Time for some rest

There is nothing like sitting in a train station in Yaroslavl on a Friday night. I arrived with five other traveling companions on our journey to St. Petersburg for an extended weekend. The train is at least two hours late so here we sit at 11:30 pm after five intense days of our volunteer assignments at our various placements, completely exhausted and craving rest and perhaps if we are lucky our hotel will have air conditioning; however we are heading north so chances are slim. We can’t read the tickets or the platform signs so we are hoping for the best. I am positive that I made the right decision to travel with a group of collective minds rather than travel solo as was my original plan.
Why is there jack hammering going on a Friday night at midnight??

I experienced a surprising amount of culture shock and homesickness this week. I think the combination of only four of hours of sleep nightly (due to the daylight hours and intense heat), rowdy drunken neighbors (that I shared a bathroom), missing my girls and furry kids, and the emotional drain of the hours spent at the women’s and kid’s psychiatric hospitals all contributed to a very emotional first week in Russia. With all that being said I was greatly touched by my interactions this week and have an intense love for the women and children I met. I am so overwhelmed by the sadness and the amazing amount of hugs and love exchanged. Culture shock also comes in the forms of REALLY appreciating what we have in the USA. There is something to be said about smiling when passing, getting your meal served with everyone at your table at the same time, and the philosophy that the customer comes first. Coming from a hospitality background this has been a challenging week on that front. Well, it appears we are ready to board…

My Visits to the Kid's Hospital

Being placed to volunteer in the Kid's Hospital puts everything in perspective on why I am here. It is not what you would imagine when you hear the word hospital. On the surface, the majority (mostly boys) are just rambunctious kids that need to run and get crazy. They crave and fight for my attention and hugs. They punch and kick and even bite. The first visit we were able to be outside and made paper cone hats, that is crazy with 20 kids fighting for my artistic input...these kids range in age from 5-15. The second day we made big clown hands but unfortunately due to rain we had to be inside, it was frustrating to say the least. I cannot imagine what they must go through during the winter with little daylight hours. They are mainly suffering from emotional traumas and many are orphans. On a positive note, they make me laugh and one very special boy stole my heart (didn't that happen to me in Africa??) because he is not only so adorable but so loving; I am so curious why he is there. Another girl who is 14 is so strikingly beautiful and quiet but appears to have an eating disorder and who knows what else. She does not talk and I found out that she speaks English very well do hopefully my next visit we can communicate on a deeper level. The common thread is that they need love and told they matter.

I was very fortunate to have been given permission to take photos and they are wonderful - I am unable to post for legal reasons but I will treasure the photos in a personal album for many years to come. They were quite fascinated by seeing themselves on my camera...just like my special children in Africa. I hope to be able to print the photos and make a collage to bring at my next visit. It seems like a simple task but nothing is simple in Yaroslavl!

A visit the to space museum

What a symbolic outing, a visit to the museum of the first women astronaut (from Yaroslav) that went into space in the early 60's. A time when my bonus Dad was entrenched with his job with NASA and the space program back at Cape Canaveral. We had lunch at a very campy cafe at the museum (complete with disco ball) and the museum was interesting and a nice cultural immersion experience. We got to see inside a replica of her home which is quite standard in this area.

My Visits to the Women's Hospital

I spent two mornings at the women's psychiatric hospital, the conditions were far from acceptable. The women are in tattered robes and worn slippers. We set up our crafts, magazines, games, music and were eagerly greeted with hugs and smiles and quite a few who stand their distance and just observe. There are about 20 women that really engage in the activities and I was amazed by some of the artistic talent that I observed. The first day they were much more spirited compared to the second day when the weather darken which influenced the mood of the women it was also bath day so they were a bit more subdued. I got my butt kicked in checkers, waltzed with a few, hugged many with some while sobbing and answered many questions (through the translator) such as are my teeth real, why don't I have a husband and disbelief that I am 47. These women are beautiful and I wish it was easier to communicate so I could offer hope and express God's love. Witnessing the sadness brought tears and left my heart heavy.

I love the two pencil holder gifts I was presented by the resident artists (two women I believe were in competition) made out of gum wrappers. I will treasure the memory of the nude women prancing around in red high heels happy if it was just for the moment.

Exquisite children...beautiful moments

Spending time with these kids were wonderful fun today! Thankfully they all have parents and home but need extra attention, love and hugs! I wish I could post all of them because I was struck and perplexed that they all had such cool hats on! All of them.

First Russian Lesson

The immersion has begun! I woke up with about four hours sleep. It is “white nights” here so the sun sets after midnight and rises again at 4:00 am, the body is just a bit curious about what is going on here! At least it is not the other way around where they experience only about 4-6 hours of daylight during the winter, no wonder these people are depressed! Our morning was filled with orientation to go over the details of the placements for the week that we will visit in groups of three, preparing of the crafts, games, etc. There are about 12 different locations that I will write more about in the coming weeks as I experience them. The CCS director is Nadia and it is so interesting to hear her speak of the trials and tribulations these people have endured and continue to endure…especially the children. Cross Cultural Solutions began their program here in 2001 after realizing the vast needs of so many orphaned children (whose most of their parents succumbed to alcoholism after the economy collapsed during the reform) and women with mental and physical disabilities.

