Some interesting facts from our lecture on the Russian social system:


THREE TYPES OF ORPHANS IN RUSSIA:
1) Biological or "pure" orphans (10% of the orphan population)
2) Social orphans (quite often have both parents but b/c of common problems [i.e. alcoholism], they are unable to be taken care of)--largest group of orphans
3) Temporary orphans (do have parents who have rights, but parents are temporarily unable to care for them [i.e. parents are in prison])

Before 1991, there were not as many orphans and relatively no homeless people in Russia because it was very common for families to share apartments (one family in one bedroom, another family in the other bedroom). The government had artificially created jobs to keep people busy.

There are now 700,000 orphans in Russia--12-13,000 news orphans each year--and only 15,000 are adopted annually. In 1991, international adoptions were allowed, with the majority of adoptive parents coming from the U.S., Spain and Italy. International adoptions have slowed down, however, because it is becoming increasingly difficult to adopt in Russia. There have been a few cases in the last 16 years where Russian orphans have been murdered by their international adoptive parents, so the government has cracked down (the perception of international adoptions in Russia is much worse than it is).

All orphanages in Yaroslavl (where I stayed) are supported by the government.

Sometimes, families will take 10 kids and create home orphanages. Teachers often to this to either create or to keep their jobs.


DIFFERENT WAYS TO CARE FOR KIDS IN ORPHANAGES:
1) Let outside families take kids in for the weekend or longer in exchange for $
2) Registering families--not as easy to return kids to the orphanages, but they get more government assistance ($)
3) Adoption--many Russians don't adopt because they either can't afford more children or they believe that good parents don't leave good kids, so there must be something wrong with the kids (!!!!)

SIDE NOTE: Check out this story of an American family and their Russian adoptions...this is a wonderful, quick read:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13544120/


EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM:
Families can do whatever they want with their kids up until the age of 7 (i.e. home school, regular school, not send them to school); once they reach 7 years old, the children must go to school. Yaroslavl has four regions and each region is broken up into micro-regions; each micro-region has their own school. In Russia, you have to go to school for nine years, however orphans typically do not finish 10th and 11th years because they often go to technical school (tech schools are the only ones which allow their students to board).

In Russia, first grade is typically relaxed, however in second and third grades, teachers look out for kids who are hungry, not doing homework, etc. and they contact special workers within the system...because this means something is going wrong at home and in the family. These workers get together with the families to see what is wrong (i.e. unemployment, alcoholism, etc.). If there are negative findings, or if the families do not change their ways, papers are sent to the court to determine if the child(ren) will go to an orphanage.

In Yaroslavl, Boarding School #9 (one of CCS' placements) is the only one with its own school, however the success rate is one of the lowest in the city.


PROBLEMS:
1) Children are not exposed to healthy family patterns:
--More than 50% of marriages end in divorce
--Being in an orphanage does not enable the children to see what a typical family looks like, acts like, functions like, etc.
--Some orphanages have started family classes because psychologists found (through testing) that kids there thought birds and trees were families!

2) Not having a desire to work:
--All of their lives, orphans are given things--books, clothes, etc.
--At the age of 18, everything stops; they don't know how to budget, they don't know the cost of things, etc.
--Some orphanages provide services to kids who have left (i.e. to help with things like replacing a lost passport, etc.)

3) Children's passports are still registered with their parents and the often go back to live with their families because they have a right to do so--this does not lead to anything good, as you can imagine.


MEDICAL:
Each orphanage has either a doctor or nurse part-time. If the children have to go to the hospital for serious problems, their medical treatment is free.

Almost everyone in Russia receives free medical care, but you have to wait. If you want medical care now, you have to pay (two systems in Russia).


ELDERLY:
Elderly homes are financed by the government...75% of elderly residents' pensions goes towards it. The residents often share rooms with up to seven other people, however, if they have an apartment that they are willing to sign over to the government, the elderly person will have a separate room at the home.

Typically, elderly homes are understaffed and the food is not as tasty or well-balanced as the meals in the orphanages.

