Russia

I just got back from 7 weeks in Russia. What an incredible experience! Russia is one extremely interesting country. The site of our volunteer work is the city of Yaroslavl. CCS has a state of the art facility there with all the comforts of home, the staff is a group of extremely caring and gracious individuals. The home itself is sparkling clean, the food is great and the showers have high water pressure which is a pleasure compared to other places I have been. By the way, the home is extremely secure with always a guard at the door and in your room is a place where your valuables can be locked away safely.
Our placements were many and varied, but everywhere we were working with people who truly appreciated our service. I worked with disabled children, orphans and the elderly and also the little babies under 2 years of age. One baby learned to walk for the first time with me and by the end of the day she was running. The children between 6 and 14 years old greeted me every day with hugs , so happy to see me, I really miss them! When one of the people at the disabled adults facility realized I was going home he gave me a bear hug and lifted me right off my feet. What a wonderful experience to help these people, we get more out of it than we give and that is for sure.
This experience is not only for students, I'm 68 and it was better than any vacation I have ever had in my life and I would suggest CCS's Russian program to anyone that wants to have the experience of a lifetime.
As I said , us volunteers, get more out this program than we give, this is especially true for Russia. Yaroslavl is a provincial Russian city situated on the breath takingly beautiful Volga River, it is a city of 730,000 people. There are shops, malls, restaurants, museums, boat rides and parks all over. The city is safe, I walked from our facility to the city center and to the Volga Promenade many, many times. If you get tired just take bus#19K back to our home, one every ten minutes. I walked alone, at night, never a problem. Young girls walk alone for blocks and blocks and think nothing of it. Yaroslavl is not only one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen, it is one of the safest! There is a lot to see in this city and a lot to see in Russia's golden ring.
We also took side trips to St, Petersburgh and Moskow during our stay. The beauty of St. Petersburg is undescribable--you have to go there, and Moscow is incredible, a thriving Metropolis steeped in history, the Kremlin, St. Basils, the Bolshoi and GUM...a department store like no other on this earth....you will love it.
Unfortunately, even 7 weeks is not enough time to fully absorb Russia, so I'll be going back next year. I really miss Yaroslavl, it is a city that is so pleasant to be in, the people are friendly and nice and will help you any way they can!