Happy Days

Just about 3 weeks ago (it takes me a long time to write these posts now- it took me another week just to post it after writing...) we had our Close of Service (COS) conference in Tbilisi. This is the final training for Peace Corps Volunteers and it is heavily focused on how to wrap up your service and what to do after you return home. We had sessions on networking, how to talk about your service, resume writing, applying for government jobs, etc. It was all very informative, but that was by no means the main draw of the conference.

Selfies with my sitemate

COS conference also marks what is likely to be the last whole group gathering of my fellow G15 volunteers. Even though we still had 3 months of service, it is likely that we will never all be together in one place again. Naturally we made the most of it. Our free time was spent talking, catching up, and just reflecting on the previous two years that have flown by. I remember when I first met half of these people at a generic Marriott hotel out in Tyson's Corner, Virginia. I remember looking around the room and wondering who I would be friends with, what kind of people I was going to be stuck with, and who might get on my nerves- I thought of it all. Now here we were once again gathered in a hotel conference room around round tables, but this time you couldn't get us to stop talking with one another.

Last Peace Corps conference with this bougie roomie

On the last night of the conference we had a formal reception with the US ambassador and some Georgian government officials. Karen and I were each invited to give a speech at the reception for our respective programs- Individual and Organizational Development and Education. Writing the speech was pretty difficult but I think it went well. Karen did a fantastic job with hers and was a complete natural. Being able to speak on behalf of my fellow volunteers felt like a great honor and I was grateful to do it. (I'll share my speech later.)

Trust me the room wasn't empty, it just looks empty...

The real party started after the reception when all the guests and staff had left for the night. We had organized a small planning group and organized a "prom" Georgian style. We raided the left over reception food and then hooked up a projector and speakers to my laptop. We started the evening with an In Memoriam tribute to the volunteers from our group who left early for one reason or another. Then we shared "Most likely to" awards. We also made Peace Corps service yearbooks full of pics from our service as well as personal reflections and pages for signatures. The rest of the evening was spend dancing, eating, chatting, and signing yearbooks. It was perfect.

Mr. Ambassador cutting the cake

Now to make an already wonderful night even better, I got my first grad school admissions notifications during the festivities. Given the time difference from the East coast these emails came late in the evening while we were partying. First came new from Tufts that I had been accepted to their Masters of Arts in Law and Diplomacy with partial funding, next came news from Columbia's Masters of International Affairs where they admitted me with 50% funding. Then last of all came new from Johns Hopkins SAIS program that I was admitted to their MA in International Studies with ~50% funding and was also accepted to begin my studies at their European campus in Bologna, Italy before completing the program in Washington D.C.

Some great friends 

After months of stressful application writing it felt fantastic to finally get some good news. It was fitting that the news came on the same night that I was celebrating the past two years with some of my best friends. Having options for the future has really eased the burden of uncertainty that was hovering. Moreover, additional good news arrived just about 10 days later when Georgetown's MS in Foreign Service contacted me with an offer for admissions as well as a scholarship. I was on cloud nine.

The G15s all gussied up for the reception

Now comes the difficult task of actually choosing which post Peace Corps path I want to take. However I am grateful to have options, let a lone any plans period so that I don't have to worry about returning home disoriented. Also even though I am set to finish up here in ~75 days or so, that doesn't mean I will be headed straight home. I expect to take the long way home, potentially 40 days long. Winding my way though mainland SE Asia and visiting as many sites as I can along the way.

My fellow Samegrelo education volunteers

Hopefully by the next update I will have some real news about what I've decided to do next. In the meantime feel free to send advice (or Sour patch kids, I could really go for some Sour patch kids.)

With Teo our first program manager

BUILDing a More Gender Equitable Society

Time for another update. I've been gone for close to two weeks and they were busy busy. First, like I mentioned in my last post, it was finally time for our GLOW-BUILD joint conference on gender. This project has been in the works for a long time and it was great to see it finally get off the ground.

Lazare and Ana leading a session in the conference room

For the conference we brought in 10 boys from our BUILD camp, 10 GLOW alumni girls, as well as 2 former counselors from each. The kids were chosen from towns across the country and paired up to be able to work on projects together after the conference. It was nice to see a project that we've been working on for so long so go so well. We had sessions on: Gender vs. Sex, and gender roles in Georgia, how to transform Georgian society, gender based violence, tolerance and diversity, teamwork and problem solving, and a guest panel. We were nervous that the kids wouldn't be mature enough, or that they wouldn't care, or that they wouldn't even come- all proved to be untrue.

The Country Director chatting with youth during a coffee break

The kids were engaged from the very beginning. They had a lot of great comments and were full of ideas. We talked about the idea of toxic masculinity and how it often puts men in boxes which cause them to feel trapped and often behave poorly. We also talked about the problems with putting women on pedestals and the pressures that that puts on them. Each of these were issues we presented to the youth during summer camp, but it was their first time hearing about the issues facing the opposite gender. They took time to share how they felt when they were confined to strict roles, it was really interesting to hear them share their feelings and then also speak about ways to help the other gender.

Youth discussing ways to help each other break harmful gender stereotypes 

This conference was a first for us. Talking about gender equality and other related issues isn't new but holding a mixed gender conference on it was.  Most issues related to gender are fairly taboo here, especially as a topic among boys. However, the level of interest and engagement from the youth showed that things are changing. The second half of the conference was devoted to brainstorming and project planning. At the end of the conference they all took turns presenting their ideas to us and we were really impressed.

Let's be honest these are just candid shots and I have no idea what they are really talking about

One more project down, and several more to go. A few days after the conference I was in Tbilisi when the Country Director sent out an email with our close of service (COS) dates. The official date was scheduled to be July 7 but per PC rules we could COS up to 4 weeks early. Most PCVs applied so the office had to sort out the dates so too many people weren't leaving on the same day. Much to my surprise I was assigned to June 16th- the day after school ends. It's crazy to think that my time here is ending so soon (three months is still a ways away though). This conference was just a great reminder of the great work that we are empowered to do here in Georgia.

Boys hard at work listening and not running their mouths

P.S. One final shout out to Michele Obama for creating the Let Girls Learn fund that funded this project. Hopefully this program will be continued under the new administration.

The whole group of Georgian youth and counselors 

The GLOW camp girls

My BUILD camp boys