The elderly receive basic medical coverage, but expensive medicines have to be paid for by the individual, who often seek out cheaper alternatives (remember, the average lifespan is 57 for men, 67 for women!).

NOTE: There are special orphanages for mentally-challenged children, but once they reach 18, they go right into the elderly home for mentally-challenged elderly.

Men retire at 60, women at 55--most men do not live to see retirement. Depending on how long people work, a "pension" is set up for them; however, it is usually not enough to live on. If the elderly can prove that their income is below a certain level, they pay 50% of their apartment maintenance and electricity bills.


ECONOMY:
In the early 90s, people were given three days to exchange old rubles for new rubles and could only change 200 rubles max (less than $10 U.S.!). After the three days, the old rubles were worthless, so people lost everything!

In 1995, President Yeltsin lied about the rumors regarding a collapse of the ruble; it ended up going from six rubles (to buy) $1 U.S. to 30 rubles (to buy) $1 U.S. in less than a week!

Because of these economic disasters, young people in Russia tend to spend everything they earn because they are afraid to hold on to it, fearing another collapse of the economy.


Well, that's all I've got. Pretty interesting, eh?

I cannot tell you how excited I was to hear English when I landed at JFK. I've traveled, studied or worked in more than a dozen countries but I have never had such a difficult time with the language. So to be sitting in JFK listening to people scream at each other in English, I was actually somewhat enjoying my time...

My trip home started a little rough. The night before, I decided to sample some Russian vodka, although not much of it. I know, stupid. Enough said. At the airport in Moscow, we had to wait in line for about 30 minutes so we could put our bags through scanners (this is where 90 pounds of luggage became a mini-nightmare because you are responsible for lifting every ounce on your own...no nice porters to help you). After that, I had to bring my luggage over to be hand-screened, meaning I had to lift it up on the table and a security person takes out everything I had in there, then puts it back in. Over the years, I've learned to be a strategic packer, so this, of course screwed up my packing plan. After I managed to squeeze everything back in, I had to go over to the check-in booth to check in. Turns out one bag was 2 kg overweight (even though the other bag was half the limit, it didn't matter), so I received a ticket, which I had to go pay. After I paid the ticket, I waited for about 30 minutes in the passport control line, only to get to the front and find out the ticketing lady was more concerned with me paying for 2 kg than with giving me my boarding pass and luggage claim...I said to the passport lady that I don't understand Russian (in Russian) and she said in English, "I don't understand English so go figure it out." Okey-dokey, thanks.

I figured it out after about another 30 minutes and after going through security one more time where they checked my carry-on bag, I was seated on the plane. Pleased to be seated in the front because last time, I was in the bag and apparently that was the "kid" section. I was thinking that I would have a nice, restful flight home. Then, two women with babies walked on the plane..."NO" is all I thought. And of course, as they made their way to the seats across the aisle from me, I knew that it wasn't my lucky day. Does anyone know what it is like to be on a 10.5 hour flight with two SCREAMING babies? Oh, I do!!!! Ugh. And don't ask me about it because I do not want to relive the nightmare (side note: the volume on iPods really don't go as loud as you think).

After no sleep, we landed at JFK, which has to be the craziest airport (next to Heathrow) that I have ever been in. Absolutely insanely busy. Going through passport control was awesome because they ripped up my work visa and told me that they were going to detain me for improper paperwork (flashbacks to Stuart's incident at the Buffalo border in college were playing in my mind). Even though I explained to him that I go back and forth across the border all of the time with no problem, he still gave me quite a lecture. He then 'found' the number he was looking for in my passport and let me through. Ugh again. After waiting for my luggage, I had to go through customs, which was a breeze and then re-check my bags and hike over two terminals outside to catch my puddle-jumper flight home, which sat on the runway for more than an hour because, as the pilot explained, average taxiing times at JFK are 45-50 minutes. And then an emergency flight had to land, so that delayed us more. At this point, I was ready to pass out, but the kid sitting next to me works for an immigration lawyer in Troy and had some interesting tidbits...can't help but listen to free legal advice!

