Money- Money- Money

 Dear Friends and Family, 

Today was my last day at Chiang Mai University. I met with the community faculty team to discuss ways of incorporating clinical judgment activities into community activities. CMU requires135 hours of community clinical in their curriculum (which is impressive) and due to the number of students are able to assign students to primary care settings in a way that we have not be able to do.  It was a great discussion with much sharing back and forth and we promised to meet as a group via zoom over the summer. 

In anticipation of departing for Hanoi, Vietnam on Saturday, I wanted to go ahead and convert some of my USD into Vietnamese Dong. Money exchange shops can sometimes feel like those pay day loan shark places with a huge interest rate due to the fees charged.  I was hoping to get some money exchanged before I landed at the Hanoi airport as I knew I would need it for the phone shop in the airport, but also knew that the fee schedule for the money exchange would probably be high. 

My "handler" at CMU, a young man who is quiet but is ALWAYS making sure I have what I need and I am where I am supposed to be for meetings, as the nursing program possesses five buildings and my classrooms/ meeting rooms have been scattered between buildings 1 and 4 with a maze of pathways between them. So he recommended a particular Money Exchange shop that the university uses and made arrangements for a university van to take me there today after my last meeting ended about noon. 

In my brain, I vassilated between the movie, Cabaret, song "Money Makes the World Go Round" and the ABBA song, "Money, Money, Money" as I walked into the shop.  

  
I am carrying $450 in USD and exchanged just $100 of it.  This may become a lesson learned much like the phone/ SIM card mess I experienced earlier in my time here in Thailand.  I probably should have just converted $400 of it to Vietnamese Dong as I will be there 1 1/2 weeks and I'm staying in a hotel that is just a room- meaning I'll have to eat out all of my meals for those days. The upside to this is Lee and I have converted our USD in Hanoi more than a few times and there are multiple banks located near my hotel. Using a bank for foreign currency exchange is wiser than a shop but I trusted my Thai go-to person and went seeking $100 in conversion. 

 

Hiccup #1- Of course there had to be a hiccup!  It would not be an adventure otherwise :-)

I had emailed my CMU contact asking if I needed my passport, to which he said "yes".  Sigh. My passport was secured in my apartment. 

There we go.  I figured that I would take the CMU van back to my apartment, get my passport and have to personally pay for a Grab for the round trip to the exchange shop.  Nope- My handler to the rescue.  He had a photocopy of my passport, so hooray- I probably saved $5-6 in Grab transportation and more importantly, time.  I have a 3PM appointment with someone totally on the other side of Chiang Mai. 

Hiccup #2- Well, not a hiccup just a bit of confusion on my part but continuity in formatting is called for here.  The young man at the Money Exchange who spoke English was facilitating my transaction.  However, he spoke very quickly in heavily accented English.  I told him that I wanted to pay for the exchange fee in Thai baht, but wanted the $100 in Vietnamese Dong. "no fee"  "no problem".  Hmmm.... they are not doing this as a form of diplomacy.  There's got to be a fee.  

                                      

                                          Ooops.  Notice the no photo sign under the screen. 

                                          They did not seem to mind though.  Thank goodness!

He whipped the cash out of the drawer and presented me with it, 500,000 VD, 1,000,000 VD, 1,500,000VD and so on until he came to the total.  Then he asked for 10 in Thai Baht (equivalent to about $0.35).  Okay, I presented him with a 10 Baht coin to which he seemed delighted.  I however was feeling a bit lost but in for a dime, in for a dollar (probably not the best analogy in this case).  

He then presented me with two receipts.  One says 3,225.60 and the other says 3,215.  In what?  USD? (goodness no), Bhat?, Vietnamese Dong?  I thanked him for his assistance and returned to my patiently waiting CMU van driver and off we went to the apartment holding my breath that I had not been flim-flammed.  I did not suspect so given the recommendation source. Now, an hour later- as I look at the receipts, light is dawning!!! 

First, the Money Exchange converted my $100 USD to Thai Baht (3,215) (32.15 Baht= $1US today). THEN, they convered the Baht to Vietnamese Dong.  There was a fee (of course) but it was $4.65. That is certainly a doable figure and much better than I would have gotten at the Hanoi airport. Drats!  Should have asked if they could convert $400 of my USD.  Oh well. There's that lesson learned business again.

Sidebar:  I bank at Bank of America. I was able to order Thai Baht before ever leaving the US.  It came to the branch that I designated for a $7.50 fee. What a convenience! Unfortunately, they do not do the same for Vietnamese Dong. I heartily recommend the BOA service. 

So, I still have Thai Baht to get me through to my Saturday afternoon flight and since Lee and I are already talking about returning, I'm not going to try and unload it, but bring it home to get our next adventure here started. 

As Liza Minnelli said, "Money makes the world go round!"  

Until my next entry. 

Stepping Off the Sidewalk..... Into New Adventures

Karen

Disclaimer: The content of my writing strictly represents my personal views and not those of the University of Florida, the U.S. government, the Department of State, or partner organizations.