Currency Comparison

I thought of an interesting blog: money comparison between the US and Cameroon.  Cameroon uses the western and Central African currency CFA.  Forget about checks, credit or debit cards.  Here in good ‘ole Cameroon is the cash system.  Towards the bigger cities, it is possible to use credit cards in, say, a grocery store (French one in Yaoundé).  However, I wouldn’t trust it. 

The Cameroon currency is made up of 10,000 CFA (20 bucks) 5,000 (10 bucks) 2,000; 1,000 and 500 ($1) respectively.  The coins are in 500; 100; 50; 10; and 5.  100CFA would probably be 20 cents.  With 100 CFA, I can get one bunch of carrots, a taz of tomatoes, 3 bananas (big ones), a medium sized green pepper, and small bag (sandwich bag size) of sugar to just give a few examples.  For $1 I can get a dinner meal (Spaghetti with a red sauce). 

·       Rent is 25,000 a month ($50) for a kitchen, latrine, salon, bedroom, and a bedroom/storage room. (About  ¾ the size of the upstairs of my parents’ house)

·       To buy a pange: 5,000- ($10) and to have it made: 3,000 ($6) is quite the deal, but also can be expensive if you consistently get dresses and outfits made.

·         A .5 liter of coke is $1, for a can of Pepsi found in the bigger cities is about 2 mil ($4).

·       For good Cameroon food found in the Muslim country, $3 can get you French fries, and Philly style steak (a lot of Maggi and vegetable oil).

·       To get from my post to Ngaoundere where we have our regional house for the Adamawa province: where one can access internet, have running water, and more constant electricity, is 1,800 (rounded to $4).  However, that’s for 4-6 hours of unpaved road, stopping for prayer hour and picking up others along the way….

·       If you want a wagon lit its 25,000 CFA one way.  Round trip: ($100) that’s an expensive round trip!! Luckily I don’t go down much to the capital Yaoundé.

·        Our monthly stipend is 175,000CFA.  Yearly we poor PCV’s make about $3300.  And some want to start at a $40,000 job in the USA.  Well, I’m pobre.

Well, that’s about all I can think of right now.  Being in Cameroon almost a year and half, I’ve come out of touch with the realities of expensiveness state-side and even Europe.  Á bientôt.