So, without much more fanfare, I was home AND my bags made it too! BTW, Delta serves snacks on 1.5 hour flights...what's up with that Northwest????

Things I missed about home (in no particular order)?
1) The obvious--talking by phone to friends and family
2) My car
3) The gym
4) Hot baths
5) My bed
6) A hairdryer (trust me, wavy hair does not do well in cold water, humidity and sans straightening tools)
7) Food without dill
8) English everywhere
9) Work
10) Cable

Happy to be home and even though it may sound as if I didn't enjoy my time, I honestly did and it certainly makes me appreciate EVERYTHING in my life (good and bad)...

Here's a parting shot from Moscow...this is common. Amazing how poor some parts of the country are, yet Moscow is just thriving (and ridiculously expensive!):

Well, Friday night, a bunch of us went out for dinner...I had something called "chicken roll with mushrooms"...hmm. It was actually pretty good, albeit the dill on my fries. I will never, ever, ever put dill on anything after this trip. But the ice cream was fabulous...man, am I going to miss Russian ice cream!

Afterwards, I convinced the crew to head to the Irish pub...however, when we got outside, it was pouring rain...but we kept marching on. The pub was great...they had a live band and a rowdy Russian wedding was happening at the hotel above the pub, so it provided for some good people-watching opps. Here's a pic of Marie, Lucas, me and Evan at the pub:




Saturday, Natalie and I got up bright and early for our train ride to Moscow, which was great until about an hour into it when our compartment-mates joined us. The woman across the table from me proceeded to cut her nails and cuticles for close to an hour-and-a-half. I am not kidding. Completely gross.

Once in Moscow, Tanya, who owns the bed-and-breakfast we stayed at, met us at the train station. The 30-minute trip through the metro station, metro and around the cobbled streets of Moscow was an absolute nightmare, as I was carrying about 80 pounds of luggage (FYI...I still have the blisters). BUT, the B&B was fabulous!




As for Moscow, it is an incredible city. Soooo different from Yaroslavl. Absolutely pristine, clean and extremely European. Here are a few pics from around town:

















Natalie and I walked around Moscow for about six hours then went out again later that night. What a gorgeous city and one that I would certainly go back to!

More later about my nightmare trip home...

Which means "good-bye." Today was my last day at the elderly center...we had a blast! Singers, swing dancing and tea. Plus, one of the ladies made us each a yarn doll, others gave us marushka pot holders and they all gave us a massive bag of chocolate candies! Yum. Here are a few pics...one with Valentina (the lady who made us the dolls), one with the entire elderly camp and one with the volunteers and Nickoli, the coolest driver ever:











At lunch, we had a little pizza party before our feedback and evaluation session:








We're off to dinner tonight for the going away party of the week (four of us are leaving). After that, we may hit the only Irish pub, I'm sure, in Russia. Tomorrow morning, Natalie and I are leaving bright and early for Moscow. I start my journey back home Sunday, including a long layover at JFK Sunday afternoon.

So thank you again very much for reading and be sure to check back next week, because I will post my stories from Moscow, as well as more photos and videos. Have a great weekend!

That means, "I love you" in Russian and I heard it several times this morning at the hospital for women (sorry I am a day late--I was sick in bed yesterday afternoon and night).

Anyways, the women are so sweet and caring...I miss them already. This placement, surprisingly, was the most meaningful for me. Even the nurses (who don't ever talk to us) told us what a difference we have made in the lives of the ladies. Incredible! I am soooo happy that I had the opportunity to volunteer there regularly. One woman even made this amazing pen holder (for me to use in my office at work) out of candy wrappers! I don't know how she weaved it, but she did it in under an hour:





Again, it's so hard to imagine that most of these women had lives before the hospital...the lady who made this for me was a high school chemistry and biology teacher before being put in the hospital. I just can't imagine...

So anyways, it was a tearful day and I received lots of "Ya lyublyu tibya" and wishes of health and good fortune. They told me that I am going to marry a very, very ("ochen, ochen") handsome man and have lots of babies. Hmmm...

