Financial Crisis: Greater Concerns
I am finally feeling better about leaving Strana. This may be due to the large idiot tourists who get drunk in Moscow, apparently without being sent to Siberian labor camps, or it may be due to my best friends telling me how excited they are to see me again. Hard to say. But no sooner had that worry faded then it was replaced by...
The Global Financial Crisis!
Naturally, I am aware of what's going on. Things were bad enough in Strana before America's economy melted and took Europe's with it. Inflation is reported at 30%. The price of eggs was 2-3 local currency for 10 when I arrived in 2006, and now it's 7-8 to the десятка. It cost 5 to get to the county seat by bus then, and now it costs 10. Pork is 40 a kilo, the teachers at my school haven't received their salary for November (or rather, have received only 8% of their salaries), and the exchange rates of the dollar and the euro are increasing all the time. I know all of this. However, since I am an economical girl, it hasn't really weighed heavily on me. On the contrary, I was delighted to see the climbing dollar, because I'm going to Russia for 10 days after I close my service, and Moscow and St. Petersburg are two of the most expensive cities in the world. A strong dollar will make my travels easier.
BUT when I was in the capital two weeks ago, other volunteers who had already closed their service were bemoaning the impossibility of exchanging the local currency. Exchange desks in America do not accept Stranian money, and throughout the city, no one had dollars or euros to sell. One girl came up with the clever idea of buying rubles, since she was going to Israel, which will obviously take them (and no one buys rubles in times of economic turmoil). That was my plan, but I decided to buy good old greenbacks, since the ruble is less wieldy (at 29 rubles to the dollar, my wallet would look rather husky). And boy was I in for a shock.
In October 2006, when I arrived here, the rate of exchange was 5.05 Stranian currency to 1 dollar. It had stayed there, pegged, for almost all of my service. Six weeks or a month ago, the numbers at the cash desks started growing, and today, the lowest rate I could find was 7.65. But no one with that rate actually had money, so I had to exchange for 7.90. With 1190 local currency, I could buy no more than $150. That would have cost only 750 a month or so ago. Idiot girl. And oh, these poor host country nationals. But they have more immediate concerns, like unpaid salaries, feeding their children, and looking presentable in public (this is of real concern, and it's not so shallow as I used to think). So I suppose they will not worry unduly about something relatively minor in comparison to Depression-style challenges.
The Global Financial Crisis!
Naturally, I am aware of what's going on. Things were bad enough in Strana before America's economy melted and took Europe's with it. Inflation is reported at 30%. The price of eggs was 2-3 local currency for 10 when I arrived in 2006, and now it's 7-8 to the десятка. It cost 5 to get to the county seat by bus then, and now it costs 10. Pork is 40 a kilo, the teachers at my school haven't received their salary for November (or rather, have received only 8% of their salaries), and the exchange rates of the dollar and the euro are increasing all the time. I know all of this. However, since I am an economical girl, it hasn't really weighed heavily on me. On the contrary, I was delighted to see the climbing dollar, because I'm going to Russia for 10 days after I close my service, and Moscow and St. Petersburg are two of the most expensive cities in the world. A strong dollar will make my travels easier.
BUT when I was in the capital two weeks ago, other volunteers who had already closed their service were bemoaning the impossibility of exchanging the local currency. Exchange desks in America do not accept Stranian money, and throughout the city, no one had dollars or euros to sell. One girl came up with the clever idea of buying rubles, since she was going to Israel, which will obviously take them (and no one buys rubles in times of economic turmoil). That was my plan, but I decided to buy good old greenbacks, since the ruble is less wieldy (at 29 rubles to the dollar, my wallet would look rather husky). And boy was I in for a shock.
In October 2006, when I arrived here, the rate of exchange was 5.05 Stranian currency to 1 dollar. It had stayed there, pegged, for almost all of my service. Six weeks or a month ago, the numbers at the cash desks started growing, and today, the lowest rate I could find was 7.65. But no one with that rate actually had money, so I had to exchange for 7.90. With 1190 local currency, I could buy no more than $150. That would have cost only 750 a month or so ago. Idiot girl. And oh, these poor host country nationals. But they have more immediate concerns, like unpaid salaries, feeding their children, and looking presentable in public (this is of real concern, and it's not so shallow as I used to think). So I suppose they will not worry unduly about something relatively minor in comparison to Depression-style challenges.
posted by Life Called | 3:30 PM
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