Today was a free day, but there were just a couple of things I needed to do: go to the bank to get out some money in US dollars to pay for the accommodation here, and get a local sim card with a decent amount of data so I can hotspot the computer from the phone. Should be simple.
“Should” does not always equate to “is.”
First we went to the bank. The only parking spot available was right at the back of the parking lot, so quite a hike to the entry. Never mind, this would cross off one of my two chores for the day. Simply present my international debit card and ask for US cash. But no, they don’t accept Mastercard, only Visa. Do I have a Visa card? No, I have a Mastercard. What kind of bank does not accept Mastercard?
We went to the next bank. The teller downstairs couldn’t handle it, we had to go upstairs to the Foreign Exchange area. Yes, they could do it, but it was going to cost me $US40, plus 4% of the transaction. No happy, but if that’s what it costs, that’s what it costs. The guy put in the details for the transaction on the EFTPOS machine, I entered my password, and in a minute I would have the cash I needed. Nope. My card refused the transaction. No reason – I had plenty of funds in the account. I’m beginning to think this you-beaut whiz-bang international card is good for ATMs and pretty much nothing else. This is the fourth of fifth time it has refused a non-ATM transaction for no reason. I asked the bank guy, “Don’t you have an ATM?” Yes, they do, but it only gives out local currency, not US$. However, he told us about another bank that does have an ATM that gives US$.
By this time, however, I was hot and bothered, and frustrated with the whole process, and I really wanted to get online and check my balance just in case there was any problem that had caused the refusal. Could we please just go and get the sim card, so I could get online, then do the bank tomorrow? It took some effort to convince Domitien to do this, but finally he agreed and took me to the place to buy and register a sim. (Everywhere else, someone has got a sim in their own name and given it to me to use, but here they wanted me to register it officially.)
More frustration. I kept trying to tell the guy selling the sims that I don’t need talk and text – there is nobody local that I would want to talk or text to, as I do everything through WhatsApp – but I need at least 5gb of data so I can hotspot the computer. He pretty much ignored me, and in fact was quite rude – he needed my passport for the registration, and when he handed it back he gave it to Domitien instead of me, as if I wasn’t there. When I asked how much data was on the sim, it turned out to be 500mb – barely enough for a day of computer use. At that point I’m afraid I really lost my cool. I just kept stressing, “I need at least 5gb of data. I don’t need talk and text.”
Finally they got it sorted, added an extra 10gb data, and installed the sim. Even then it appeared at first to not be working. But eventually it showed I had data, and I settled down.
Back to the guest house, turn on the computer. Great, now I can catch up with a month’s worth of messages on Facebook from when I was not able to access it in Uganda, as well as check my bank and email and update this blog.
Nope. Think again. Computer shows that I am online, but refuses to open any sites or to connect to my email. Domitien suggests that the internet reception in the house here is bad, he sometimes has trouble getting through on his phone. I have the bright idea of moving out to the front porch, to see if it is any better there. Slight improvement, but because of the bright sunlight I can barely see the screen, and my cursor is having a great old time dancing around everywhere, out of my sight. I manage to get on Facebook for five minutes, then lose it again. Can’t get on to anything else. I give up in disgust.
The alternative is to go over to Domitien’s place and work from there. He assures me that he has good reception, so there should not be a problem.
But the day has one more frustration to throw at me. We arrive there only to find that the power is out. Not initially a problem, the computer is fully charged, but it’s late in the afternoon and by the time I am nearly finished it is almost impossible to see the keyboard.
It’s not a Friday, but the 13th has certainly lived up to its reputation today.