Part of my job is to go to the bank. The bank is an interesting place. In Canada it is very orderly, civilized and quiet. In South Sudan it is slow, hot, noisy and chaotic!
As a Canadian, I was always taught to wait my turn and stand in line. Line ups in Africa do exist, but they tend to be constantly evolving as people push, and cut line. There is constant discussion about who was there first and how long the person has waited. If you leave line to stand in another line, you apparently can come back and regain position in your first line. The reason I am so obsessive about the line up, is at the bank to do something as simple as a withdrawal of money takes 1-3 hours! So I have a lot of time to observe the line
Another thing you don’t witness at a North American bank is people trying to haggle with the tellers about what their account balance should be or how much money they are owed. There is as much haggling at the bank as the market.
The massive wads of cash everyone is carrying around is also a common sight. Life in Juba is very expensive. Cost of living is similar to that of living in Canada. The difference is, the currency. Many places use USD, but technically the local currency is the Sudan Pound. The pound is worth 3.04 / $1USD at the bank today. If you are adventurous, a person can obtain it for 3.45 / $1USD on the street. While I have done a money exchange on the street, it is not a comfortable transaction, so I have a guy for that. When ever I need money changed I give Alfred a call and he exchanges my money for me and if I ask, he will even bring produce from his fruit stand! I do pay a slight penalty for this service but it is only $10 USD/$1000 exchange. Totally worth the service!
The last thing I still haven’t gotten use to at the bank is, no one teller can provide you with every thing you need. One teller for a withdrawal, another for a statement of your account. So once you have your money in hand, you join another line to get your balance!! There goes another hour!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment