St. Petersburg: White Nights Bike Tour

Jenn, Christen, ME

PS. Awful photo!!

One of the FIRST communal buildings built in the Soviet Era
This building was just across from a factory. This area was known as Factory row, because both men and women were working. Hence the idea of communal living, making home life simpler (small living area=less to clean, and sharing the cooking between families).

This is the area, both park and building you can barely see, where the Bolsheviks celebrated their victory of overthrowing the Czar.

This building was originally built by Peter the Great as a nobleman school. Then Catherine the Great took over the palace, and it was converted into a nunnery. After the fall of the Czarist regime, it was used as a government building.

This statute is a representation of Stalin's regime, Stalin's purgatory. It is a really creepy looking statue.

Hermitage at Night. (About 2am)

Hermitage (Winter Palace)

History of Peter and Paul Fortress

Opening of the Bridges.

At 2am, the bridges are lifted open so that oil ships can pass through St. Petersburg and bring the world oil. It costs $10,000 per day for the upkeep of the bridges.

General Thoughts about Moscow

As a tourist I liked Moscow, but if I had to live there - I wouldn't make it for very long. There are just way too many people, both tourists and residents!! However, even as a tourist Moscow gets a bit frustrating.

For my second visit to Moscow, I booked a new Hostel - The Hostel from hell. I get to the hostel and come to find out there is no running water and no electricity on the second floor. Ridiculous-ness!!! The only upside to this story was I only paid $35 dollars instead of $50.00 for 3 nights! Again the only upside to this story!! To take a shower, I had to walk about 6 blocks to another hostel, and well, to use the bathroom, I had to be savvy/take advantage of every opportunity!! Again, Ridiculous-ness!!!!!!

So, the first time I was in Moscow, I didn't get to go into Lenin's Mausoleum due to the Holiday. At that point I was okay with not going because I figured I'll see it the second time I go to Moscow!! Well, no such luck the second time around!!! As a side note, Lenin's Mausoleum is only open from 10:00am to 1:00pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. I'm in line for Lenin's Mausoleum on Tuesday, ready to go, and then come to find out it is CLOSED!!!! I'm so incredibly frustrated after hearing this because I am leaving on Wednesday morning and there is no time to see it!!!! It is just one thing after another sometimes!! I guess there is always next time, hopefully!

Moscow 2: Moscow River Tour

Monument of Peter the Great

Peter the Great

The Cathederal of Christ our Saviour

Video of Moscow River Boat Tour of the Kremlin.

Moscow 2: The Kremlin Area

Fountains by the Kremlin wall. This is outside the Walls.

Flower Gardens surrounding the Kremlin Outside Wall.

More Gardens

The Unknown Soldier.

(See Video at the bottom)

St. Basil's Cathederal

Me at St. Basils

Entrance to Red Square

History Museum.

An outdoor market.

Video of the Red Square Area

Changing of the Guard Video

Parting thoughts on leaving Yaroslavl

There is so much to be said about my program in Russia, but to sum my program up in one word I would say incredible. The people I worked with played a major role in making the program such a success. The translators – Asya, Katya, and Olga – are fabulous. I have so much respect for these three women in what they do at CCS – these are the women that work with not only the volunteers on a daily basis but also work at the placements. These women are the ones making a long lasting difference in people’s lives; volunteers on the other hand only make a temporary difference at these placements. These are truly committed individuals that I cannot thank enough for opening up their arms to me and allowing me into their world, country and home!

At my last feedback session with CCS, I was asked what my general thoughts were about Russia. Like I stated before, there is so much to be said, but I would say “Russia is like a diamond in the ruff and with time it will begin to sparkle.” I hope during my lifetime, I will be around to see Russia once it does begin to sparkle in all its glory.

Overall, my experiences in Russia were Amazing, and I could not have had a better experience in Russia. By immersing myself in its culture and working with all varieties of people (kids, elderly, and disabled), I truly feel I have a better understanding of Russia’s nature. (A nature that is misunderstood in the US)

On a special note, I can’t thank my sponsors enough for their support, because without them I would not be here! Thank you!!

Leaving Yaroslavl

Yaroslavl at 5 am

Inside my train to Moscow.

Video from the train, leaving Yaroslavl.

Another video from the train, leaving Yaroslavl.

Russian Currency

The current exchange rate from US dollars to Rubles is $1.00 to 30 Rubles. This is a great exchange rate, which means the US dollar goes a long way.

