Things I’ve learned by volunteering

August 13, 2012 by Meghan Johnson

This week marks my one-year anniversary of leaving the corporate world.  Since then, I’ve traveled a lot, learned a new language, and spent a good deal of time volunteering.  Here are a few of the things I’ve learned as a volunteer. 1.  What’s easy for you may be difficult or impossible for others.  And vice versa.  One of my placements in Yaroslavl, Russia was at a school for mentally disabled children.  Some of them could not complete the craft projects […]

Categories: Actuar Por Bolivar, Children, Colombia, Community Development, Cross Cultural Solutions, Peru, Russia, Touchy Feelies, Volunteerism, Yaroslavl

Back in time in Vyatskoye and Rostov

June 19, 2012 by Meghan Johnson

Vyatskoye Vyatskoye is known in the Yaroslavl region as the “village that wanted to become a city” (yes, failure is heavily implied).  “City” seems like a bit of a long shot to me… “town” would have been a more realistic goal. I spent an afternoon there visiting curious museums and wondering where all the people were. In the rural countryside, I expected the quiet.  It was in the “downtown” area of Vyatskoye that I was most disturbed.  There were buildings […]

Categories: Russia, Travel, Yaroslavl

Reflecting in Russia

June 16, 2012 by Meghan Johnson

Summer has arrived in Yaroslavl and I’ve been incapable of staying indoors. I’ve covered what feels like the entire city by foot in the past few days, running Forrest Gump style from river to shining river. I’ve got the blisters on my toes to prove it. I know the city well by now. I know where to stand back on the sidewalk because the buses splash the puddles as they pass by. I know how to get to either of […]

Categories: Running, Russia, Touchy Feelies, Travel, Yaroslavl

Smiles, if nothing else

June 15, 2012 by Meghan Johnson

Today I completed my last volunteer placement with CCS Russia at the “Hospital for Kids”.  The exact purpose and reach of the institution is still as vague to me as it sounds to you now. I noticed several new children had arrived since I’d last been there a week ago.  One was a small and painfully frail girl, maybe five years old, who alternated between crying frantically and shaking like a leaf in a state of total shock.  She clearly […]

Categories: Children, Russia, Touchy Feelies, Volunteerism, Yaroslavl

Beaten at the Banya

June 10, 2012 by Meghan Johnson

There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned beating to liven up your complexion. At least that’s what they told me (“they” being the Russian staff at the volunteer house).  I knew from the start I couldn’t leave Russia without a trip to a bath house, and as soon as I mentioned it to Viktor and Natalya, the decision was made for me.  I was going. On the way to the banya, my mind was full of images of Viggo Mortensen rolling […]

Categories: Europe, Friendship, Playtime, Russia, Yaroslavl

Close encounters

June 2, 2012 by Meghan Johnson

The most rewarding travel moments for me come in the form of interactions.  Differing cultures, languages, and social scripts all make for fascinating conversations and mishaps that probably wouldn’t happen on my home turf.  So from here in Yaroslavl, I present you with a few recent Close Encounters. … of the drunken kind. I knew questions about alcohol would come up eventually, regardless of how much I dislike the sterotype and want to sweep it under the rug (right along […]

Categories: Children, Russia, Travel, Volunteerism, Yaroslavl

Happy City Day, Yaroslavl!

May 28, 2012 by Meghan Johnson

This past Saturday was Dyen Goroda (Day of the City) in Yaroslavl, a day devoted to celebrating this historic town and the people in it.  I needed this holiday.  After hearing about my friends and family enjoying Memorial Day weekend back home in the States, I felt nostalgic for barbecues, sunshine, flip flops, and flags.  And on Dyen Goroda, I got the best Russian version I could have hoped for. I set off alone from my apartment to the city […]

Categories: Playtime, Russia, Yaroslavl