Go Kartli: Distractions, Part 1

Right after Sam left Georgia, I headed off to the west coast of the country for one final visit. I spent the weekend watching the clouds over the Black Sea (there were some wicked storms), sitting on the rocky beach, running along the boulevard, and talking with friends. It was a good way to distract myself from Sam's absence. I needed the distraction because I really, really have been missing him.

This isn't our first time apart. Heck, we spent our first several years together in long-distance mode. But these past two years have been like make-up time for all the goodbyes and waiting and apartness. I think the closeness of everything for married couples in Peace Corps means that we all come close to driving each other crazy during our first weeks and months. From our Pre-Service Training, when we had 4 hours of language class together daily (try learning three new languages with a loved one in a super-intense class with only 3 other members) to all of the time spent trying to avoid the cold winters (we watched all 7 seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and maybe a few other pop culture gems), we really weren't able to get away from one another for long during these 27 months. If you make it through the crazy-driving moments, though, I think PC service is a time when a couple can become closer than ever. Thankfully, that's what happened with me and Sam. Our time in Georgia was made even happier, even that much better, even that much more cherished because we got to spend it together.

I know, awwwwww. Right?

So in planning for Sam to head off a month before me, I wanted to make sure that I had my initial minutes and hours and days occupied with something big, something that would keep me occupied. The thought of saying goodbye to Sam when we'd barely been a foot apart from each other for months was tougher to deal with than I expected. So it may be due to some temporary insanity that I agreed to be a counselor for SELF Camp in Kobuleti.

Stormy skies over the Black Sea

The view of Batumi from the top floor of the Radisson Blu in Batumi

Other side view of Batumi (looking out at the Sheraton and the sea)

Usually Georgia fares pretty well on the mis-translation scale, but "Technical Stuff" was just too good to pass up (in Georgian it actually says "Technical Staff")

Last summer I helped out the the GLOW camp, and I also like the SELF camp acronym, so I thought I'd give it a shot. GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) was a camp for teenaged girls to teach leadership, social responsibility, health, and self-esteem. It had some fitness components (we exercised every morning and discussed healthy diet and exercise), but was mostly focused on group work sessions and short lectures. SELF (Self-Esteem and Leadership through Fitness) dealt with many of the same issues, but worked towards reaching the ends through sports. We taught basketball, soccer, kickball, volleyball, frisbee, yoga, running and did a whole host of exercise sessions daily, lightly interspersed with a few short lectures here and there (scheduled for any times when it looked like everyone was going to keel over from exhaustion). Both camps were incredible--I remain amazed by all of my fellow PCVs.

The SELF camp had 40 campers, ages 13-16, 4 junior counselors (17 years old), 4 counselors (20 years old), and 3 PCVs to keep things in order (me, Amy and Emily).

I'll let those numbers sink in for just a minute. 40. Ages 13-16.

I'm really not sure how we survived and held things together, but it worked out. Come the last day of camp, we had weeping girls, sad to say goodbye to their newly made friends, so I count that as a huge sign of success (ah, yes, crying children=success). The other success of the camp was that it helped time stay full and me stay busy and I didn't have a chance to get all mopey and missing Sam. Mission accomplished! Below are some pictures from the camp.

Girls participating in a "Human Pictures" team-building game. We gave each group a word (elephant, khachapuri, SELF, mountain) and had them make the word as a picture with their bodies. This group spelled out SELF (can you see it?)

Kickball rules were really hard to grasp at first (when you can't just say "it's like baseball, only you kick the ball, it's a lot harder to explain), but once they got it, the girls really enjoyed it