It's Not About the Money, Money, Money

Yesterday, I made another visit to the town bank. Thankfully, this time, it was not to get something notarized and to order money while pressed for time - though I must say, I lucked out with ordering money, as I was able to get the currency I needed. A note for the future: any currency you need can be provided by your local M&T bank, even if there are only a thousand people in your town. The bank simply orders the currency from wherever the currency is stored. This is something I heard from a Senegal-bound student and then tested myself - I was surprised that, one, I was able to get West African francs in the US, two, I didn't have to go to Baltimore to get them, and, three, it only took them three business days to come. Anyways, I headed back to the M&T bank yesterday to pick up the francs I'd ordered.

I received 100,000 francs, which is roughly equivalent to 200 USD. I know, the exchange rate is interesting: it's much different from the Euro, which was only worth a bit more than the USD. I received 10 bills worth 10,000 francs each: each was basically the equivalent of the 20-dollar bill here in the US.

Here's a picture of one side of the bills I received:



The other side has a wooden mask and symbols indicating a theme of telecommunication. The bird design on this side of the bills indicates that these are relatively new bills, issued in 2003 or later.

Along with Senegal, the francs are the official currency of Benin, Togo, Niger, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Burkina Faso, and Cote D'Ivoire.


This map shows the countries that use the West African franc in green. They also show the countries that use the Central African franc in red.

It's interesting to read about different countries that use the same currencies and about the currency of other countries, since the Euro is the only international currency typically referenced in the US.

Speaking of interesting, that would probably be the best word to describe the look on my face when I realized that I really, actually was going to have to spend all of these francs in a month. However, I can't say that I don't know how I'm going to spend my 200 USD: I'll be incredibly frugal in the first couple of weeks and end up frantically buying presents for my friends and family in the last week. I'm frugal, to say the least - here in the US, I rarely shop (I dislike shopping; I find it rather pointless), and only buy things when I need them AND they're cheap. However, I think exploring the markets in Dakar should be exponentially more exciting than being dragged into Forever 21 by my sister! I've always pictured the typical African city market - full of life and color, so I'm incredibly excited to explore.

On another topic, I was in Annapolis today (yes, in the pouring rain). My main mission was to acquire an apostille for my birth certificate, which I need for my Argentine visa. My second mission, which I daresay was much more exciting than acquiring an apostille, was to purchase host family gifts for Senegal. I bought a variety of adorable crab-themed and Maryland-themed goodies to give to my host family in Senegal - therefore, another item was crossed off my to-do list for Senegal!

I have to say, I'm crossing off items from my to-do list much too quickly. When I've got two days left in the US and I'm already packed, have my plane and bus tickets, and don't have to rush around getting currency or a credit card (last year, for Europe, I thought I might have to go to the Arundel Mills Mall, an hour and a half away, two days before I left, to get Euros), I don't quite know what I'm going to do!