Meetings and Such

I'm nearing the end of the work week in Tbilisi. My TEFL PAC meeting was a success, and my counterpart came with me to the meeting, and then we were both invited to participate in the re-signing of the Peace Corps TEFL Program Agreement with Georgia's Minister of Education. We were told in advance that we would be introduced, there would be press, we would be asked questions, and they would want to hear me speak in Georgia. So I practiced answers to the kinds of questions I thought they might ask. At the real event, there were some speeches made by the Minister, by our Country Director (who introduced my counterpart and I), and then a lady from the Minister's office came up to the microphone and said something really fast in Georgia, the end result of which was that I understood I was supposed to come up to the mike and say something. So I talked about the new things I'd brought to the classroom (outlining and paragraph writing, American holidays including making Christmas stockings, etc) and the after-school activities I was involved with. My counterpart went up and spoke then quite movingly about the educational needs in Georgia, and then came the actual signing of the document between the Minister and Kathleen, our Country Director. After the signing, my counterpart and I chatted with the Minister about life back in Akhaltsikhe and at our school, in English, for a few minutes.

Apparently, Peace Corps is a big enough deal that the ceremony made the 6 o'clock news, although I'm sure it was a short soundbite, but apparently, enough that my picture was on there (I didn't actually see it, but other people did). In retrospect, meeting a cabinet Minister is a big deal, although I didn't really think about it at the time (PC has made me immune to things that would, in any other circumstances, be pretty awesome). Anyway, hopefully I will soon post a picture from this event--but in this case, it's not my fault. I don't have a picture, and given that we're on standfast beginning next Saturday, it probably won't be up until the end of May or beginning of June. But soon there will be a photo :)

- Carissa