Reaching the 1st Checkpoint

We're finally about to reach the halfway mark of our service! At times it seems that the first year has flown by, and other times (especially winter) time felt that it was barely craaaaaaawwwwwlling. And yes, there have been some lows since being here but fortunately they have been countered by some incredible highs. I am truly glad to be here, to experience this country and its people firsthand, with some of the best staff and friends that anyone could ask for. I just want to thank my friends and family back home for your constant love and support, and also my fellow volunteers who have become my new family here...thank you for making my service so memorable.

Peace Corps always states that it is "the toughest job you'll ever love". Sometimes for me it has been tough, for different types of reasons, and wanting to go back to the US seemed such an obvious choice. But taking a step back and realizing why I'm truly here and how blessed I am to be able to have such an amazing opportunity like this, has reaffirmed my desire to be here...and shown me why I do love this job.

So, if things ever do look down, and you feel that some obstacles are too overwhelming to achieve, watch this video and you'll find that nothing is impossible.

CNN's i-List

I'm about a month late on this, and most of the other volunteers already know about it, so this is solely for the friends and fam back home.

CNN has started a cool project called i-List and it's, "A new special program that visits a different country each month and look towards its future. Highlighting innovation and influence in business, industry, culture and more. i-List showcases a nation's people and places -- those having an impact inside and outside their borders."

Last month and i-List's 3rd highlighted country was Georgia. Here are the various links CNN created to promote Georgia. To learn more about i-List, click here.

• Georgia's language explained
• Georgia's next generation
• Enjoy a glass of Georgian wine
• Cave tourism in Georgia
• Georgia's unique ballet
• Batumi sees revival of fortunes
• Georgia's powerful patriarch
• Georgia-Russia border tensions
• A Georgian birthday melody
• President Saakashvili

Also, if you have been keeping up with my posts within the past year you should take this Quiz to see how much you really know about Georgia!

The Day I Stopped Sleeping Soundly.

So, I realize this an older video...and for some reason, there's a few of you out there who haven't seen it/but heard about it/and yet still want to see it.

To everybody else. I'm sorry. Don't watch it. (especially if you plan on having BBQ, bacon, ham sandwiches, or any pork related products in the near future.)

The back-story was: My buddy Tom went home on Medical leave for a couple of months. When he finally returned, his family was super thrilled to have him back home. So in order to celebrate his triumphant return they sacrificed and cooked a pig (which is a huuuuuge deal here) for him. And I was lucky enough to be invited.

So...here goes. Curious to see how many seconds most of you get through before you pause/turn away/throw up/run away...etc. It would be a fun experiment so lemme know.

Yes...I actually do work here in Georgia!

"ძალიან დაკავებული ვარ" aka "Sorry it's taken me like 2 months to give you the latest from the land of Stalin."

So, the purpose of this post is my hope to dispel any rumors of me that all I do is sit at a winery everyday, drinking and gettin mtvrali with the locals, playing backgammon, and stumbling back home to just do it over again. Not to say that this isn't a recurring theme in my life here...*ahem*...but yes, I do-do work. Surprise! And lately, a lot of it.

To bring everybody else back up to speed on what I'm exactly doing, I'll give you a quick run-down: I volunteer with the NGO "Association Caucasus Meridian" (ACM) which is headed up by one of the coolest Georgians I've had the pleasure to work with, Alex Tsukilashvili. ACM was established in 1988. Since that time, ACM has implemented about 150 projects of various sizes in the spheres of: local development, environmental protection, education, fighting against corruption, human rights protection, development of children and adolescents, and support of small business development.

Suffice to say, Alex is the man.

                                                                  Alex and his daughter Nata

Anyhow, he wanted to work on something totally different but do it in a way that would be a lot of fun and still promote/help Georgia. So, he became really interested in tourism development. Through this new found passion he has been able to make connections all over Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, etc. to form relationships through each country to be able to promote tourism in this part of the world.

This is where little ole' me finally comes in.

I'm Alex's 3rd Peace Corps volunteer, so he has some experience in dealing with an American and working with the obvious language barriers and such. But, Alex and I have really hit it off and find ourselves passionate about the same types of things. Together we're collaborating to create 2 other companies that will spawn off of his parent company, ACM. Our first project is the creation of our tourism company, "Georgian Journeys". We have been busy creating dozens and dozens of different niche tourism packages: Tours that include but not limited to wine, art, churches and monasteries, white water rafting, hiking, skiing, camping, historical, fishing, etc...this list literally goes on and on...

Also, we've been creating different merchandise (shirts, mugs, towels, practically everything under the sun) to sell on our website that we are also in the midst of also creating right now. So, yeah...busy.

Our second project is the creation of our own wine company. As of now, ACM (Alex and I) are helping with the local winery, JSC Corporation Kindzmarauli, in promoting their products, establishing a working tourist center, and looking for other distributors to sell their wine. Though the people whom we work with here at the winery are a fantastic bunch, there is unfortunately, a lot of restrictions in the freedoms of how Alex and I would like to accomplish these goals. So, eventually we are starting our own wine company, where we can experiment and be independent in the way we market ourselves. Creation of our own branding, bottle styles, logos, the whole bit. So eventually, as time goes on I'll post the links to the individual websites that are being worked on as of now, including Kindzmarauli's. (It's seriously some of the best wine I've had, not trying to be bias here. Apparently, when Stalin was in charge, he would order his favorite semi sweet wine directly from this winery because he claimed it was the best there is. I guess that would be one thing me and him had in common.) 

                                                              My Kindzmarauli winery family

One problem Alex has had within the last year, was he didn't have his own office anymore. Since the president of the winery and Alex are super tight, they have given he and I an office at the winery where we can work during the day. But, within the past few months he was able to find a space suitable for his NGO's needs. Through Peace Corps and USAID's grant program SPA, I succeeded in obtaining a grant for $5000 to reconstruct a brand new conference hall near the office where our organization will do business and entrepreneurship trainings for youth and adults. Also this space will be open for public use since there isn't any similar place business professionals, teachers, and students can use within our region. 

Then, through Peace Corps, I signed up to be on the first ever ICT (Information and Communication Technology) committee here in Georgia. Me and 3 other volunteers have been putting together the guidelines for the committee, and project ideas such as language podcasts for up and coming volunteers, a site for volunteer's parents, a space where current volunteers can share stories and secondary project ideas, etc.

Lastly...whenever there is spare time, I've also been working with both a local sculptor who needs help obtaining finances for an art school here in Kvareli and also the director for a local folk band who needs assistance in marketing his group. And also, since it's getting to be summer time, Kvareli is having tourists visit again! So, from time to time I do English speaking tours throughout the winery and have led guests from Japan, Sweden, Brazil, Israel, and Switzerland. 

Well, that's my long spiel about what I'm actually doing here in Georgia. Hopefully soon I'll post the links to our websites so you can see for yourselves. Till then, droibit!