The afternoon was a hour language lesson…sure wish I would have spent more time on those Russian language CD’s! It is tough. This afternoon we had a lovely time in a walking tour around downtown Yaroslavl which is one of the oldest cities in Russia and much more of a bustling city then I had imagined. There are so many beautiful cathedrals and there is an amazing Kremlin (fortress) built around a monastery that was the country’s first stone building constructed in the 13th century! In 2010 Yaroslavl will celebrate its 1000th birthday, wow!

I will begin my placements this week in what has been described by the staff as the most intense, yet rewarding, the Hospital for Women and the Hospital for Kids. Tomorrow afternoon (after visiting the Hospital for Women in the morning) I will work with a special needs Kindergarten class. I am eager and anxious to finally experience the reason I am here and to share with you. I know God will richly bless me as I continue this journey!

On the road to Yaroslavl!

Met up with my 10 fellow volunteers at the airport (after enduring another exhausting task of finding a taxi) and we boarded a non air-conditioned van for the 4 ½ hour trip to Yaroslavl. (There are five additional volunteers already at the home base) What a harrowing ride with the all the passing on the two lane road. The driver showed no concern for any on coming cars at 90 mile per hour! I am in a diverse group of travelers…a family from Santa Barbara, a father from Tampa and his daughter from Cleveland that left their spouses in Paris after visiting there prior to Russia to celebrate her 40th birthday. A college student from Asheville, NC, a brother and sister team from Wilmington, NC who are commended for being so young (he is a senior in HS an she is a sophomore in college) and a twenty eight year old teacher from New York City. We arrived at the Kotorosl hotel our home base for the next two weeks. After meeting the CCS staff and a group dinner off to bed I went to prepare for a very busy Monday. Feeling a bit of the culture shock and missing the comforts of home...air conditioning mostly and the privacy (and use) of a bathroom that I currently share with two Russian young men next door to me…

The Russian adventure has begun!

I arrived in Moscow after 13 hours in flight and was greeted with an abrupt entrance into the culture. I wanted to head downtown Moscow to see Red Square so I thought taking a taxi or the metro would be an easy task just like any other major city. Wrong! There is just no getting by with knowing a few words in the language like I have experienced in other areas such as Italy, France and even Africa. I had plans to stay at a friend’s apartment of my boss Jeff Weibel, what a great bonus since Moscow is known to be THE most expensive city in the world so that would have drained the funds. The owner of the house was in Africa but he had two polo players staying there, one from Costa Rica the other from Charleston SC so I needed to make contact with them to arrange the keys, but no phone cards could be found! After wandering around the airport with my luggage, I finally had one of the 23 taxi drivers approach me and he let me use his cell phone. I was on my way after haggling the cab fare of 2500 rubles which is $80.00+ USD! Since it started out at 5,000 rubles I was confident I passed my first Russian test. I made it safely to the apartment which was several block from the action of the Kremlin and Red Square, so off I went with my traveling companion our infamous Gnomey. What a sight to see all the tourists posing for photos, ran into a few brides along the way! One without her groom which made me ponder. Of course I was the crazy American posing with a Gnome! I passed Lenin’s tomb but was unable to set the embalmed body since it closed for the day a few hours earlier. I visited Basils Cathedral (the famous photo that speaks Moscow). It was worth the time and money to be there at the center of this country’s history that you only know from movies and learned in the Russian history class in college. After stopping by a local pub for a brew, I hit the wall with jet lag and went “home” to sleep a solid 12 hours.

The Journey Begins

Travelocity Partner Marketing Employee Awarded Change Ambassador Grant for Voluntourism Trip to Russia

Travelocity’s Change Ambassador program is continuing to make volunteer travel wishes come true for four employees and eight customers each year. There are many different trips available to those who are interested – from caring for children or the elderly, studying marine life on the open sea, or building wheelchairs for the disabled, there is a volunteer trip to fit everyone’s interests.

Each quarter we award one employee or employee team the chance to go on their own volunteer vacation, and today we are thrilled to announce the recipient of Travelocity’s Employee Change Ambassador Grant for the 4th quarter – Jonna Orwig, a Partner Marketing employee at Travelocity.

Jonna’s Voluntourism Trip
Travelocity has teamed with top volunteer travel providers to offer a variety of exciting volunteer vacations. Jonna chose Cross Cultural Solution’s Volunteer Abroad program in Yaroslavl, Russia.

Yaroslavl is the unofficial capital of Russia’s “Golden Ring,” a circle of ancient towns northeast of Moscow that contain some of Russia’s oldest architecture. On her trip, Jonna will get to work side-by-side with local people caring for infants and children, teaching children, caring for the elderly and caring for people with disabilities. She will offer her services wherever they are most needed.

In her application Jonna said that the desire to take “small steps and actions to show love and compassion to impact just one life is a good life mission to hold on to.”