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Of the many lifestyle changes that I’ve gone under during my PCV experience, the switch from the go-ahead-and-use-it credit card based system of the US to the only-buy-what-you-need-to-use-now prepaid system of Mozambique has been the most unexpected. As opposed to getting used to bucket baths, or assuming that everyone who says “estou a pedir _____” (I want _______) is begging, prepaying for everything has created some the most unexpected inconveniences.

Never thought I would look forward to online bill paying

Once a month I go to my local Vodacom vendor, buy a 500 metical ($20) cell phone credit voucher, scratch off the code, and type it in to my phone so that I can still make calls to non-vodacom numbers. Another 50 mt ($2) Vodacom credit code gets typed into my computer when I want to connect to the internet. On an almost monthly schedule, I buy 300 mt ($12) of electricity credit from EDM (Energia de Mocambique) to purchase my 87.5 kWh that I normally use. Ofcourse, if I have a lot of visitors, or am running all night Tesla coil themed disco parties, I end up having to buy more before the month is out.

Buy energy credit. Type in the code. Disco away

Where as in the US, I would surf the internet while watching TV, running the dishwasher, and toasting a bagel, here I actually count my kilo-Watt-hours. Just last month I wrote down how much credit I had at night when I went to bed (25.6 kWh) and how much I had when I woke up in the morning (23.4 kWh) so that I could figure out how much keeping my outdoor lights on at night was costing me (6.3 mt = 23c). It’s not that I’m pinching pennies, though traveling to Quelimane and buying 2kg blocks of Mozzarella cheese (880 mt = $33, not sold in credit form) does make a dent in my minimalist Peace Corps stipend. It’s that I don’t want to wake up one morning without any energy credit, and then have to walk up to far side of town so I can buy more electricity before I have a cup of coffee.

Luckily, cellphone credit is much closer, but I still find myself wondering if I really should call some out of network person, because it will cost me 5 mt (20c) a min. Since you receive text messages and in network minutes free when you buy 200 mt or more of credit, and they acrew if you purchase more credit before the month is out, I now have 2795 free text messages and 3268 free in network minutes. So if someone with a Vodacom number wants to hear the repetitive Mozambiquean pop songs (If I marry you, will you marry me, my love. If I marry you, will you marry me, my love…) that are played at the nearby bar, just let me know and Ill set my phone up there for a night. For those who don’t have Vodacom, I can send you a text play by play of the most recent Coco vs Chicken matches instead.

Most recent match of Coco vs Chicken

Both of these subtle adjustments are because though my Peace Corps stipend is inspired by the movie 300 (Spartan), I am still pretty well off for Mozambique. For those that don’t have this type of financial freedom, it means they buy 20 mt (77c)of phone credit when they need check in on a sick relative. It also leads to them buying oil in 50 ml baggies (15 mt = 56c) and soap bars by the decameter (5mt = 19c). Not only does buying household items in such small quantities consume more time, it is also more expensive. Each time a smaller quantity is bought, a middle-man is taking a cut, or maybe the whole pie.

Take my recent attempt at buying TV credit for example. I had been hoping to watch the Olympics on Juvencio’s satellite TV, especially the opening ceremonies. So when I found out that Juvencio did not have satellite TV because he didn’t have the money now to buy another month’s programming code, I figured I’d act as the credit card. But since SkyTV doesn’t have an office here in Nampula, it wasn’t just a matter of going to the store and buying a code. Instead, we had to wire the 450 mt ($18) to Juvencio’s-friend-in-Nampula’s bank account, who would then buy us the code and text it to us. Unfortunately, this friend-in-Nampula spent the money on his wife instead, so we haven’t been able to watch anything. We’re going to have to wait till our payment is processed by this other middle man…..