Pay As You Go

Tanzania has a cash economy.  Everything is purchased with cash, never with cards.  There’s something fun about always dealing in hard cash. Drawbacks do exist, though.  Bank machines dispense bills of 10000 shillings ($6 CAD), but somehow my purchases just never seem to be a nice multiple of 10000.  And it would seem that the entire city is short on smaller denomination bills because shopkeepers are always making me work hard to get my change back.  You might also find it interesting to know that most services in Tanzania are pay as you go.  Currently, Marie and I are having a harsh introduction to this fact.  Our luku (electricity credit) has run out and it’s too late to go to the duka and purchase more.  So I’m writing this entry by candlelight.  All cellphone and internet plans are also pay as you go (by the way, cellphone plans are actually reasonable here).   Gas, electricity, garbage collection...pay as you go. Health care...pay as you go.  Clean water (bottled)...pay as you go!