Money, Money, Money.....MONEY

So I haven't actually done anything in the last two weeks. This last weekend was our first weekend without an excursion and how do I spend it? Staying out late and feeling sick on Saturday (uh-hmm).
Thus, I thought I'd take some time to discuss money.
The Ruble is the currency of the Russian Federation. There are 100 kopeks per ruble and we've been lucky so far as the ruble has been hovering around 32 rubles per dollar for a couple weeks. Banknotes come in 10p, 50p, 100p, 500p, 1000p, and 5000p. 5000 ruble notes are the most unfortunate things ever, unless of course, you plan on purchasing something costing more than 4500p. This is because it's really quite difficult to break the larger notes without getting yelled at or at the very least, dirty looks and glares. The only reliable place to break a 5000 is the metro, where you can usually buy 4 tokens and get the rest back as change (4900p). 1000p notes are also inconvenient, but to a lesser extent. I personally hate the 10p note, but good news, the government is phasing them out with coins!
As far as coins go, there is a 10p, 5p, 2p, 1p, 50k, 10k, 5k, and 1k. The 1 and 5 kopeck coins are completely phased out and stores now use a system of Swedish rounding. The other kopeck coins are the most useless things ever. I hate them. I have a bag full of them on my desk and I don't know what to do with them. You try using them at a store and you get told by the cashier "Don't bother" or "Не надо". But then, when you don't have them, you're suddenly expected to. You can't win. Either way, project "Spend Kopecks" needs to begin soon lest I come home with pounds and pounds of coins!

Note: I have found 4 1k coins so far, on the ground. If you want to find one of your own, you need to stalk wedding parties as they are commonly thrown at the happy couple to, I'm guessing, bring wealth or something. But, I think superstition is dumb so I have no problems cleaning up them to satisfy my numismatic interests. I found the 5k on a ledge and I find like 5 10k coins every day. 
Here are some pics of money. Might upload some more later.

The Shiny one at the top is a newly redesigned 10p

Just about 3299 more of the small guys and I can get a quarter pounder with cheese!!

ta-da

Size comparison

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.