Everything's a Dollar
We recently spent about 20 hours in Zimbabwe. We traveled the road from Beitbridge to Mutare. It was good to be back in a country we have grown quite fond of in the past 14 years or so. We announced our engagement at a conference in Harare in 1996. Katie was born there in 2000. We used to vacation in the cool mountains on the Mozambican border, enjoying wonderful hospitality and good food only a half-day's drive away.
In 2003, we used the "shortcut" through Zim from RSA to Tete for the last time. Times were tough, fuel was scarce. The borders were complicated. Shelves were empty and money was so devalued it was hard to buy anything. I took a bag of apples to the checkout, and the price had changed alread from what was marked! Things got worse after that...
But, 2010 is different. They have taken the US dollar as their currency. Steps have been taken to stabilize the economy. Suddenly, the shelves are full! It is funny not to have to convert all the prices to dollars in my head... since they are already in dollars! Everything is a bit deserted along the way, but we are hopeful that the resilient Zimbabweans will bring back the good and leave the bad stuff behind.
But there are some strange consequenses of using the dollar: there aren't any coins. You pay minimum of a dollar for everything. A roll of toilet paper, a bottle of water, a road toll are all $1.00 each. Hotel room, $100... steep, but we gotta sleep. I heard of someone selling bananas for $7 just because the people weren't yet used to the "value of a dollar."
We are so glad to see things improving in this neighboring country. In a way, it is like renewing an abandoned friendship. Familiar, but different. Praying that God will use all things for His good!
In 2003, we used the "shortcut" through Zim from RSA to Tete for the last time. Times were tough, fuel was scarce. The borders were complicated. Shelves were empty and money was so devalued it was hard to buy anything. I took a bag of apples to the checkout, and the price had changed alread from what was marked! Things got worse after that...
But, 2010 is different. They have taken the US dollar as their currency. Steps have been taken to stabilize the economy. Suddenly, the shelves are full! It is funny not to have to convert all the prices to dollars in my head... since they are already in dollars! Everything is a bit deserted along the way, but we are hopeful that the resilient Zimbabweans will bring back the good and leave the bad stuff behind.
But there are some strange consequenses of using the dollar: there aren't any coins. You pay minimum of a dollar for everything. A roll of toilet paper, a bottle of water, a road toll are all $1.00 each. Hotel room, $100... steep, but we gotta sleep. I heard of someone selling bananas for $7 just because the people weren't yet used to the "value of a dollar."
We are so glad to see things improving in this neighboring country. In a way, it is like renewing an abandoned friendship. Familiar, but different. Praying that God will use all things for His good!
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