A taxi driver screwed me this morning. It was only a few dollars but it hurts because he was a friend. He had even told me what the price was at the start so I don't see how he could more than double it at the end. I didn't pay the full amount he wanted but I was too weak to put up a real fight and he was supposed to be my freind after all...
It also hurts because of my strict budget. I try to live off $10 per day. I spend $3 on my hotel room. The other things that I spend money on are food, internet access, soap, toilette paper, tooth paste and prepaid cell phone cards.
I probably spend $1.50 per day on cell phone minutes and I've decided today to stop that.
It obviously saves me $1.50 right away. But it also saves me money because every day someone asks me to chip in a dollar or two so they can buy their own prepaid phone card.
A more subtle way that not having a phone saves money is because now I'll spend more time with people who also don't have cell phones. Before people could phone me up and I end up hanging out with them instead of with Assad or Hassan. We hang out and they buy cokes and boreo cookies for everyone. Of course, it's a gift so don't worry about paying but really it's not polite for me to mooch from people either.
People who can't afford a cell phone also can't afford coke. Right now I can't afford Coke. Maybe my friends will still bum money off me for cigarettes but it will be Cleopatra brand instead of the foriegn things that Sharif smokes.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
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