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See you there!
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Coming home
It's been an excellent summer.
I am lucky that I've gotten to work with such great kids and women here in Russia. I'm also glad I've had the opportunity to travel, to meet new people from all over the place, and to work with the staff of CCS.
I'm so extremely fortunate, but I am also looking forward to going home. I'm excited to see everyone and to go back to school.
This will be my last blog post. I leave Yaroslavl in a few hours and I will land in Fargo Monday at 8:40 p.m. See you all soon. Take care.
I am lucky that I've gotten to work with such great kids and women here in Russia. I'm also glad I've had the opportunity to travel, to meet new people from all over the place, and to work with the staff of CCS.
I'm so extremely fortunate, but I am also looking forward to going home. I'm excited to see everyone and to go back to school.
This will be my last blog post. I leave Yaroslavl in a few hours and I will land in Fargo Monday at 8:40 p.m. See you all soon. Take care.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Parrots
I can't think of a really great blog topic, so I think I'll tell a little story about the language barrier.
Yesterday I was volunteering at a city camp. City camp is pretty much summertime day care provided by the government for families with low incomes. The kids are pretty normal, just like any kids in the United States. We go there, do arts and crafts and play games. I've only gone to city camp three times all summer, so I don't have a whole lot to say.
Anyway, so we were working on our craft project and one kid held up a bag of feathers and said something to me. This is a bag of really colorful polyester feathers and I thought he might have been asking if he could use some. Of course I had no idea what he actually said. I was only guessing. And I said yes.
Later this really sweet little girl told me, with the help of our translator, that she had heard that we took feathers from parrots.
I'm guessing that is what the first kid had asked me. And I said yes. Oops. Accidentally lying to children in a foreign language.
Yesterday I was volunteering at a city camp. City camp is pretty much summertime day care provided by the government for families with low incomes. The kids are pretty normal, just like any kids in the United States. We go there, do arts and crafts and play games. I've only gone to city camp three times all summer, so I don't have a whole lot to say.
Anyway, so we were working on our craft project and one kid held up a bag of feathers and said something to me. This is a bag of really colorful polyester feathers and I thought he might have been asking if he could use some. Of course I had no idea what he actually said. I was only guessing. And I said yes.
Later this really sweet little girl told me, with the help of our translator, that she had heard that we took feathers from parrots.
I'm guessing that is what the first kid had asked me. And I said yes. Oops. Accidentally lying to children in a foreign language.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
1000 Years
I don't know why I haven't mentioned this yet. This year is the 1000th anniversary of the founding of Yaroslavl.
Legend has it that in the year 1010 Prince Yaroslav the Wise killed a bear on the confluence of the Volga and Kotorosl rivers and there he founded the city of Yaroslavl.
The city has been under construction all summer, fixing roads, building parks and hotels. There will be a big celebration for the millenial anniversary. I think someone told me that the Russian president will be visiting. Unfortunately the celebration takes place in September, just a few weeks after I leave.
Something that's interesting is that each ruble bill (Like dollar bills, but Russia's money is the ruble.) features a different Russian city and Yaroslavl is on the 1000-ruble bill. And it's 1000 years old. What a great coincidence.
Anyway, I think it is incredible that this city has been around for 1000 years. 1000 years. Sheesh.
Legend has it that in the year 1010 Prince Yaroslav the Wise killed a bear on the confluence of the Volga and Kotorosl rivers and there he founded the city of Yaroslavl.
The city has been under construction all summer, fixing roads, building parks and hotels. There will be a big celebration for the millenial anniversary. I think someone told me that the Russian president will be visiting. Unfortunately the celebration takes place in September, just a few weeks after I leave.
Something that's interesting is that each ruble bill (Like dollar bills, but Russia's money is the ruble.) features a different Russian city and Yaroslavl is on the 1000-ruble bill. And it's 1000 years old. What a great coincidence.
Anyway, I think it is incredible that this city has been around for 1000 years. 1000 years. Sheesh.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Weekend in Yaroslavl
I had a nice weekend in Yaroslavl.
Yesterday I went to the Museum of Music and Time. This Russian magician traveled all over Russia and Europe collecting stuff and he made it into Yaroslavl's first private museum. I paid US$2 and they gave me a private tour (in English!) of all his clocks, gramophones, instruments, irons (hundreds of irons), and bells. It was pretty neat. Apparently the museum owner is a pretty weird guy.
Last night I went out with some other CCS folks to a restaurant that serves Uzbek food. It was really delicious. Middle eastern, but a little bit Russian. Tasty.
This evening I went to the Volga river embankment were a children's orchestra from Exeter, England was performing. They were good for tweens.
It was a good weekend. The weather has been beautiful. I did some school stuff but also took naps. Good weekend indeed.
Yesterday I went to the Museum of Music and Time. This Russian magician traveled all over Russia and Europe collecting stuff and he made it into Yaroslavl's first private museum. I paid US$2 and they gave me a private tour (in English!) of all his clocks, gramophones, instruments, irons (hundreds of irons), and bells. It was pretty neat. Apparently the museum owner is a pretty weird guy.
Last night I went out with some other CCS folks to a restaurant that serves Uzbek food. It was really delicious. Middle eastern, but a little bit Russian. Tasty.
This evening I went to the Volga river embankment were a children's orchestra from Exeter, England was performing. They were good for tweens.
