I have not spent much money since I have been here. I neither have time to spend it, nor time to look for things to buy, nor time to shop, nor time to use stuff that I would buy. Moreover, there is nothing I really need. The army is pretty good at providing food, clothing, and most other eseentials. Other useful things come in care packages, like more food from home and toiletries. Once in a while I have to spend money, like when I want a haircut or some other things from the PX or one of the stores.
We have various money options here in Iraq. Most places accept credit or debit cards if they are Visa or Mastercard. Many places also accept cash, American cash. However, while we use American dollars we do not use American cents. We use AAFES change. AAFES is what used to be called (and sometimes is still called) the PX. AAFES is the army store and they have pogs instead of change, so it is rare to see a quarter here. Here is a picture of some AAFES change. They have all sorts of military pictures on them. We also have "Eagle Cash" which is an Army Debit Card which is accepted in almost every place on post that charges for something. There are machines that let you load the card with money that gets taken straight from your bank account and then you can spend the money using that card. The post office here takes Eagle Cash and Cash, but not the AAFES change. The "Haji shops", where you can buy pirated DVDs and software takes almost anything. The restaurants take all forms of payment too.
But again, there is just not all that much to buy here.
We have various money options here in Iraq. Most places accept credit or debit cards if they are Visa or Mastercard. Many places also accept cash, American cash. However, while we use American dollars we do not use American cents. We use AAFES change. AAFES is what used to be called (and sometimes is still called) the PX. AAFES is the army store and they have pogs instead of change, so it is rare to see a quarter here. Here is a picture of some AAFES change. They have all sorts of military pictures on them. We also have "Eagle Cash" which is an Army Debit Card which is accepted in almost every place on post that charges for something. There are machines that let you load the card with money that gets taken straight from your bank account and then you can spend the money using that card. The post office here takes Eagle Cash and Cash, but not the AAFES change. The "Haji shops", where you can buy pirated DVDs and software takes almost anything. The restaurants take all forms of payment too.
But again, there is just not all that much to buy here.
Those fake coins are really cool. Bring some home for us as souvenirs! And let us know if you think of anything else we can send your way.
ReplyDeleteAny idea why they don't use regular USA coins?
ReplyDelete