The ailing US dollar

Over the course of our five month stay here the dollar has more or less steadily declined in value. When we arrived one US dollar was worth well more than eight Botswana pula. Now one dollar hovers right around seven pula or even dips below. Indeed, in the course of our stay the rent for our flat has increased about 50 dollars per month! At the same time, when I go to sell my car for pula in another month's time I will do better with the stronger pula. Many things, including food, are still much cheaper here than in the US, helping to make this sabbatical possible.

Pula, of course, means 'rain' in Setswana and is also a cheer that is used in celebration (rain being so precious in Botswana). Coins are called 'thebe.' On this 100 pula note one finds the three chiefs who are memorialized in the Three Dikgosi Monument in Gaborone, among other places.