Waiting For The Dough

Ann and I have been living on the money that Peace Corps had given us at the beginning of our service.  This included settling-in allowances and travel money.  But, all good things must come to an end, and we were finally faced with the arduous task of going to the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank (SLCB) where Peace Corps had set up an account for us to try to extract some of our money. 

People had warned us that the experience might not be a pleasant one, but we didn’t prepare ourselves properly. Our first effort was so weak I hesitate to talk about it.  We arrived early in the afternoon hoping we could escape in thirty minutes.  It was hot of course, and when we walked into the building and observed the long queue at the enquiries desk (where they check your balance and give you a withdrawal slip) our hearts sank just a bit.  Would the line of 30 people move along quickly?  No such luck.  After only fifteen minutes of getting nowhere, we wimped out.  Lesson 1: make sure you have a full tummy and go when it is cooler.  The reason for the particularly long lines we found out later was that SLCB processes most of the government checks which are issued at the end of the month.  Bummer for us that it was nearing the end of October. 

A couple of days later we mentally prepared ourselves for the anticipated ordeal and tried again.  We were buoyed by the fact that some PCVs had appeared at the bank a few days before and apparently had perfected an absolutely helpless demeanor.  Someone from the back offices came out front and escorted them from the line to an air-conditioned room where they proceeded to withdraw their money in less than half an hour.  Arriving at 10:00 in the morning, Ann and I tried to look as clueless as we could, (not hard for me, just ask my family).  Alas, no one came out to rescue us.  I suggested that perhaps one of us could fake a faint, but we decided to take the higher road.  To our pleasant surprise the enquiries line did move “swiftly”, and we had our withdrawal slips in about 15 minutes.

The second and final step was to go to the teller windows.  Three of the eight windows were working, two for receiving money and only one for paying it out.  (Apparently, the bank is more interested in gathering in funds than seeing them walk out the door.)   Guess which line was longest. How much would it cost the bank to employ just a few more tellers, especially at the end of the month when business is booming?  Customer service is for the most part a foreign concept here. However, we were kept somewhat distracted by a television which had a BBC news report that included highlights of the Cubs victory in Game 2 of the World Series.

Ann and I took our position hoping that this line would be as fast as the first.  After 30 minutes of hardly moving, we again were wishing for the special privilege our foreigner status sometimes invites. Meanwhile a few people in line slipped over to a side area where “special connections” got them faster service…. for a small tip.  The man in front of us told us to knock on the door that led to the air-conditioned office and faster service, but we declined the special treatment though we secretly still wished to be rescued. I droned on to him about how in America, people are in and out of the bank in a minute and can even make transactions from the comfort of a car.  There are even machines that give money just by punching in a few numbers.  This did not impress him much.  In Salone, people are used to waiting in line, no big deal.

Ann and I tag-teamed our position in line.  I had brought some snacks to nibble on.  I should have brought a book to read.  War and Peace would have been half finished by the time we got to the front.  No one wants to go through the banking experience frequently, so generally giant wads of bills are withdrawn. Everyone must count their bills before leaving the teller area.  The bills come in packs of 50.  Ann and I carefully counted one of our four packs three times as it seemed short (turns out it was). People behind us sounded impatient and the clock on our banking experience was approaching two hours, so we gave up and left with a cool 1,990,000 Leones or about $280 (7100 Leones to a dollar). Peace Corps expects the two of us to live on about $8.00 a day, so we should have enough to last us 35 days, enough to get into December provided we don’t splurge too often on Snickers bars. We will be getting a 10% raise then, so that is good news. 

Saturday Lunch at the Paloma with Kate, Austin, and Choua.

What does this giant wad of bills buy? Our biggest daily expenditure is our mobile wifi service at $2.00/day.  Don’t know where our mental health would be without easy access to email and the internet.  Since I didn’t bring a lot of math resource books to Salone, I am relying heavily on the internet.  Ann also uses it to prepare for her classes. We listen to music and have watched three movies so far.  Lunch at the Paloma on Saturdays is becoming a tradition.  If there are other PCVs in town we try to meet them there for a sharing session.  That costs $7 and pretty much blows the day’s budget.  Peace Corps figures our food cost should be about $3.40 for the two of us.

Some bills have seen better days. Either one will get you an egg.

Many of the bills that we carry around in our wallets have seen better days and have an earthy odor from being passed from sweaty hand to sweaty hand.  We want to wash our hands after an afternoon of shopping. Here is a rundown of the four bills in circulation, the personage on the bill, and what we can buy with it.  1000 Leones ~ 15 cents.

1000 Leones – Bai Bureh (1840 -1908) was a Temne rebel who fought a guerilla style war in 1898 against the British colonists after they imposed the infamous Hut Tax on the whole population in 1893.  With this bill we buy our daily small bag or popcorn, four medium size oranges, five small bananas, or an egg.

2000 Leones – Isaac Theopolis Akunna Wallace-Johnson (1894 -1965) was a journalist and union organizer who campaigned for a greater role for women in civic life. This bill buys a large French baguette style loaf of bread, or four grapefruits.  

5000 Leones - Sengbe Pieh (1813 -1879) This Mende tribesman is better known as Cinque.  He led the rebellion on the Spanish ship Amistad made famous by the Stephen Spielberg film.  With this bill we can buy a Fanta, three cucumbers or three carrots.

10,000 Leones -  Dove flying over map of Leone and the national flag. The famous Freetown cotton tree is on the back. This bill buys a large Snickers bar….. and inner peace.