Here's a pic from outside the hospital for women:




This afternoon, we visited a traditional Russian village. Whoa, is all I can say. It was out there. And of course I can remember to coat myself in bug spray before I go to bed, but I forget when I am out in the middle of nowhere (side note, I have gone through an entire bottle of bug spray in less than two weeks)! Anyways, the hosts in the village were very kind and took us on a walking tour of the town. Let's just say, I feel bad complaining about freezing cold showers when they don't even have running water! But, the experience in itself was awesome. The village is VERY small, but we saw different styles of houses, a church the villagers built hundreds of years ago, the most well-kept graveyard I have ever seen, and to top it off, they fed us! The meal was pretty much the best one I've had since I've been here (and it was also the first one not coated in dill!!!!). It kind of tasted like my infamous chicken casserole (no wonder I liked it). Afterwards, some of the village boys taught us traditional Russian games...one that was a cross between baseball and cricket and another that was kind of like the javelin. Overall, a really interesting afternoon!

Here are some of the houses in the village:











The church and graveyard:











Here's me standing next to the door of the sidehouse. Woohoo...I am officially tall!!!!





Some of the volunteers playing the traditional Russian games:











Well, tomorrow is my last day...I can't believe it! We are putting on a swing dancing routine for the elderly. Because I don't want to ruin my knee, I will be the official DJ. I am pretty pumped because to make myself feel better, I bought these killer shoes (P.S.--they did make me feel better!):





Yesterday morning, we celebrated the 4th of July with the elderly peeps. I was teaching them how to make red, white and blue friendship bracelets, and of course with them being crafty, they ended up showing me a quick new technique. Here's a pic of me wearing my new bracelet holding up the hockey stick frame we did for Canada Day:





Before we left, three Russian singers came to entertain the crowd...they were great! All of the old men were telling the old ladies to shut up so they could listen to the beautiful women sing to them. Hehe...even elderly centers have dating competition! LOL

That's it for today...still a bit exhausted, so I'm off to the hotel. Net Zone (the internet cafe) is about 20 minutes away. Anyways, happy belated 4th of July to all of my American friends. Tomorrow will be the last post before I head home (I am not planning on posting while in Moscow this weekend). Hope you all have a great day/night!

Today was a bit of an off day. Mosquitoes nipping at me had me up spraying myself with bug spray several times during the night. Then, at the elderly center, we had to wait to have our celebration because they had a speaker in to talk about anti-aging and "how to live to be 200." No lie. The average lifespan for a man in Russia is 57 and for a woman, 67. After over an hour, I learned that if I sleep a lot, eat protein, take vitamins and don't drink a lot, I'll be a-okay. Hmmm...

But, the ladies enjoyed the making hockey stick picture frames (we even used black buttons as pucks) and liked hearing about Canada. I talked about the flag, the maple leaf, the colors, Canada Day and where I grew up. Again, another wonderful bunch because they all said I look like I am 18 and "Ochen kraseevah" which means "very beautiful." They said it over and over, so that made my day! Here's a pic of one of the ladies with a flag and of our Canada group (Evan, me, Catherine and Rees):








Not as celebratory as Ken's Canada Day celebration in San Fran, but it will do!

I also had a Russian lesson this afternoon and then the shelter. The kids were quite tired and quiet at the shelter, which, in a way, made it easier to leave them today. But I'm still sad thinking about not seeing them again. Here's a pic of me playing dominoes with Susha and Dina:




Here's Susha trying to load her shoes up with dominoes:





Tonight, Natalie and I FINALLY got our train tickets to Moscow. We leave on Saturday morning. It only took an hour of waiting in line (and at least eight people cutting in front of us), but we got them...woohoo! Unfortunately, we had to miss going to the pro soccer match tonight because it took so long, but what can you do, eh?

Hope everyone is doing well!

