Onion Domes Made of Dragon Scales

Well that title should pretty accurately sum up what I saw today. The tops of every church here are made of those domes that are fashioned like candles but actually just look like giant onions covered in dragon scales a la Game of Thrones. While my description may make them sound ridiculous, they're actually the most beautiful church exteriors I've ever seen. Today we had the standard first day orientation: a city tour, Yaroslavl history lessons, overbearing but good-intentioned Russian cooks pressuring me to eat my vegetables, and, of course, learning about our placement.  Mine is called simply, "Babies." Not so much as a group of small humans but more as a location (as in "tomorrow I will be going to babies"). This is really exciting for me because it will be an actual orphanage with babies ages newborn to three years unlike most placements that work with orphans but aren't actually orphanages. I'll be in charge of a group of three or four babies and... Well... Keep them alive. I really have gotten little information about what I'll actually be doing with them but walking them seems to be key. Perhaps I'll give them lots of tummy time because apparently the D- shaped head is a big problem with Russian orphans because they're always on their backs. I'll probably also monitor their development... Whether or not I'm supposed to. I've heard about a lot of the traumatic effects children have from even just being in an orphanage for a short time at a very young age so it will be interesting to see the conditions first-hand and get a better understanding of what is causing this and what could be done to prevent it.  After learning about all of this we decided to go into the city center since it was only like 6.30 and the sun wouldn't be going down for another like 5 hours. My roommate and I walked around for awhile and saw some of the sights... Like, you know, the soviet monuments... The fence covered in heart locks... The man rollerblading with ski poles and a stoic expression. We met up with everyone at an Internet cafe and walked back home. Yaroslavl is pretty easy to navigate (I WILL get lost tomorrow because I said that) and get around by foot or public transportation. I have high hopes for these six weeks.  Oh ps I'm going to St. Petersburg this weekend because when else am I going to get to do that?! Also every Anastasia song is going through my head right now. I'm contemplating downloading the soundtrack if I can ever get Internet.  Pps Yaroslavl has a series of giant fountains that do a light show to music every night. Suck it Chapman, Yaroslavl has you beat on the fountain front. Also the city is 1002 years old.  The end.

Go abroad. Now. I dare you. crossculturalsolutions.org