The day I followed a PCV around

In technical terms, we call it “job shadowing”. As a way to let us get a taste of what’s in store for us, we got to go visit current volunteers at their organizations. I was assigned to visit Aaron in Lagodekhi, a town almost as far east as you can go in Georgia.  To get there, we had to transfer marshutkas in Tbilisi, the currently prohibited capital.  Since we were there, we may have taken an extended transfer and I hit up church and McDonald’s. I now understand that the only reason why it’s off-limits during PST is because otherwise, all the trainees would be there every weekend to eat our weight in hamburgers and ice cream (and that weight would increase after each visit).
Another bumpy marshutka ride later, and Aaron, Sophia (another trainee), and I had arrived in Lagodekhi.  The area around Lagodekhi is considered the “breadbasket” of Georgia and it comes complete with a National Park. The town itself is a municipal hub, so it was large enough to have what you need, but small enough that we could walk around and cover the bulk of the city easily.
Poor Aaron got barraged with questions for the whole two days.  He is a G13, which means he’s been here for two years and is getting ready to leave. As a fully ripe PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer), he was a wealth of knowledge about surviving your service and keeping busy.  We visited his organization and some of his contacts in the municipality. We picked his brain about his secondary project and committees. We tried really hard to get any gossip we could about other volunteers. We helped ourselves to files on his hard drive. We had hot showers. Aaron was a patient and gracious host.
The highlight came when the three of us entered the park and hiked to their small waterfall. (They have one that’s over 90 meters, but it required more time than we had, unfortunately.) The trail was just over six beautiful, foresty miles, round trip. I won’t lie and say I wasn’t exhausted, but it was worth it. It’s been really rainy, so Aaron said it was the strongest he’s ever seen it. I was very happy that my limited Georgian vocabulary still allowed me to say: “ლამაზი ბუნებაა“ (“Such beautiful nature!”)
So fun to get out, take a break from language classes and trainings, and get a chance to tag along on a day-in-the-life of Aaron.