Today, they let us take pictures at the women's hospital! Woohoo! We made picture frames out of thick popsicle sticks and painted different types of pasta for the ladies to decorate the frames with. We are going to get their pictures developed so they can have something to put in the frame for next week. It was such an awesome morning at the hospital...we worked with around 30 women today and everyone's spirits were high; they were very affectionate and happy, which was great to see. Here are a couple of pictures:













We also brought photo albums from home...the ladies LOVED the pictures. They think mom is beautiful and they want to know when David (my brother) is going to come visit. They wish I had brought Chip with me (our dog) and told me they liked it when I had dyed my hair dark (back in 2004/05)!!!!

After lunch, we had a lecture on Russian character which was really interesting. It addressed everything from why Russians don't smile a lot to the way women here dress to the way they spend versus save their money.

I spent the afternoon and early evening at the shelter...I absolutely love that place. Tomorrow is my last day there and my heart is already breaking...I am particularly going to miss the little girls...I wish I could just scoop them up and take them home...

Susha making funny faces:






Dina:








Playing with Dasha:









Overall, another great day. I'm off to prepare for my presentation at the elderly camp tomorrow...we're celebrating Canada Day a few days late! We are also going to make hockey stick picture frames...should be fun! I've got the Canadian national anthem by bagpipers on my iPod, so we'll try to pipe that in through one of the guys' laptops. I'm back at the shelter tomorrow...sad already!

Quick side note...check out this scene from the flea market...if anyone is in need of a wedding dress, let me know. LOL!




Oh, and by the way, I've already gotten five mosquitoes bites while sitting at the internet cafe. Thought you'd like to know! :-)

Have a great day!

Just a link to a fun quiz about Canadians. Enjoy!

http://summerdays.sympatico.msn.ca/Quiz+Do+you+think+like+the+average+Canadian+/Home/ContentPosting_CL.aspx?isfa=1&newsitemid=234847&feedname=TRANS-CANADIAN-LIVING&show=False&number=0&showbyline=True&subtitle=&detect=&abc=abc

As many of you know, I have issues with crowds. I don't mind a crowded airplane or bus, but I get very lightheaded and uncomfortable in places like a crowded mall at Christmas or post-concerts. What I am finding in Russia is that personal space doesn't exist. Whether it was the man who sat on me (I am not kidding) at the airport, the man whose huge belly was jammed into my back at the soccer match, the woman who had her head practically on my shoulder at the train station, the "hold-your-arms-out-and-if-you-touch-your-neighbor-you-are-too-close-and-need-to-back-up" rule does not apply! However, on the flip side, Russians are very friendly and helpful (generally speaking), so I am trying not to get too uptight about it, although I am still close to hyperventilating in these situations. Confronting a fear head-on is never fun, but I have no choice!

My last rant has to do with mosquitoes. Let me tell you...those suckers are driving us ballistic. The first night here, I had two bites when I woke up in the morning. The next four nights, they feasted on Natalie. Then, on Friday night, I actually woke up from a bite at 3:17am (I guess they had enough of poor Natalie). I proceeded to spend the next six hours cuddled up next to my full-of-deet bug spray, flinching anytime something touched my skin. Four bites later, it was morning. However, a volunteer who was here last year, told us about this plug-in bug repellent...it's just like a Glade air freshener that you plug in and change the refills. Knock on wood, we hardly had any mosquitoes last night and for the first time since I've been here, I actually slept through the night! Woohoo!

An interesting phenomenon here that I have paid particular attention to are stilettos. I don't know how they do it (and frankly, I am extremely impressed), but Russian women wear stilettos EVERYWHERE...even walking the miles-long route home from work every day on unstable pavement. As a shoe-lover, Yaroslavl is a dream...the markets and shops are full of shoes...absolutely ridiculous styles that you would never, ever see in the States. I am completely restraining myself on a daily basis. They even have retro Puma and Adidas sneakers that I have never seen before...unreal! Ross and Kari: please don't be upset when I come home with some four-inch stilettos...I promise to work harder in PT! :-)

As for the weekend in Yaroslavl, it has been really fun. Friday night, about 15 of us went to Vanilla Sky, a nightclub in Yaroslavl on the water. Here's a pic of me with my roomie, Natalie, from before we left:



Unfortunately, after a 10 minute tram ride, it turned out that we had a 45 minute walk to the nightclub...not fun in heels! But check out the sunset...this was at 11:30 at night! Unreal!



