Last time, I talked about the purchasing power of a dollar in Kyrgyzstan versus in America. Rather, I complained about how much money my friends spend (sorry guys, I’m just jealous of your boogie). This week, let’s dive in a little deeper on the history of Kyrgyz money, what it looks like, and what it gets you!
Coming out of Harvard, moving to New York City, and living the fly fabulous life of a millennial consultant gave me an interesting relationship with money. I had a lot of it, I spent a lot of it, and I honestly wasted a lot of it. Well, I probably shouldn’t be surprised that joining the Peace Corps has put my life into rather harsh perspective,* but in many unexpected ways.
See, when many people think of joining the Peace Corps, they think about living in huts, eating food they don’t know, and some sort of stereotype of living in abject poverty and hunger. But, the thing is, I don’t live in a hut. I like my food. I’m not uncomfortable here. I’m not unhappy. I live a comfortable, rewarding, and happy life here in a lower-middle income country. Seriously. And I don’t spend a lot of money at all.
Tajikistan is a cash economy, which means that I’ve handled more cash in the past week than I have probably handled in the previous four years of my life (with the exception of my international travel in the past year). There are a handful of places that accept Visa and Mastercard, but out of fear of causing a card problem, I’m hesitant to use them. I might just give it a check in the next few days, just in case.
