Arrival and Orientation

After purchasing a SIM card at the airport, the program coordinators took us to the hotel where we would be having orientation. The hotel was super nice, nicer than many American hotels I've stayed in. I should have stolen some toilet paper. The rooms had 2 twin beds and a TV with some Russian channels on it. I didn't watch much other than part of an episode of Russian “Married with Children” but I did see one fantastic commercial for plastic bags, if I remember correctly. Basically a fridge-ninja uses his blade to get rid of bad odors. Fantastic.

Orientation was a lot of fun. We had various lectures over safety issues, classes, transportation, differences in culture, the program, and Metroface.

Safety in Russia can be summarized as follows:

Roads: Fast, scary death

Crossing Roads: Never safe, Death

Shwarma: Frothy death on a stick

Winter: Icy death from above

Gypsy Cabs: Fiery death/mugging then death

Stray dogs: ring worm death

Tap water: more frothy death/death by illness featured on House

Alcohol: Cheap Death

No documents?: Death

Elevators: Claustrophobic Death

Totally kidding, people actually live here and it's just as safe as any big city with a couple of quirks thrown in. They just wanted us to be more aware of our surroundings, how to take care of ourselves, and avoid getting sick.

By the way, Metroface is what I have previously referred to as Russianface. It's an expression devoid of all emotion, but if one were to label it something, it would probably be closest to disappointment or boredom. When on the Metro, or even in the streets, it's best to wear this face. Why? Because the people around you will think you're up to something or they'll think you are crazy if you don't.

As a break from the orientation lectures, they took us on a bus tour of the city. It's amazing to think of how many awesome things there are in this city. I can't get over the fact that I can, as a student, visit the Hermitage Museum anytime I want, FOR FREE. The student ID card we were given apparently is gold because it gets you into places for a significantly reduced cost. Spas Na Krovi? Free. Hermitage? Free. Russian Museum? Free (I think). SO COOL.

Anyway, lots of cool stuff in the city and the canals are absolutely beautiful. The downtown center is full of streets and canals lined with buildings and apartments which to me, just screams Europe. I will be taking/posting pictures soonish, which will hopefully keep Mom happy.

During orientation I purchased a cell phone, and let me tell you, they are the coolest here. They run off the GSM network and SIM cards are really quite cheap. Mine was 200 rubles and it had an initial value of 150 rubles. Doesn't sound like much, right? Keep in mind that a text to someone in St. Petersburg on my network costs .20 rubles, and a minute of talk time to someone in St. Petersburg on my network costs .20 rubles. 150 rubles will last almost forever, unless you call land lines or are roaming as the fees are quite high then.

During the first two days of orientation, probably 90% of the students bought cell phones. Most of them cost around 750 rubles and are a basic candy bar style phone. Mine cost 910 rubles and was so worth it. It has an FM radio, AND A FLASHLIGHT.

In order to call home, you can either call just from your cell, which will cost 100 rubles a minute, or you can purchase any number of phone cards which will cost in total around 6 rubles per minute.

The city is breathtakingly beautiful and ridiculously busy. I'm pretty sure it's going to be impossible to complete everything I want in a year, but I think it's going to be a good one.


[Edit]

On HIV tests-

In order to extend our visas, we had to undergo another HIV test. This just so happened to take place in the sketchy basement medical room in the hotel. We all gathered in the lobby of the hotel; I personally thought they'd bus us to a clinic or something. The coordinators took small groups of us, five or so, into a back hallway where there was a secret elevator. The elevator led to the longest hallway every. It was dim, the doors were all heavy-duty, fallout shelter steel, and it was a little musty. We then, one by one, entered a room where, as promised, we got stabbed and bled.