COMING TO AFRICA
I made a rough list of things that I needed to take. The list was just a random brainstorm of things that I might need. Placing the pencil in my ear, I looked at the list, which went something like this – Clothes, (five T-Shirts, five Trousers, five shirts, three suits, Ties, shorts, undies, pyjamas) two pairs of Shoes, flip flops, tooth paste, tooth brush, sun block, shades, basic medicines, face wash, body wash, shampoo, moisturizer, mosquito repellent. I felt I was missing something. After a bit of thought, I realized that I had not included something – Money and oh yes, I also forgot to add towels. Towels could be taken care of in a bit, so I had no worries on that front, I realized I should make an exact estimate of the money that I might need for me and my team.
In an effort to look up the currency details, I looked up the internet. My eyes popped out at what I had seen. It said One American dollar was equal to Zimbabwean $ 26,000. At first, I thought I had gotten it wrong and so I looked again. And YES, it was right. One American dollar was equal to twenty six thousand zim dollars! I was surprised but not so surprised. I knew that Zimbabwe had a soaring inflation rate due to which the value of the Zim dollar had gone down drastically.
So, the real question now was how much and how do I take the money? I realized that there was clearly a need for more research on that front. So, I looked up the comments posted by tourists who visited Zimbabwe before. Some suggested very strongly not to use credit cards for safety reasons saying that I would get “ripped off” and suggested that I use currency so that I could exchange it in the “parallel market” to get a better deal. It said that although the official rate for one American dollar was Zim $ 26,000, an American dollar can fetch something close to ninety thousand zim dollars in the “parallel market.”
Looking at the exchange rate, I wondered how much a loaf of bread would cost, about how much a pair of shoes would cost, about how much a bottle of orange juice or an ice cream would cost. I had loads and loads of other questions in my mind, that were much more than just the trivial orange juice or a pair of shoes. Questions that really mattered, questions that would help me communicate, Questions that I wanted to find answers for from my own first hand experience of the situation that was in “Africa’s paradise” - Zimbabwe.
Slowly, I realized that the initial excitement was sinking into my blood. I made a list of things to do with clear, practical goals. I was glad that I was making good practical progress at my first adventure to Africa despite my very strained personal circumstances. While drinking my glass of milk in the night, I closed my diary wondering about what it would bee like in Zimbabwe. I went to bed that night reminding myself of what my professor at the London School of Economics had once told me – “Do not limit yourself with what you know but rather what you do not know!”
Shrenik.
I made a rough list of things that I needed to take. The list was just a random brainstorm of things that I might need. Placing the pencil in my ear, I looked at the list, which went something like this – Clothes, (five T-Shirts, five Trousers, five shirts, three suits, Ties, shorts, undies, pyjamas) two pairs of Shoes, flip flops, tooth paste, tooth brush, sun block, shades, basic medicines, face wash, body wash, shampoo, moisturizer, mosquito repellent. I felt I was missing something. After a bit of thought, I realized that I had not included something – Money and oh yes, I also forgot to add towels. Towels could be taken care of in a bit, so I had no worries on that front, I realized I should make an exact estimate of the money that I might need for me and my team.
In an effort to look up the currency details, I looked up the internet. My eyes popped out at what I had seen. It said One American dollar was equal to Zimbabwean $ 26,000. At first, I thought I had gotten it wrong and so I looked again. And YES, it was right. One American dollar was equal to twenty six thousand zim dollars! I was surprised but not so surprised. I knew that Zimbabwe had a soaring inflation rate due to which the value of the Zim dollar had gone down drastically.
So, the real question now was how much and how do I take the money? I realized that there was clearly a need for more research on that front. So, I looked up the comments posted by tourists who visited Zimbabwe before. Some suggested very strongly not to use credit cards for safety reasons saying that I would get “ripped off” and suggested that I use currency so that I could exchange it in the “parallel market” to get a better deal. It said that although the official rate for one American dollar was Zim $ 26,000, an American dollar can fetch something close to ninety thousand zim dollars in the “parallel market.”
Looking at the exchange rate, I wondered how much a loaf of bread would cost, about how much a pair of shoes would cost, about how much a bottle of orange juice or an ice cream would cost. I had loads and loads of other questions in my mind, that were much more than just the trivial orange juice or a pair of shoes. Questions that really mattered, questions that would help me communicate, Questions that I wanted to find answers for from my own first hand experience of the situation that was in “Africa’s paradise” - Zimbabwe.
Slowly, I realized that the initial excitement was sinking into my blood. I made a list of things to do with clear, practical goals. I was glad that I was making good practical progress at my first adventure to Africa despite my very strained personal circumstances. While drinking my glass of milk in the night, I closed my diary wondering about what it would bee like in Zimbabwe. I went to bed that night reminding myself of what my professor at the London School of Economics had once told me – “Do not limit yourself with what you know but rather what you do not know!”
Shrenik.
posted by Shrenik Rao at 10:16 AM
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