It can take a little while to get a handle on how much money is worth and how much things should cost in a new place. I'm starting to get the hang of shopping here, but when I'm asking about prices at the market I'm still constantly converting Guinean francs (GNF) to Senegalese francs (XOF) and American dollars (USD), trying to infuse the numbers with some sort of sense of value.
There are the official conversion rates...
1.00 US dollar = 6,908.58 Guinean francs = 504.68 Senegalese francs
...and then there's the actual purchasing power; 6,900 GNF goes a lot farther in Guinea than 1.00 USD does in America.
Here are some things that I bought yesterday:
Five small yellow bananas: 2,500 GNF
They turned out to have an odd, mouth-drying, sour residual aftertaste. I think I'll go with the bigger, greener ones next time.
They turned out to have an odd, mouth-drying, sour residual aftertaste. I think I'll go with the bigger, greener ones next time.
Two pieces of fried sweet potato with spicy stuff: 1,000 GNF
Hot and crispy and delicious.
I thought the peanuts were roasted and salted but they turned out to be sugared. Oh, well.
Big and small sheet: 50,000 GNF; three place-mats and a dishtowel: 20,000 GNF
Generally, things seem to be significantly cheaper than in Senegal, but for the most part the things being sold are the same - rice, dried fish, Goodwill clothes piles, greenish-yellow oranges, phone credit, mangoes, bread, palm oil, etc. There are a lot more avocados for sale here, too, and popcorn and lots of fried banana patties, which I'd almost never seen in Senegal.
Generally, things seem to be significantly cheaper than in Senegal, but for the most part the things being sold are the same - rice, dried fish, Goodwill clothes piles, greenish-yellow oranges, phone credit, mangoes, bread, palm oil, etc. There are a lot more avocados for sale here, too, and popcorn and lots of fried banana patties, which I'd almost never seen in Senegal.
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