Russian nightclubs are fantastic for people-watching and I WISH I could have used my camera in the club (you're not allowed to take pics inside) because it was pretty great. In fact, a newly married couple (the bride was still in her wedding dress) came in. I'm don't think I would choose to spend my wedding night at a nightclub, but to each his own...

Saturday night, 25 of us went to Asiia's (one of our translators) aunt's restaurant for dinner. The food was soooo good. I had some kind of chicken and pancakes with cream cheese...yummy! Afterward, we went to the Wintergarden Cafe where almost everyone hangs out on a daily basis. It was a nice, chill night.

During the day on Saturday and throughout today, Natalie and I have been exploring the city...it's pretty cool because you walk through these random doors or down stairwells and you are in mini-malls without even knowing it! Yesterday, we ran into some problems at the train station (after over an hour and after two window attendants left to have lunch right when we got to the front), we left without our train tickets to Moscow. The post office has been even more confusing, so if you don't get your postcard for whatever reason, just know I tried!!!!

Other than that, there is a busy week ahead of me, but I'm looking forward to it. Here are a couple of pics from walking around the city today. The first is of a "Texas Roadhouse" with a typical apartment building in the background. The second is a "Tex-Mex/Hot Dog" stand...

Today was a much-needed day off. We headed off to Rostov, a town about 1.5 hours from us. We first hit up an enamel factory to see how some of the beautiful Russian jewelry and paintings are made, all by hand...absolutely gorgeous! Good thing they didn't take credit cards because I'd be broke!

After the tour of the factory, we went to a kremlin, which is a grouping of buildings within closed walls...it was quite interesting. We only stayed there for about 20 minutes because then we headed off to a monastery where we had a guided tour and then had lunch. All women had to cover up our heads, wear long skirts and cover up our shoulders. Needless to say, thank God for the breeze, because I would have melted in the heat. The place was phenomenal...check out the pics from outside as well as inside some of the temples:













This place has holy water running through it and if you splash your face with the water, you are supposed to stay beautiful and young...let's just say that I practically had a bath in the stuff:




So, overall, a great day and week. Tonight, we might hit a dance club. Tomorrow, we've rented out a gym for a few hours to play some sports and work out. Tomorrow night, we're going to the restaurant that one of our translators' aunts own. Sunday, I may take a day trip somewhere...a pretty good weekend planned.

We also received our placements for next week. I'm thrilled because I am back at the hospital for women twice, the shelter twice and a new place, the elderly home, three times. My group and I planned out our activities for the elderly home and each day we will celebrate a different holiday. I am doing Canada Day, so thanks to mom and dad for loading me up with stuff. I am particularly excited about this place because according to the other volunteers, we actually learn much more about the Russian culture and we take more a lot...so we shall see!

Thanks again to everyone for all of your encouraging notes...they really mean a lot! I will write more this weekend!

Last night's soccer game was great! About 15 of us headed to the stadium for the league cup match...turns out it was free because they wanted as many fans as possible (see our pic below). One entire section was made up of rowdy, hardcore fans and they were almost as entertaining to watch as the game (good thing I brought my video camera). It was great to actually see a real European football match...the fans even let off fireworks themselves when Yaroslavl's team scored!







My placements today were awesome! At the hospital for women, we made dream catchers out of yarn. It's amazing how artistic and detail-oriented some of the women are! One young woman, Alissia who is Ukrainian and 33 years-old, did such a great job that I taught her how to make a bracelet out of a complicated weave and she rocked it! Again, it's such a difficult placement because it is sooo hard to see the women like that...especially when you know they had lives before that: some were cooks, some were tailors, some raised families, some are as young as 20...but at the same time, I know that they really look forward to our visits and you can't ask for anything better than that! Today's compliments included how nice my fingernails were...they couldn't believe they were real because the tips were so white. :-)

After lunch, I went to the children's shelter which is temporary housing for children whose parents cannot take care of them right now (i.e. because they are in prison, have alcohol or abuse problems, or cannot afford children). A special commission decides whether or not the children are to be put in an orphanage. It is SO heartbreaking, because I cannot imagine how these children could not be scooped up by someone...they are full of life, full of energy, smiles and hugs...it must be so difficult to give them up. I absolutely adored these kids...the time went by way too quickly with them! Here are a couple of pics of me playing dominoes with them:







Tomorrow, we have a day off for a trip to Rostov...should be great fun...as long as we can all handle the ice cold (and I mean, ice cold) showers!

