I realized again that my perception of “expensive” has changed when I bought a coconut (too fast, from the car window). I wanted to pay 1000 Leones for it and ended up paying 1500. Feeling annoyed at the price I paid (not at the principle of the thing, interestingly enough) and for a second I was unhappy about that lovely coconut! I had to talk myself out of being worked up!
I can relax. 1500 Leones is $0.36. I have plenty plenty (thank you). There are 4200 Leones in a dollar.
Roadside popcorn or bagged water here is 500 ($0.12), a metal kitchen scrubber is 1000 ($0.24), a bottled Coca Cola is 1500 ($0.36), and a book is 5000 ($1.20). Pretty reasonable. There are a lot of things that are disproportionately expensive given the daily wages, though. Gas, for example, is around 17,000 ($4.00) a gallon. I have actually laid awake at night thinking about gas prices because it stresses my Sierra Leonian co-workers out so bad!
Average daily wage in Freetown is 4000-17000 Leones ($1-4) a day. The largest bills here are worth 10,000 Leones ($2.38). Credit cards are not used.
I am anticipating that this shift in my perception of money will be a minor source of “culture shock” when I get home. I suppose we’ll see. How much is a coconut in the U.S?
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