Anticlimactic, but we aren't complaining... Bring on Summer!

We finished up our first school year in Peace Corps! We are quickly closing in on the one-year-of-service-left mark and it feels a little surprising and out of the blue to be already DONE with year one of school and to have been here now for way more than one year. Of course, these feelings of shock at how quickly it's all gone have been slightly influenced by the way in which our first Georgian school year all ended: three days earlier than we had planned.

School was supposed to let out on June 15, and teachers were supposed to continue going to school until the 17th or the 20th, depending on the school or who you asked. Everyone kept assuring us that we would indeed continue to hold classes and go, even if all we found there was the end-of-the-school-year party atmosphere that American schools also encounter as the weather warms. More seasoned PCVs, on the other hand, assured us that this wouldn't happen. That sooner or later the kids would mysteriously stop showing up for class and we would no longer have to plan lessons or teach classes.

We were skeptical of both sources, however. We doubted that we'd continue to have serious classes in school, since already through the end of May and beginning of June, certain classes would, as a group, somehow fail to show up for an English class held late in the day if the weather was nice. We also wondered about the PCV scoop, though, since our kids continued coming to school fairly consistently through the end of May and beginning of June (the occasional disappearing class excepted). So even though we'd had fair warning that maybe things would end abruptly, it still took us a little by surprise to in fact wrap up our final school days on June 10. I even missed the last day of school because I had to be in Tbilisi for meetings. Anticlimactic to the max (but, as I said, I'm not complaining).

So now we've been on summer vacation for the past week or so. No alarms, not too much set-in-stone on the schedule front, fruit reappearing at the bazaar, salads reappearing on the dinner table... it's the life.

But what will we be doing with ourselves during summer vacation, you might ask? Officially, as Peace Corps Volunteers, we are still expected to stay at site and continue to work on community integration and secondary projects. We're "on the clock" 24/7 and they want us to be working on summer camps or other groups, clubs or projects throughout the summer months as well, especially on those projects that eat up too much time during the school to implement. PCVs accumulate 2 vacation days per month, and Education Volunteers aren't allowed to take off too much time during the school year, so a lot of volunteers do end up traveling some during the summer. But for right now, Sam and I are keeping busy enough that we can't really focus too much on vacationing.

First up on my plate is some grant writing for a project I'd like to implement in conjunction with my women's fitness club. More details on that as things (fingers crossed!) come to fruition. I continue to meet three (or sometimes four) times a week with these great girls and women and continue to be impressed and amazed at how dedicated they have been to the club.

Later this week, on Thursday to be exact, Sam will travel to Tbilisi to take the GRE for (hopefully) the last time. Even though he previously took the GRE and got good enough scores to go to Georgetown for an MA, then acquired said MA, he still has to retake the stupid test in order to apply for PhD programs. If that testing process ain't a racket, I don't know what is. At any rate, he'll be taking the GRE at a testing center in the capital and then launch into the application process to start a PhD in Anthropology when we return stateside (or so is the plan as it stands right now).

Next week, I'll be helping out as a counselor for a girls' leadership camp that some other volunteers have organized called GLOW-- Girls Leading Our World. The camp will be held in Kakheti, a region of Georgia to the east, and will have about 30 girls ages 13-16. It's really exciting to be helping out with this camp; in 2007 the PCVs in Georgia had a pretty big deal with this camp, only to have their 2008 edition canceled due to the 2008 August war. I'm really glad that our fellow PCVs have been able to resurrect this great program, and proud to be helping out.

On July 2, Sam will take part in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Tbilisi (I'll still be tied up with GLOW camp, so can't participate). It will be the third year (I think) for the Race in Tbilisi and should be a great event. Maybe Sam will get to meet the First Lady of Georgia, who's rumored to be participating.

Following that, on July 4 my parents and Sam's mom will be coming to Georgia for a visit! We're putting together the schedule of things to see, things to do and things to eat. Hopefully we'll keep them entertained and not overwhelm them too much!

After that, we've got some other projects--summer camps, other possible grant proposals or projects to prep for and work on--that will keep us busy for a while. We're hoping to do some sightseeing around Georgia, do some more hikes and some camping and maybe after all that do an international trip to use up some more of our vacation days. In short, even though it's summer, we'll be trying our best not to be idle for too long. Of course, some idleness might not be too bad...