That's the most useful word here: thank you! So thanks for reading! :-)

Yesterday afternoon and today have been great so far. I walked around town for about two hours and found my way around...what a neat city! Last night's dinner was very good...Russian stew with fresh rolls and ice cream for dessert...yum!

After dinner, we got together again to figure out the next day's activities. My group planned to make paper crowns for the kids at the deaf kindergarten and have them decorate it the way they'd like. We also brought "swings" (thick pieces of rope), balls and magnetic shapes that they could use to build things.

The deaf kindergarten was amazing...the kids just loved having us there and pretty much wore us down! They loved the craft and they especially loved the swing. Again, it's incredible how much you can communicate by just using gestures and pointing things out.

Tonight, we about 15-20 of us are off to a professional soccer game and then tomorrow, I have a packed day: Russian lesson, hospital for women and the shelter for kids. I slept fairly well last night, so hopefully tonight, I will get into the groove!

Here's a pic of me with my new little buddy from today:

Today I had my first placement, which was at the hospital for women. Women there are in the psychiatric ward and we go twice a week for a few hours. The night before placements, the groups get together to plan their crafts and activities for the next day. I brought over a ton of stuff I picked up at Michael's including foam bookmarks that you can decorate, so we decided to go with that craft.

I can't even describe to you what the hospital was like. It is NOTHING like what you could imagine. Even pictures wouldn't bring to life the feeling, the smell, the environment...

You basically enter through a small, broken door and go up the stairs...the paint is peeling off and it is very dimly lit. Once we are let into the ward, we go into one of the nurses' rooms where we stash our belongings, change our shoes (you have to bring a clean pair of indoor shoes when you go to the placement), put on white lab coats, count out the scissors (so we ensure we leave with the same number that we started with) and get everything together. Once we are in the ward, we are immediately surrounded by women...some as young as 20, some in their 70s. They are all in house dresses and slippers. Many are very friendly, and immediately greet us with hugs; others just stand back for a while to see what we are up to.

We started with showing them how to decorate their own bookmarks and I am thrilled that the craft goes over so well...even our interpreter said it was a big hit. The women want to know all about you and thankfully, they speak slow enough so you can get the gist of what they are saying. A few told me I was beautiful (always nice to hear...from whomever!) and they took a poll and decided I was between 18 and 20 years old. Woohoo...this might just be my favorite place! :-)

We also brought lots of magazines (they love to flip through them), a boombox with Russian and American dance CDs (they also love to dance) and coloring books, although they won't even look at the kids' coloring books!

All-in-all, it was a great morning. Again, whatever I say and whatever pictures I have can't even come close to the real experience. One woman showed me a scar that started right under her chin and went halfway down her body...her husband had tried to kill her by slitting her in half. Absolutely unreal. All I know is that they were happy to see us and asked if we are coming back tomorrow (we won't be back until Thursday).

I am off to the deaf kindergarten in the morning and then the hospital for women and the children's shelter on Thursday. Friday, we are going on a day trip because several of the long-term volunteers are leaving this weekend.

That's all for now! Here's a pic of me by the river front in Yaroslavl from the tour yesterday...can you tell I was jet-lagged? LOL

Well, thankfully, there were no delays...a smooth flight from Washington to Moscow, despite the precocious seven year-old, Anna, who sat next to me and kept asking me if I was awake (which I apparently wasn't trying to be). Our first meal was fish with a side "salad" made up of a piece of raw fish on top of lettuce with Cesar dressing. Hmmm. The second meal was a croissant stuffed with chicken and cheese, with a side of cheese and bread. That one wasn't too bad...but then again, I had been on the plane for about eight hours at that point and was a bit hungry...

