of what they were able to do in such a short time. One of the organizations I work with (Believe) did some really amazing projects this month and I was able to help with some cool things at the National Park as well. I learned how to make khinkali and our baby chickens were hatched. I also went on an Easter trip with some pcvs to Armenia.
Armenia
May: If April was busy, May was out of control. There was another girls fitness camp I helped with, a lot of in country travel, Easter, and Georgian Independence day. It was also when Believe was able to have our Youth Start Up Competition. This was a project we started working on in November. The kids worked on teams with mentors to start their own businesses and then do a pitch in front of business leaders from Poti. The kids learned skills from their mentors and really put together great projects. I was so proud of everything they did. My counterparts did an amazing job running the project and everything was perfect.
June: A lot of big projects happened in June. Believe had their yearly gala, the first of our outdoor girl's camps took place at the national park (it rained so much one night they had to sleep inside), and my first Let's Play Together. I was able to go on a temple trip to Kiev with two other pcvs. It was an amazing trip and I loved being able to go to the temple. A group of us went to Swan Lake at the national opera house in Tbilisi and a bigger group went to a Maroon 5 concert in Batumi. It rained so much that night that the streets flooded, but we just danced in the rain. I also got to be on Poti's local news.
July: I took July to tour Europe with Renae and our mom, then to show them around Georgia. We went to four different countries, plus Georgia. We saw every site we could fit in. We went hard the whole time, and at the end of the three weeks I just wanted to sleep. Renae and Mom got to meet lots of my friends here in Georgia and my host families. I got to take them to the places that have become so important to me, and I made them sleep in a hostel.
August: I was part of two camps this month. One was on the beach and the other up in the mountains. I also went on some outdoor adventures and Believe held an art show at the Batumi Hilton. I took some time to rest after my crazy July and just spend time at site.
September: We held our second outdoor girl's camp at the national park in September. We were able to take the girls out on the lake at this camp and teach them to cook outside. The weather was better for us this time around and we didn't have to be inside. We also hosted Let's Play Together in Poti. It didn't turn out like we wanted it to, because of a large rain storm. But the kids that came had a good time and got some good trainings. We had all the girls from both camps come together for a reunion at the park offices and gave out certificates. We also had a corn dog night at one of the pcvs houses. If you know me, you know I love corn dogs, and that this was a big deal to me.
October: I found myself in Tbilisi a lot in September and November. I helped with a few Halloween events and did some in country travel with friends. A group of pcvs and one of their family members did a jewelry making workshop. There was a lot of cooking and hanging out with other pcvs this month in between projects and activities.
November: We had two Thanksgiving dinners in November, one with all the volunteers at a conference everyone went to and one at a friends house. I helped with the turkey at the all-vol dinner and made the mac and cheese at the smaller dinner. We visited an old mining town called Chiatura and rode the cable cars to the mining site. There is also a cool church in the area called Katskhi Pillar. We couldn't go inside because it's at the top of a pillar, but we did get to look at it and that was fun. Believe put on an amazing training for members of the NGO community with a speaker from the UK in both Tbilisi and Batumi. I missed the event in Batumi because I was at a training with all the committee members for Peace Corps learning about working with youth.
December: And the end of the year is here. I've been busy in December. The first weekend was another LPT. It was really well attended and ran really well. the next weekend I ran a camp for IDP kids living in Poti. We took them to Batumi for a weekend to learn about leadership and other skills. It rained the whole time and they couldn't really leave the hotel. After that I did a women's networking retreat for Believe at the Batumi Hilton. I was really happy with how it turn out. It snowed that whole weekend and we just watched from within the warmth of the hotel. After that I made my way to Kutaisi for a pre Christmas party and my flight out of country to the Baltic coast. I was there for 10 days and traveled from Poland to Finland. It was amazing.
Christmas
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