Basic Conversion:

• 10 Rubles = $.30
• 100 Rubles = $3.00
• 1000 Rubles = $30.00

Examples

• Bottle of Nivea Shampoo costs 90 Rubles which is less than $3.00.
• Buss Fare into town costs 10 Rubles which equals $.30. In the US, it almost costs a dollar, I think depending on where in the US you are.
• A Latte drink costs 145 Rubles which equals $4.00.
• Moscow Metro costs 26 Rubles which equals $.80.
• A one way train fare to Moscow costs 1100 Rubles which equals $33. Quite reasonable considering it is 4.5 hours away. If I were to drive from Hayward to Madison, which also takes 4.5 hours, it would cost me a tank of gas which is about $50 (17 gallons * 3/gallon).
• Bottle of water costs 80 Rubles which equals $2.50.
• Bottle of (cheap) Vodka costs 120 Rubles which equals $3. 20.
• The Good Vodka can vary in Price, but Beluga the best can cost about 4500 Rubles which equals $142.00.

Overall, it is rather cheap to live in Yaroslavl. However, the prices in Moscow and St. Petersburg are comparable to those in the USA.

Also, Russia runs on a cash basis system. I have only used my credit card twice and that was to buy a pair of earrings at the Hermitage and to buy my ticket to the Marinski Ballet. When I used my credit card at the Hermitage, the sales people looked at my passport to validate the sale. Also for example, when visiting a museum the employees keep track of each sale in a ledger book, not a computer. I can't even fathom that in the USA. Don't get me wrong, every business owner has a ledger, but it is usually kept on the computer, not hand written. Another fine example is the bus. Most bus systems in the USA have a bus card or pay with cash into a machine. NOT Russia. When I get on the bus, there is a bus driver and the person who collects the bus fare, two people. After I get on the bus, I hand my bus fare over to the person who collects the fare and in return she gives me a paper ticket. If there is not a person who collects the fare on the bus, then you hand your money over to the bus driver. In most cases he takes your fare while he is in the mists of driving, and if you need change he proceeds to give you change while he is driving. This screams personal injury in the USA!!! If a person chooses not to pay for the bus fare and gets off, they go running after you. It is an on your honor system.

Rubles and Kopecks

The 1000 Ruble Note is the picture of the city Yaroslavl and Yaroslavl the Wise who founded the city in 1010.

Painting at Hospital for Kids

Its been great being a volunteer, but sometimes it doesn't seem like enough. In fact, this is how most volunteers feel - we want to see our results, something tangible/instantaneous. However, this is not how volunteering in Russia works. As volunteers, we are here to make a small difference in someone elses life whether it be with a smile, hug or laughter. It's the small things in life that matter to these people. However, the new group of volunteers and myself wanted to do something more tangible, we wanted to get our hands dirty. So, Svyetlana, the GREAT counselor at Hospital for kids, suggested we could paint the doors. This task seems small, but the doors were in dire need of a new paint job and we couldn't have been more thrilled to do it!!

Let me just note, Cross Cultural Solutions has a policy of NO gift giving. If volunteers were to give gifts, placements would then become dependent on volunteers, and therefore creates an unsustainable volunteer program.

By us painting the doors, we were not gift giving. We bought all the necessary supplies out of our own pocket and once we were done painting we then took all remaing supplies back home with us.

We scraped, puttied and painted 4 doors which only took us about 3 hours. It felt great to get our hands dirty for once! Syvetlana, the GREAT counselor, who the Kids respect and adore was right there with us the whole way. Margo, a volunteer who speaks Russian, was our translator. For only having 2 years of Russian, she is GREAT!! She translated between ourselves and Svyetlana, who was joking around with us. It was a lot of fun!! By the time we were finished, Svyetlana was incredibly grateful that we took the time and money to paint the doors, but we were grateful that we could do something for them!! It was a great experience.

Photos of Painting at Hospital for Kids

Elizabeth

Christen and Margo

Margo, Svytlana, Elizabeth, ME

Promotional Posters for the Holdiay (May 8-10)

Promotional Posters for the Great Patriotic War.

This is found in Yaroslavl.

Great Patriotic Symbols

During the Holiday, Great Patriotic War veterans could be seen wearing their medals.

Victory colors and symbol of the Great Patriotic War.

When I was in Moscow over the Holiday, all people including myself could be found wearing these ribbons.