Flying into Moscow was something else...as we were landing, all I could see were lush, green trees and some HUGE mansions on the water. Go figure...nothing like I had expected.

Going through passport control was a little scary and it took over an hour to get my luggage, but it wasn't too bad. The navigation around the airport was a bit tricky and the fact that everyone was smoking in the airport was weird, but hey, it's a different country! Thankfully, everything went well for me...one of the volunteers missed her connecting flight and another volunteer lost her luggage (and still hasn't received it yet).

The ride to Yaroslavl was close to five hours...it would have been shorter had we almost not broken down on the road a few times. We were like the family in "Little Miss Sunshine": once the driver got the van started, he beeped the horn so we would all jump in (so he didn't have to stop!).

By the time we got into our hotel room, it was after 10:30pm local time (we're eight hours ahead of EST here). The hotel is pretty bare bones (see pictures) and two rooms share one bathroom, but it's clean. Plus, the security guard is 6'7" and about 300 pounds of solid muscle, so we're not too worried about anything going on around there, knock on wood.








Unfortunately, what I didn't realize is that it is "White Night" time, meaning the sun doesn't go down until about 1am. Which is great if you are going out, but for someone like me who basically sleeps in a cave (cold and dark), it's a nightmare. This picture is from last night at 10:30pm:





Yesterday, we had our orientation, brief Russian lesson, historical tour of the city and an orientation exercise, which was kind of like a scavenger hunt around town. My group had to go to the grocery store and buy something we had never had before. It was a different experience because you basically point out what you want to the clerk (the food and drinks were behind glass), she writes down the price, then you go to another clerk to pay, then you go back to the first clerk with your receipt and remind her what you bought in order to get your stuff. The second exercise involved going to two gyms to ask for their fitness schedules, price and how to sign up. Strangely, three gyms (including a brand new World Gym [I wonder if my membership card works here????]) were all in the same block. But, the girls at the gyms were all very friendly and helpful.

The meals are huge...a lot of courses...but actually pretty decent. People are friendly...too friendly because I've only been here a couple of days and have already had my butt slapped twice, meaning I am on pace to beat the butt-slapping trip to London in 2001! :-P

The other volunteers are great...there are about 23 of us from around the world. My roommate, Natalie, is from the UK and is majoring in French and Russian, so she is certainly helpful. It's a good mix of guys and girls...I am actually one of the older ones. Most are around 24 years old or so. Some are here for only two weeks, but the majority are here for four weeks or longer.

I received my placement info for the week...more on that later...

Just a quick thank you again to all of the generous donors who helped make this trip possible...I can't thank you enough and I am looking forward to updating all of you once I am in Russia!

So I am almost done packing. Like usual, I will probably over-pack, but it's better to be safe than sorry, right? I am thinking about bringing a rolling backpack on-board with me to put all of my supplies for the orphanages in...that way, on the way home I'll have room to bring back souvenirs!

I am bringing various types of craft projects with me...the majority of which involve coloring and very little English, although I am bringing some alphabet flashcards. And since my minor obsession with paper has reached an all-time high, I am going to bring some fancy paper, ribbon and various hole punches so we can create cards.

My Russian is pretty pathetic. You know it's bad when you try to speak a simple phrase and your father bursts out laughing because apparently half of what you said was French, not Russian. But like he said, at least I am trying! :-)

I am getting very excited to go...I'm over my nerves now, thank God. The only thing I am not looking forward to is all of the traveling I will need to do to get there: an hour-and-a-half flight to Washington, a four hour layover, a 10-and-a-half hour flight to Moscow, an hour-and-a-half wait and then a five hour drive to Yaroslavl. Making it worse is that because I am still at risk for blood clots after the two knee surgeries, I will have to wear a compression stocking, which basically makes you feel like a stuffed sausage. Ugh. Oh well...long trips like this is why God made iPods, gossip magazines and M&M's!