1/3 Already?

March marks the completion of 1/3 of my service in the Republic of Georgia. Only 18 months left to go. I started off the New Year with a resolution to be a better volunteer. The first few months at site were tumultuous to say the least. I no longer had the comfort of a "training atmosphere." I was on my own, living with a host family, and trying to adjust to the Georgian way of life. Dealing with each day's new trials, I was forced to adapt or breakdown. I'm happy to say that I've become a much more flexible person--but not by choice! Working on "Georgian time" made me learn to be a better improviser, to relax, andmost of all slow down!

Now that I have developed my comfort level and am feeling more confident with my work, I have started secondary projects. In school, I team-teach grades 5-9 with Nona, my counterpart. Outside of class, I have 2 weekly English clubs. It's an opportunity for me to learn more about my students and to foster a fun environment speaking English. I'm also happy to say that I am now a successful grant writer. For the last few months I have been working with my Principal and counterparts to secure a room for an English Cabinet (resource room). Through community contributions we secured a bookcase, desks, chairs, a computer and Internet access. The grant proposal, which was approved last week, will provide a wall-length white board, books, and teaching equipment. The room is currently undergoing renovations and should be finished by the end of the month.

Outside of school, I've become more involved in the community. As a volunteer, I'm lucky to have an American Corner in my site since there are only 6 inthe country. The American Corner is a US embassy funded English resource center. In Gori it is located in the central library. It provides access to books, computers, Internet, speaker programs, etc. Every weekI hold club meetings there for secondary school children. Together with my site mates we have an English Club, Eco-Club (promoting environmental awareness), and a prep course for the National University Entrance Exam (aka SATs). My focus is promote the AC to Gori's youth since it mostly attracts adults. I'm happy to say that it's working and more and more youngsters are benefiting from theAC's resources. At the end of the month, I will hold the Writing Olympics competition in Gori. The Writing Olympics is a Caucasus-wide English creative writing competition for students in grades 6-11. The competition is partof a PCV initiative to encourage creative thinking and writing. Students compete regionally, nationally, and Caucasus-wide with students in Armenia and Azerbaijan. Writing Olympics is just one way to get our students excited about writing and win some cool awards in the process.

So that's what my life will look like for the next 3 months and then I can recuperate for 2 weeks when I go back home to visit. In the meantime I can expect to enjoy another month of winter when hopefully things will warm up a bit! And like I said before...only 18 months! How time flies.