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Jun. 9th, 2011 06:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cosmic_llinOff to Russia again early on Wednesday morning. I am now in the excited/panicky/ambivalent stage of preparation. Excited because I love it there, panicky because there's too much to do before I leave, ambivalent because I'll miss ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
carawj.
For those interested who don't already know, this will be my seventh visit to Russia, and my fifth to Kitezh. Kitezh is a therapeutic community of families where children from state orphanages are fostered, educated and rehabilitated. I volunteered there as an English teacher for several months during my year abroad for uni, and I've been going back for a few weeks once a year ever since. Partly because, when I told the kids near the end of my first stay that I'd come back and visit them again, they said: no you won't, they all say that and then they never do. (Ask me some other time about my Complicated Feelings when it comes to overseas volunteers and children's charity projects). And partly because I love being there - many of the people there are good friends, I feel calmer when I'm there, it's one of the places that has helped me most to learn about myself, and it's amazing to see the work they do with the kids there, especially over a timescale of several years.
This time is going to be a little different though, as it's a reunion of volunteers from previous years, some of whom were last there quite some time ago. I think it's about a dozen people, all told, which when you consider they've been hosting foreign volunteers for many years, at a rate of up to a dozen easily per year sometimes, is not really that many, but then going to Kitezh is really an expensive and complex undertaking, which I know from experience as I spend half of most years planning and paying for it. Anyway, I'm excited to meet other volunteers and find out what kind of celebrations and shenanigans are in store, but I'm also a little sad not to be having a normal visit. Although I'm staying for a few days after the reunion fortnight, which should be nice.
I'm also excited because this time I get the added treat of a visit to St Petersburg at the end, withcarawj! I studied in Petersburg (Piter, as the locals call it) for the winter semester of my year abroad, and I had a wonderful time, but I haven't had the opportunity to go back since. I'm psyched to see it again, but I'm especially thrilled to be able to share it with carawj. I've been planning our itinerary for months, but there's no way I can possibly cram everything into the few days we have there.
Which sort of brings me, tangentially, to one of the only sad (well... disappointing) bits about my visit. Russians typically marry very young, straight from uni or before, often, and every time I go back the kids are increasingly concerned that I'm not married yet and don't have a boyfriend. I wish I could tell them aboutcarawj, but anyone who saw the recent pictures from Moscow Pride will know why that is perhaps not a good idea. I worry that if there were strong objections to my sexuality I just wouldn't be allowed back. And it's not that I mind being taken for an independent single woman, or whatever, but it's no fun missing carawj and not being able to talk to anyone about it! I'd like to be out to everyone in my life but it's just not practical, which leads to added complications and keeping secrets and being careful on Facebook which is annoying.
Sometimes I wonder if it's going to be one of those situations where it turns out I'm making a fuss about nothing. My coming-outs often seem to go the opposite of how I would expect. And the people in Kitezh do tend to be more liberal than Russians generally, but on the other hand they're still quite old-fashioned about gender roles sometimes. With the climate in Russia being what it is... eh.
Anyway, that's only a minor moan, really. I'm still very excited about the whole thing! Now I just need to somehow get through the mahusive list of things I need to do before I go... and figure out how to get to the airport at stupid-o-clock in the morning...
carawj.For those interested who don't already know, this will be my seventh visit to Russia, and my fifth to Kitezh. Kitezh is a therapeutic community of families where children from state orphanages are fostered, educated and rehabilitated. I volunteered there as an English teacher for several months during my year abroad for uni, and I've been going back for a few weeks once a year ever since. Partly because, when I told the kids near the end of my first stay that I'd come back and visit them again, they said: no you won't, they all say that and then they never do. (Ask me some other time about my Complicated Feelings when it comes to overseas volunteers and children's charity projects). And partly because I love being there - many of the people there are good friends, I feel calmer when I'm there, it's one of the places that has helped me most to learn about myself, and it's amazing to see the work they do with the kids there, especially over a timescale of several years.
This time is going to be a little different though, as it's a reunion of volunteers from previous years, some of whom were last there quite some time ago. I think it's about a dozen people, all told, which when you consider they've been hosting foreign volunteers for many years, at a rate of up to a dozen easily per year sometimes, is not really that many, but then going to Kitezh is really an expensive and complex undertaking, which I know from experience as I spend half of most years planning and paying for it. Anyway, I'm excited to meet other volunteers and find out what kind of celebrations and shenanigans are in store, but I'm also a little sad not to be having a normal visit. Although I'm staying for a few days after the reunion fortnight, which should be nice.
I'm also excited because this time I get the added treat of a visit to St Petersburg at the end, with
carawj! I studied in Petersburg (Piter, as the locals call it) for the winter semester of my year abroad, and I had a wonderful time, but I haven't had the opportunity to go back since. I'm psyched to see it again, but I'm especially thrilled to be able to share it with carawj. I've been planning our itinerary for months, but there's no way I can possibly cram everything into the few days we have there.Which sort of brings me, tangentially, to one of the only sad (well... disappointing) bits about my visit. Russians typically marry very young, straight from uni or before, often, and every time I go back the kids are increasingly concerned that I'm not married yet and don't have a boyfriend. I wish I could tell them about
carawj, but anyone who saw the recent pictures from Moscow Pride will know why that is perhaps not a good idea. I worry that if there were strong objections to my sexuality I just wouldn't be allowed back. And it's not that I mind being taken for an independent single woman, or whatever, but it's no fun missing carawj and not being able to talk to anyone about it! I'd like to be out to everyone in my life but it's just not practical, which leads to added complications and keeping secrets and being careful on Facebook which is annoying.Sometimes I wonder if it's going to be one of those situations where it turns out I'm making a fuss about nothing. My coming-outs often seem to go the opposite of how I would expect. And the people in Kitezh do tend to be more liberal than Russians generally, but on the other hand they're still quite old-fashioned about gender roles sometimes. With the climate in Russia being what it is... eh.
Anyway, that's only a minor moan, really. I'm still very excited about the whole thing! Now I just need to somehow get through the mahusive list of things I need to do before I go... and figure out how to get to the airport at stupid-o-clock in the morning...
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Date: 2011-06-10 11:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-11 01:49 am (UTC)