By Adjara from Georgia 

Gamarjoba! (Hello!) My name is Nato, and I live in Adjara. My village sits high in the mountain range that separates Adjara from Samske-Javakheti in Southern Georgia.

Here, I go to a village school five days a week. For me, school is my home, and I love it very much. I study math, Georgian, geography, history, physics, chemistry, Russian, English, art, PE and music. I personally like math the best, but many other girls love history and biology.

At home, food is very important. Food is everything for a Georgian family. Girls here like making and eating potatoes because it is very easy. In the small town Khulo, we make borani which is a cheese and butter dish that can be fried together with other ingredients like potatoes or eggs. We also make adjaruli khatchapuri and halva. Adjaruli khatchapuri is bread shaped like a boat baked with cheese. On the top is butter and sometimes an egg. Halva is a cookie made from toasted flour, sugar, and butter. We make halva for some religious holidays and for funeral or memorial services.

Girls in Adjara love to dance. In our region dance is a very important tradition. Many girls dance and they have a lot of success. They have gone to Turkey and many other spots for dance tours. There is a dancing group called Argineti. There are many different types of dances, such as regional dances, like Adjaruli, Samaia, and Khevsuruli. For different celebrations, there are different special dances, like the wedding dance. In one dance, boys fight with swords until girls drop a white flag. This tradition came from Georgia’s mountains.

This personal essay was developed as part of the Girl Child Project. For the project, Peace Corps Volunteers around the world collected and shared stories of girls in their communities to celebrate their diverse paths toward opportunity and success. This project was facilitated by the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Working Group at Peace Corps Headquarters.