Show Me the Money $$$$$

At this stage, I have all my favourite local shops for all the common day to day items I need. Most of the items I need are in a shop that is about a 3 minutes walk. There are nearer shops but I enjoy the short walk on the main road and the shop is just in on a small quiet street. The day to day items, in the different shops are:

My Favourite Shop:-

• Bottles of Coke - tsh300 (18cent)


• Phone Credit - tsh5000 (€3) / tsh1000 (60cent)

My Banana Shop:-

• Bananas - tsh100(6cent) each

The Chip Stall:-

• Portion of Chips - tsh500 (30cent)

Another Drink Shop:-

• Glass of Passion Juice - tsh100 (6cent)

Requirements for Certain Purchases:

• Coke: I have to bring an empty glass coke bottle as the shop get money back for the empty bottles. If I don't have one, I have to drink it at the stall.


• Chips: Because I don't want my chips served in a small plastic bag, I bring a saucepan. Whenever the guy sees me now, he automatically reaches for the pan from me and knows I like tomato sauce on it. (The tomato sauce here is pink and doesn't taste as good but as the title of the blog says, TIA !)


• Passion Juice: 1 glass of passion juice isn't really enough, plus since it's their glass, I would have to drink it there,
  so I bring a flask which takes about 5 glasses.


• Phone Credit: Not requirements but FYIs. Sending a text message to another country on a Tanzanian network is cheaper than sending a local text between 2 Irish phones in Ireland.
  Ringing internationally is not the best quality. On a call to Kristin, for example, the lines were crossed and she could hear a Tanzanian woman more clearly than she could ever hear me. There is a small delay too but nothing too major. I think ringing Switzerland is cheaper than Switzerland ringing here which is also handy.

My daily lunch at work takes place at 1 of 2 restaurants, I can either choose lazy service or stupid service. Everyday so far, I've eaten chicken & chips (Cucu na chip). This costs about tsh2000 (€1.20) and a Coke is tsh400 (24cent) in the restaurants.

Dala dalas cost tsh250(15cent) during peak hours or tsh200(12cent) when the money man is feeling nice. And that's to go anywhere on the dala dala route.

So basically, most Tanzanian goods (and Coke) that can be bought from the small shops are dirt cheap but if you want the comforts you are used to, that'll cost probably more than at home.

Doing an internship in a tropical country while most of my friends are slaving away at work - priceless.