Change

Throughout the course of each day I participate in a strategic exercise running constantly in the back of my mind. This is manifested in the question, "How am I going to acquire more pocket change and refrain from losing the change I have already acquired?". This puzzle is a constant struggle for me. Change is suspiciously difficult to acquire in this country, considering how integral it is to the function of daily life. We rely primarily on taxicabs for transportation here, the fares of which more often than not are payed for in Quirsh, (pronounced like KERsh) which are the minted currency of Jordan. Seemingly a simple problem, this is exacerbated by the fact that cab drivers, as most businesses in Amman, are reluctant to offer change in return. Therefore, having precise change is imperative to not getting ripped off. This creates a type of change vacuum for the average citizen in Amman, in which coinage is constantly flowing out of one's pocket with no steady income coming in. Such is the magnitude of this issue that the value of possession of coins actually outweighs the value of the money itself. God help you if you get in a cab with only a Fifty Jordanian Dinar Bill in your pocket; such a thing is next to worthless.

So this incredibly interesting puzzle manifests. How will I get change? It becomes almost as important a question as, "Where will my next meal come from?". Like some sort of carrion animal, I and the other students stalk the bake sale table at out school, or the bill paying session at the local coffee shop, or any other situation where change is in abundance, waiting for the opportunity to exchange our bills for precious metal. On more than one occasion I've walked to the market to buy a pack of gum or some other trivial thing for the sole purpose of breaking a five. And when the frustrated proprietor attempts to hand back the twenty dinar bill that I am trying to exchange for the thirty cent cup of coffee, I have to politely insist that it is the only money I have available. He reluctantly obliges and, having won this round, I get the change I so desperately need.