Hard Fucking Day Too

And here I thought my problems were over.



This morning I went to the post office to get the debit card my wife sent via express mail. After my workday I went to the ATM closest to my place to get some cash, I would finally be able to pay my rent. I inserted the card, typed the pin code and selected 400€; the machine started working and then displayed that I could only withdraw 200€. I selected 200€ and got them. I inserted the card again, typed the code again and selected 200€ this time. And surprise I couldn’t get any more money. Nothing bothers me anymore so I went home and called my bank. I explained my problem to a woman, she told me that in France I could only withdraw 200€ from an ATM who doesn’t belong to my bank. I knew that my debit card allowed me to withdraw up to 700€ every 3 days in France. She corrected “yes 500€ at your bank plus 200€ at other banks equals 700€!” Can you believe such nonsense? The more things change the more they stay the same. With such a stupid system I will be able to pay my rent in 6 days, thank god my landlord is nice.
No need to tell you that I wasn’t a big fan of banks before but now...

La suite!

Pay Day

Today as I was going for lunch I noticed a long queue in front of the ATM of the only bank in the city. There are usually a lot of people inside the bank but almost no one outside to use the ATM; today though is a special day: it is pay day.



As few shops accept credit card for payment everyone has to go to the bank to get the money and go shopping; there must be a lot of mattresses full of bank notes on this island.
A little bit further, a small sugar market was installed, you could buy full bags which would weigh around 10kg or buy smaller amounts of sugar. I saw some kids running around with a full bag on a wheelbarrow or some people riding their bikes with the big sugar bag. Back at work I asked my Kiribatian colleagues, they explained that the island inhabitants love sweet things and they always add some sugar to the water they drink. Sugar is being sold on pay day when everyone has enough money to afford it. I wonder how many have diabetes on the island.




La suite!