money, money, money

Hello, everyone! We met another Black & Veatch couple our age today. They have been here for 1.5 years, so they have been giving us advice and tips on how to adjust to our new area. I think they will be here for 6 more months until they go back to the U.S. We are very happy they are here and willing to help us. It makes things so much easier (and more fun).

Many of you might be wondering what type of currency is used in ZA. It is the South African Rand. It has the symbol "R" or "ZAR." It has been the national currency since 1961.

This is how the Rand is broken down into coins and notes:

Coins:	5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, R 1, R 2, R 5
Banknotes:	R 10, R 20, R 50, R 100, R 200

The exchange rate is approximately $1USD = 9.50ZAR. I basically divide everything by 10 because it is easier math for my still-jet-lagged brain!

Here is a photo of the notes. I think they are quite pretty! Each note has a picture of one of Africa's "Big 5" animals: rhinoceros, elephant, lion, cape buffalo and leopard. They recently began printing new notes (top row) that include differences in design and added imbedded security features. The older notes are on the bottom for comparison.

I don't have photos of the coins because we are constantly using them to tip the locals. It is normal here to tip just about everyone - from parking lot attendants who "guard" your car while you are shopping or eating to full-service petrol (gasoline) attendants. There are ONLY full-service petrol stations. Self-service stations do not exist in ZA, presumably to create more jobs.

Side note: we have wi-fi that usually works, so we can FaceTime or Skype. Call us! FaceTime is setup under my gmail email address. If you don't have it, let me know on FB and I will send it to you.

That's it for now. Hope all of you are doing well.
Love,
Jess & Mat