#pcrv

June 11

It was rainy and gross off and on all day, but Sopio, Mariam and I were on a mission to attend the Nukriani youth concert for their project helping people with disabilities. It wasn’t nearly as well organized, well attended or well executed as the Borjomi or Marneuli ones, but it’s important to start somewhere. Luckily by the time we arrived the rain had stopped, since the concert was in the park. It was short and without costumes or mics, just music blasted from a car to accompany dances in jeans, but the kids had a good time.

High: The fact that the concert happened at all, and the adorable little ten year olds dancing their routines.

Low: The parents were snarky and grumbling about mismanagement under their breath, which was definitely the problem of the regional coordinator and youth group, not us.

June 9

Rezi got super excited about the idea of making pupusas, to the point where he actually got corn flour (which is pretty easy to find, since it’s what they use to make mtchadi) and made beans so that we could make pupusas in the Peace Corps office today, which we did, and shared them with everyone around the office. I made some passable curtido, the pupusas were decent, and we had fun making them and sharing them, which is the important thing. They weren’t quite up to the La Granjita standard, but by the end we both had some good round ones oozing cheese. So this is second goal third goal? Sharing the culture of one Peace Corps country with another Peace Corps country, and loving it.

High: Rezi singing “A mi me gustan las pupusas” for the entirety of our time making pupusas in the office.

Low: The power was out all day, so I ended up only coming into the office for about an hour before peacing out again to work at the Peace Corps office.

Glitter: There’s this cool thing that the Gates Foundation is doing in partnership with Heifer International where if you take five minutes to learn about raising chickens to help families, especially women, to escape poverty, they will donate chickens to families in poverty. It’s here, if you want to do it.

High: I made it home without mishap from Batumi with another smooth ride listening to Washington the entire way, then found that we had all the ingredients (sans jalapeños, but such is life) to make curtido for the pupusas I promised Rezi we would make tomorrow. I used a mix of Roberto's directions and two recipes I found online, and I'm just hoping it's ok. 

Low: I keep getting people who want me to stay here, and I don't think I want to stay. It's not that I don't like the job and the people, but I don't want to live in a city and without a dog. And I have PLANS for September through December. TRAVEL plans! 

Glitter: Ali4Ham was excellent

June 6

So on the off-chance that we might get support, my organization submitted a proposal a month or so ago to a local organization for donations of equipment to start this idea we had for making and selling easy American desserts to employ PWD and help fund activities for PWD. They liked the proposal and agreed to give us three months to get it off the ground. Today was our first meeting, and I spent two hours beforehand with Sopio creating a short PowerPoint in Georgian to cover the main points (I was just going to talk, but especially with the language barrier, having a bit of text turned out to be a really good idea) and making sure we were on the same page. We spent an hour with the six from the Marneuli group who showed and stayed, two of whom are PWD, explaining the basics of social entrepreneurship, and got them to start thinking about the possibilities for their own little business making and selling cookies, brownies, and other desserts. I have absolutely no idea if this will be a success, but their interest in the idea, engagement in the activity, and delight at the cookies I brought in as samples is a glimmer of promise that this could really be a real thing.

High: Giving out the three cookie samples to the group and seeing them both enjoy the treats and immediately come up with ideas of where they could sell, who would be good clients, and what would be the best method of packaging and distribution, gives me high hopes for the motivation and success of this project. Also, Sopio is a saint, working with me in the two hours before we left to make a short powerpoint in Georgian to accompany the presentation and dealing with all my disorganization and procrastination.

Glitter: I got featured on the Peace Corps Response page for my Kazbegi photo :)

June 5

Books: I’m on chapter 7 of Washington: A Life, at which point Washington has fought in the French and Indian War, rented (or maybe was entrusted is a better word?) Mt. Vernon from his sister in law after quitting the army because of disputes over treatment of colonial soldiers, and just gotten married to Martha, who was the perfect hostess, in contrast to Washington’s often too-formal demeanor.

High: I made cookies and more cookies in anticipation of this introductory session I have to give on Monday about baking and social enterprise, which I am wildly unprepared for.