I was supposed to post these logs every week throughout my LiA experience, but I got so incredibly busy that I didn’t get the chance to do that. Therefore, this is my reflection on all the weeks after I left Georgia a few days ago.

Onboarding

Landing on the 5th of May and starting work the next day while being incredibly jet lagged was not on my bingo list, but here we are.

I was asked to come to the mandatory escape room workshop for the new volunteers at 12 p.m. The night before, I looked up the address and set an alarm for 8 a.m. to get ready and have a lot of time in advance to get there. Imagine my shock when I left my apartment at 9 a.m. and got stuck in horrible Tbilisi traffic for 2 hours. I opened the door of the room where the workshop was being held at 12:05, and 15 pairs of eyes were scanning me immediately. As I found out later, this group of volunteers had arrived 2 days before me under the Erasmus+ and ESC programs, and some of them were staying in Tbilisi until the end of June. They were all coming from different European countries, and 4 of them were from Georgia. And this is exactly how I got “adopted” by Erasmus+ kids, or found my Georgian family, in other words.

Interestingly enough, I was the youngest volunteer at DRONI, but I never felt like I was out of place or experiencing some sort of imposter syndrome. My ideas and opinions were always heard, and the excitement to work with youth was shared. I was surrounded by people who came from different countries and educational backgrounds, yet we were united in our goal: to exchange our experiences with each other and share knowledge with Georgian youth.

The rest of the week was filled with 9–5 workshops, where we were taught by professionals what Erasmus+ and ESC programs are, how to work with children and youth, how to work with cultural differences and approach everything ethically, but most importantly, how to build a collaborative and interactive escape room. Moreover, we did lots of teambuilding activities, which bonded all the volunteers for the next two months. 

Escape Rooms

I am not too sure if people in Canada are aware of what escape rooms are, but in Europe, especially in post-Soviet countries, it is one of the most famous activities to do with your friends for someone’s birthday. The overall idea is that a group of people has around one hour to solve some sort of mystery and “escape” the room, or “save” someone or something. Throughout the game, they have to solve multiple small puzzles, the answers to which lead to a greater mystery.

In my humble opinion, I think I have explored all the escape rooms in my hometown, Kyiv. But I could never imagine that at the age of 20 I would be one of the lead creators of a dynamic escape room. In a group of 5 volunteers, we created an educational escape room with 4 different stages and a concluding puzzle at the end. We worked a lot as a team in the process of creating the puzzles, but we also had to showcase uniqueness and creativity to create each stage on our own and then present it to the youth during Europe Day. This escape room was focused on Erasmus+, Erasmus Mundus, and Youth Exchanges. It was prepared and conducted in both English and Georgian. We also created two levels: an easier one for 12+ participants and a more difficult one for an 18+ audience to make it more age-appropriate. We conducted this escape room during Europe Day on the 9th of May.

Europe Day

Organized chaos would probably be the best description of Europe Day. Although Georgia is not part of the EU, it has an incredible opportunity to participate in official events organized by the European Union. This event celebrates the partnership between Georgia and the EU. The events include large-scale public festivals, interactive cultural booths from various European countries, and concerts. It is hosted by the EU Delegation at Expo Georgia in Tbilisi. DRONI is an organization that participates there every year to raise awareness about potential European opportunities for Georgian youth.

My colleagues and I conducted 7 outdoor escape rooms, featuring more than 40 participants. I delegated tasks efficiently to my team, and we were all eager to help each other when needed. It was a very long day, but the positive emotions afterwards, combined with the bonus of receiving DRONI T-shirt merch and the insane bonding with the team, made this day unforgettable.

I also took part in a podcast for Ilia State University during the European Fair.

Reflections

Overall, I would not change a thing about this week. It was filled with work, work, and maybe a little bit of WORK, but it was worth every single second of it.

Khinkali, Adjaruli Khachapuri, and Nigvziani Badrijani

Did I mention Georgian food to you? If not, this is exactly the place and time when I do it. Guys, it is heavenly. Internationally, it is in the top 10 best cuisines in the world, and if you ever decide to try it, I can be your personal guide to the gastro world of Sakartvelo (the official and only correct name of Georgia).