It was a good weekend. The weather has been beautiful. I did some school stuff but also took naps. Good weekend indeed.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Miscellaneous
A couple of updates:
The last two days have been nice. Finally the sky is blue, instead of a grey smoky haze. Also, it rained for a few minutes yesterday. A refreshing and fragrant break from this Russian heat wave.
This weekend I am staying in Yaroslavl. I think I'll visit a few museums and just take it easy.
I've read some Russian literature while I'm here and it has been cool. Reading Pushkin or Dostoevsky at home wouldn't have the same feel. It is cool to read about St. Petersburg after I've been there. It feels more meaningful and interesting. Plus it makes me feel like a terrifically snooty literature student. It's great.
The last two days have been nice. Finally the sky is blue, instead of a grey smoky haze. Also, it rained for a few minutes yesterday. A refreshing and fragrant break from this Russian heat wave.
This weekend I am staying in Yaroslavl. I think I'll visit a few museums and just take it easy.
I've read some Russian literature while I'm here and it has been cool. Reading Pushkin or Dostoevsky at home wouldn't have the same feel. It is cool to read about St. Petersburg after I've been there. It feels more meaningful and interesting. Plus it makes me feel like a terrifically snooty literature student. It's great.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Hospital for kids
I've recently been doing work at a psychiatric hospital for kids. This is a post about it.
We go to a hospital that helps kids up to the age of 15. They can house up to 50 kids, but right now there are only 13. They stay for up to six months, then go back home or back to their orphanage. It is not uncommon for the kids to return to the hospital, though. Sometimes more than once.
In theory, the hospital can serve kids who have all kids of mental difficulties. 90% of the kids there now only have behavioral problems and/or minor developmental disabilities. In fact, most of the kids seem quite normal, if a bit attention deficit. If a kid's parents, teacher, or orphanage staff thinks he or she needs psychiatric help, they send them for a check up with a doctor. That doctor can send them to a clinic, and if the clinic decides it is necessary, the kid will go to live at the hospital. While they are there, the kids undergo play, art, and conversational therapy. Most of them are also medicated. They spend most of their day hanging out, playing or reading, watching TV, doing lessons (during the school year), and doing chores. When we go to the hospital, we do a craft with them, play board games or card games, then some of them are allowed outside to play basketball, frisbee, etc. Some of them have to stay in because they have a history of running away (from the hospital, from home, from their orphanage, from wherever). It is a shame to leave the others inside, so when we have a lot of volunteers at the hospital, some of us stay in and play indoor games with the indoor kids. I think what we do is useful. The kids get an opportunity to socialize and to get out of the regular routine. They have fun. They also get hugs from us.
The hardest thing about going to hospital for kids is knowing that most of them have problems that could have been prevented. I think that most of their behavioral issues are due to the stress of living in a low-income household or with alcoholic or abusive parents. Most of them are genuinely normal kids. It sucks that they are institutionalized. I don't mean to suggest that in America we have a better solution for kids with similar problems. Though we don't necessarily have hospitals for them, they might go to homes for "at-risk youth" or something, and that is only sometimes better. I really shouldn't cast any judgment because I don't know much about problems common to adolescents and how to solve them.
Mostly I think they need to be treated like normal kids and allowed to have fun. I enjoy hanging out with them not just because I like playing Uno, but also because I think that casual socialization does them some good.
We go to a hospital that helps kids up to the age of 15. They can house up to 50 kids, but right now there are only 13. They stay for up to six months, then go back home or back to their orphanage. It is not uncommon for the kids to return to the hospital, though. Sometimes more than once.
In theory, the hospital can serve kids who have all kids of mental difficulties. 90% of the kids there now only have behavioral problems and/or minor developmental disabilities. In fact, most of the kids seem quite normal, if a bit attention deficit. If a kid's parents, teacher, or orphanage staff thinks he or she needs psychiatric help, they send them for a check up with a doctor. That doctor can send them to a clinic, and if the clinic decides it is necessary, the kid will go to live at the hospital. While they are there, the kids undergo play, art, and conversational therapy. Most of them are also medicated. They spend most of their day hanging out, playing or reading, watching TV, doing lessons (during the school year), and doing chores. When we go to the hospital, we do a craft with them, play board games or card games, then some of them are allowed outside to play basketball, frisbee, etc. Some of them have to stay in because they have a history of running away (from the hospital, from home, from their orphanage, from wherever). It is a shame to leave the others inside, so when we have a lot of volunteers at the hospital, some of us stay in and play indoor games with the indoor kids. I think what we do is useful. The kids get an opportunity to socialize and to get out of the regular routine. They have fun. They also get hugs from us.
The hardest thing about going to hospital for kids is knowing that most of them have problems that could have been prevented. I think that most of their behavioral issues are due to the stress of living in a low-income household or with alcoholic or abusive parents. Most of them are genuinely normal kids. It sucks that they are institutionalized. I don't mean to suggest that in America we have a better solution for kids with similar problems. Though we don't necessarily have hospitals for them, they might go to homes for "at-risk youth" or something, and that is only sometimes better. I really shouldn't cast any judgment because I don't know much about problems common to adolescents and how to solve them.
Mostly I think they need to be treated like normal kids and allowed to have fun. I enjoy hanging out with them not just because I like playing Uno, but also because I think that casual socialization does them some good.
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