January 21, 2017
Learning How to Pay Bills
There is the inevitable, wherever you are,
of bills. I wrote this blog on Monday,
August 1, after having been in Bolivia for a month. There were bills that I knew I’d need to pay,
so I decided that morning would be bill paying day. Except for restaurants, most places don’t
open until 9:00. Then they close at
noon, and stay closed until 3:00 or 4:00.
That gave just three hours to get everything done. (I later learned that banks stay open till
about 4:00, so I actually had a bit more time than I thought.)
First was my rent. My landlady texted me her bank account at the
Ganadero Bank so I could deposit the rent there. Ganaderos are all over town, but one is just
two blocks away. The process at a bank,
and some other places, is to get an automated ticket when you enter the
door. I wasn’t sure what I was asking
for, but pushed the button for the simplest I could think of, speaking to a
cashier. Then you wait until your number
is called and go to the indicated cashier.
I encountered two immediate problems.
One, the information for the account I am putting the money in is on my
phone. They don’t allow phones for any
reason. Two, they needed my passport
number. So I had to walk home, write
down the information, and grab my passport.
Then I started over. But I
punched in the wrong thing on the automated ticket machine. When I got to the cashier, she said she
couldn’t help me unless I used the machine properly. So I started over, sat and waited. I got the same cashier again. Part of me was angry at all the mess to just
deposit some money. But this is their
country, their culture, their method of doing things; so I had to be patient
and learn to do it right.
Between my two visits at Ganadero I visited Tigo, the phone company. I had not been getting texts on whatsapp, the app everybody uses here in Bolivia. Several were thinking I was ignoring them. Andrea, a friend, told me Sunday, that I needed to buy internet time to use whatsapp. So I went to Tigo to buy the Internet time. I thought I had done that, but it never seemed to work. I found out I had, but it had never been activated. Suddenly I had 20 messages pop up on my phone. It was fixed.
Next I needed to go to Cotas to pay for the
Internet for my house. There is probably
a Cotas nearby, but I don’t know where yet, so I went down to the Plaza. This was a lot easier. As I was getting my ticket, a salesgirl told
me to go straight to the cashier in the back.
There are a few people in front of me, but quickly I have paid my monthly
Internet and was done. A few weeks later
I learned that I could pay my internet at the small bank next door.
I have been wanting to buy a printer, but was waiting for my paycheck. Again my friends, Sandra and Andrea, told me exactly where to go and how much I would pay. They sent me to the Mercantil Chiriguano on the Third Ring. My taxi driver didn’t know where to go, but Andrea’s directions led me to the door of the store. They told me I would pay 300 Bs, but they were wrong, he charged me 280 Bs (Divide by 7 and you get $40).
On the way home I stopped at a bakery,
Wistupiku, to buy some salteñas. Andrea
told me about these on Sunday. They are
just three blocks from my house. I got
the cheese and the hot; I prefer the hot.
I also bought a small sonso.
Sorry, I was hungry and ate them before taking a picture.
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