The great change exchange

I do not understand how there can be no change in this country. One is constantly on a quest for change, and always carefully apportioning out what coins and small bills one has so there will be some when you really need it.

What confounds me is if you’ve been selling your little packets of groundnuts, or your oranges, or papayas, or whatever, all day for 100 francs a piece, how can you possibly not have change to break my 500 bill?

In the market, if you press them to take your big bill, insisting you have no change, someone will run away with your money to confer with all his friends, returning some minutes later having found someone who has change.

But the one that really made me shake my head was when it took over 24 hours for our hotel to come up with change for our payment for three nights.

What do people do with all these small bills and coins and why does the bank only make huge bills available if they're nearly impossible to use?

Comments

Anonymous said…

I was two thirds through this post before I realized you were talking about monetary change, not social, political or economic change. It suddenly made cents. Happy New Year.

January 1, 2008 at 10:39 AM

It's a girl!

I awoke this morning to the sound of my phone ringing. It wasn't the first time the bells and whistles had attempted to pull me from my slumber so I knew it meant one of two things: either I'd overslept and my boss was calling to find out where I was, or the much anticipated baby had announced her intention to make an entrance. Felicitously, it was the latter. After a lightning fast labour lasting a mere 2 hours, Mai-Anh Esther made her entry into the world at 8:35 am (the preferred interval for Braun babies. Jon, Rebecca, and I were all born between 8 and 8:30 in the morning while Lien was born around 8 in the evening.) She is a hearty 9 lbs 2 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. "She's already got more hair than Lien does!" was the first comment made by both Jon and me. She's a perfectly contented, sleepy little girl who's hardly opened her eyes once, even to let mommy see them, and she had no objection to being passed from person to person all evening, nor to Li...

entering the blog world

I've finally given in to the lure of blogging. Actually, if it weren't for Cameroon, I probably wouldn't be doing this; my excuse for succumbing to the pull of popular culture is that a blog is a very pragmatic way to keep in touch with people at home while I'm gone. Thus the title -- the focus is on my journey to and experience in Cameroon. So you likely shan't see much here till things heat up a bit more.

Flights

I've got tickets! In faith that all the money will come together, my tickets have been purchased. So now I have to go! There was a significantly cheaper flight option with Air Maroc that involved an overnight in Paris and in Casablanca, but I opted for the same Air France flight from Paris to Douala that Dan and Lisa will be on. Frankly, I'm somewhat relieved the latter option was available. Obviously, I must have some sense of adventure to be willing to spend 10 months in Cameroon--and I do--but it's not quite up to the former challenge just yet. I'll likely be quite wound up as it is--the last thing I'll need in my state of excitement and fretful anticipation is to spend three days alone trying to reach my destination, getting no sleep, dealing with unfamiliar languages, and arriving alone to spend a half-day cartrip down roads in less than perfect condition with a local stranger. Now I'm not saying I'm unwilling to be challenged or that any one of these ...

kar0ling

Read more posts by subject (label)

Search This Blog