Georgia Back Log: Condoleezza Rice

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice showed up in Georgia this week and Peace Corps got a chance to crash the press conference. Most of us volunteered; it’s not everyday that you get to meet a cabinet member and it didn’t hurt that it was a day out of language class.

Secretary Rice is in the country to talk with Georgia’s government over the increasing tensions with Russia but made time for a quick meet and greet with embassy staff, AID workers and us. There was a short speech about the importance of our alliance with Georgia and the future of the region (I’ve got it on video if anyone’s interested) and afterwards she came out to shake our hands. The press conference was nice but I think I was happier about the fringe benefits of a free trip to the capital than the sound bites. I hadn’t had a doughnut since leaving the U.S. and there were huge trays of them waiting for us when we showed up at the Tbilisi Hilton where Secretary Rice was speaking. It sounds like a small thing but right at that moment, it was pretty awesome. 50 Peace Corps volunteers beat out embassy staff, some Marine Corps officers and pretty much all of US AID to raid the continental breakfast the hotel had set out and not a one of us feel bad about it.

AFTER the speech is when the real perk came. When were in America we couldn’t have cared less about McDonalds but, once in Georgia, it might as well have been the American Embassy. Cultural imperialism has its critics but, after living in a village in rural Asia for 6 weeks, the golden arches looked pretty good. We spent (lets just say longer than we were supposed to) getting cheeseburgers and milkshakes before heading back home.

There was one extra bonus: when the Secretary was done the embassy staff let us play on her podium with the official Department of State seal on the front. We all took pictures of us playing Secretary of State and generally looking like children in front of the American expatriate community. Good day all around.