A Series of (un)Remarkable Events

September 10, 2012 by Meghan Johnson

I’ve spent over four months of 2012 in Colombia.  126 days so far, to be exact.  If I had to guess, I’d say that equates to about 35 papayas, fifteen or twenty trips to the beach, and a few dozen (hundred?) Aguila cervezas. Settling in here has been easy, like falling backward into a plush bed and sinking down into the pillows… and then pulling a salamander or two out from under your butt.  And swatting away a couple mosquitoes. […]

Categories: Cartagena, Children, Colombia, Friendship, Playtime, Running, Touchy Feelies, Travel

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

Las Olimpiadas have begun!

August 4, 2012 by Meghan Johnson

Yes, the 2012 Olympics in London have begun, with much fanfare and a Mr. Bean appearance.  But more importantly (because I don’t have a TV), so have Las Olimpiadas de Cartagenito! The athletes, having trained long and hard, were eager to begin the competitions. They listened attentively to their coaches and stretched their muscles in anticipation of the great feats of athleticism they were about to undertake. Behind the scenes, official Olympic artists worked feverishly to complete the Olympics-themed flags […]

Categories: Actuar Por Bolivar, Cartagena, Children, Colombia, Community Development, Microfinance, Playtime, Volunteerism

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

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

Beauty in Yaroslavl, of the expected and unexpected sort

May 17, 2012 by Meghan Johnson

The expected. My current home of Yaroslavl is part of Russia’s Golden Ring, a cluster of beautiful and ancient towns that remain a point of pride for Russians.  Just two years ago, Yaroslavl celebrated its 1,000th birthday.  She looks pretty darn good for her age (though I think she’s had some work done). As expected, the city is full of oh-so-Russian orthodox churches with colorful onion domes peeking out over the skyline everywhere you look. The center of the old […]

Categories: Children, Community Development, Russia, Touchy Feelies, Volunteerism

Leaving Lima

November 6, 2011 by Meghan Johnson

I left Lima this morning with a heavy heart and a stuffed llama.  My volunteer work has come to an end, and my journeys from this point forward will be solo traveling.  I leave behind my compañeros, amigos and niñitos, and have to hope I’ll find as much joy in my next destination as I have in Lima. My last few days working in Villa El Salvador were far less frustrating than they’ve been in the past, perhaps because I […]

Categories: Children, Peru, Touchy Feelies, Travel

Thoughts on working with children

October 26, 2011 by Meghan Johnson

When I first heard I’d be working with four-year-olds for five weeks, I was secretly horrified.  I do like kids, in a very vague, conditional way.  I like them for limited and quantifiable periods of time; I like them if I don’t have to discipline them; I like them if they are already potty-trained and quiet.  I have no experience with dealing with more than a few at a time, let alone 30 of them. Unsurprisingly, my first few weeks […]

Categories: Children, Peru, Volunteerism

Caracoles, Pichi, y Plantas

October 9, 2011 by Meghan Johnson

Daily walks from the classroom to the dining hall with the four year-old students at my volunteer placement really should be enjoyable.  The kids couldn’t be more adorable, with their shiny black hair and dimpled smiles.  The weather is lovely and the school grounds are charming.  But as these cherubs stroll along the fence of the vegetable garden, they have only one dark goal in mind.  Their eyes pass over every leaf and under every rock, despite my pleas to […]

Categories: Children, Peru, Volunteerism