Sencillo

(image from Prensa Libre)

Guatemala is coming out with new 200Q (~$25) notes in November. I am sure this higher bill will only exacerbate the country’s chronic deficiency of change.

As it is now, 100Q is the largest bill in Guatemala. Most tienda owners, taxi drivers, and bus ayudantes react to 100Q bills as if they were poisonous snakes. They take a step back, shake their heads, and say, “Fíjese que no hay sencillo.” (I’m sorry, there is no change.)

In the case of tiendas, if your purchase is worth the effort, the owner will run out to other shops or find someone in the street (highly unlikely) to break the bill. However, if the owner or employee is lazy or your purchase is insignificant, then sorry, you’ll have to do without that bag of refried beans. And sometimes owners, not wanting to use all of their accumulated 1s, 5s, and 10s, will say they don’t have change even though they do (once I broke a 100 on a small purchase in a store immediately after a woman was turned away because there was “no change.”), in order to place the burden of searching for change on the purchaser.

With camionetas and micros the lack of change situation can sometimes be worked to your advantage. For example, the trip between Tactic and Cobán costs 6Q. If you give the ayudante a 100Q bill and say, “Sorry. The only other bill I have is 5Q,” then most likely he’ll take the 5Q instead of having to scrounge to give you 94Q in change. You just saved yourself 13 cents! But this tactic can also backfire. I know of volunteers who have received false bills after paying with a 100. That turns into a costly ride.

These frustrating situations arise because the ATMs only dispense bills in denominations of 100. You’ve got to make change somehow, somewhere.

Fortunately, I have found the perfect solution to avoid the change shortage. Every time I make a purchase at my favorite tienda in town I pay with a 100Q bill, regardless if the total was 10Q or 60Q. The owners, Raúl and Rut, always have change, and since I am their friend I never get the fíjese que runaround. I accumulate these small bills and coins to use in situations—bus fare, taxi fare, market purchases, etc.—where exact change is either imperative or at least will save me from a big hassle.

But when the new 200Q bill comes out, it looks like making change it going to become twice as hard.