Medal

Medal

Medal

More Medals

Valentina Tereshkova, first woman in space

Valentina Tereshkova was born in the Yaroslavl region. (This is the city that I volunteer in.) She came from parents who worked in the industry sector. She only went to school until she was age 8, and then went to work at the local textile plant, but she continued her education by correspondence courses. By the age of 22, she joined the local parachuting club, Aeroclub. Due to her ability to parachute she was recruited into the women's cosmonaut program for the flight to space. Only 400 woman were selected to joint the woman's division, and then from that point only 5 women were selected to ultimately Valentina was selected to go to space.

Qualification for Space:

1. Under 30 years old
2. Under 5'7''
3. Under 154 pounds

Training

• Weightless flights
• Isolation tests
• Centrifuge tests
• Rocket theory
• Spacecarft engineering
• 120 parachute jumps
• Pilot training

Lift Off

On June 14, 1963, Valery Bykovsky was launched into space in the Vostok 5. Valentina followed his flight on June 16, 1963 in Vostok 6. During her flight, she orbited the Earth 48 times and spent 3 days in space.

After the tour, I thought to myself going into space is truly a shot in the dark. For example, the aircraft she went in looks more like a BB pellet being shot into space. Then we saw the food (paste) she had to eat for those 3 days!! Doesn't quite scream appetizing! It is a wonder she came back alive!! Yikes!!

Space Museum of Valentina Tereshkova, First Woman in Space

Outside the Museum

Valentina Tereshkova

(L-R) Valentina Tereshkova, Nikita Khrushchev, and Valery Bykovsky

They were invited to the Kremlin as a celebration.

Promotional tool for her flight to space.

Replica of space suit.

Inside view of her ship.

Replica of the ship she was in while in Space.

(L-R) ME, Christianna, Christen, Elizabeth

Volga River Cruise

Volga River Cruise
The weekend of May 22-23, I embarked on a cruise of the Volga River. The Volga River is the largest river in Europe in terms of length. It flows through central Russia, and is viewed as the national river of Russia because eleven of twenty large Russian cities are situated on the Volga, including Moscow. Overall the cruise of the Volga was going to take 5 hours to Kostroma, then 6 hours to Pluis and then 9 hours back to Yaroslavl.

At first the thought of being on a boat in which no one spoke English was a bit nerve racking, but lucky for us our Captain (Captain Nicholas) spoke English. He is a native Russian speaker, but as a sea man he learned English, English being the common language of all sea goers. In fact, he invited us up to the Captain’s deck. He then should us how the boat was run and let us take a few photos.

After we visited the Captain’s deck, we proceeded to lunch. The food was excellent. We were a bit nervous with the food, because we just did not know what to expect!! Sometimes it’s just a shot in the dark! Overall the food was great. There were a few instances of guessing what we were eating such as liver. Yes, I did say liver, not liver paste! At first we thought it was mutton, but after further investigation we came to the conclusion of liver. After that point, we had enough of that meal!

Our fist day on the boat was spent sun tanning because first, we had 5 hours to kill until Kostroma, second, the weather was 80 degrees, and third, typical American past time. Leave it to the American’s was the motto!

We eventually made it Kostroma and had 5 hours to spend walking the town. After walking for awhile, I was struck how much Kostroma reminded me of Nice, France. The town had a feeling of a Mediterranean landscape and old European city. It was breathtaking how beautiful the city is. I could have stayed there for the entire weekend!

Elizabeth, a new volunteer, practices Russian Orthodox. So, we attended a Russian Orthodox Service with her. It is something I have never seen. When walking into the church there are no pews, members stand facing the Altar. Then throughout the Church, there are Icons adorning the walls. Each member can then worship/pray to their Icon. When in the process of worshiping, there is chanting going on behind the Altar and the members standing cross themselves and bow. This represents a member’s right to pray in any fashion. It is a less constricting type of worship; it allows the member to express their own form of worship. Then the father comes around with incense as a form of blessing. It is quite fascinating to have observed this religion.

After our adventures in Kostroma, we got back on the boat and ready for the Disco Tech party on the boat. It wasn’t much of a disco tech; it was on the back of the ship and we (volunteers) were the only ones to attend save for an older woman and the live music entertainer. The older woman, however, was fun. She got out and danced with us. It was a late night!!

In the early hours of the morning we arrived in Pluis. Pluis is a much smaller town compared to Kostroma, but extremely beautiful with its view overlooking the town and Volga River.

Due to the fact we were on a River cruise, we never took into account it being spring and warm the thought of Mosquitoes. They were horrific and unyielding. Bug spray just wasn’t enough to keep them away, nor was our layers of extra clothing. We looked like we came home with pocks of some variety. Horrible and Miserable!!!!! But, I would definitely to the Volga River Cruise again.

Volga River Cruise: Departure Video