Fake Bill Paranoia

What happened tonight brought back a memory of what happened when I exchanged my US dollars for Bolivianos for the first time in La Paz, and confirms the general sense of skepticism that I feel from many people here. When I first arrived in La Paz and exchanged some of my dollars, the bank tellers would not accept any bills with even slight tears in them for fear that they may be false. I thought this was ridiculous at the time, but let it go and forgot about it.

Tonight, I went to the pharmacy to buy something for Alicia (she has not been feeling well lately) with a 100 Boliviano bill (about $14.50). The pharmacist did not have change for me so I had to ask around to get change. After asking a few people with no luck, I asked two ladies selling cake on the side of the road if they had change. They did, so I was able to buy the things I needed and return home. As I was heading home, someone called behind me "Señorita, señorita!" It was the lady who changed my bill. I stopped, not sure what was the matter. "You gave me a fake bill!" she said. I was shocked! How could that have happened? "I am not a bad person" I tried to explain, "and I would not try to do anything bad to you such as give you a fake bill." Do they really think a gringa would try to give these poor ladies a fake bill? Come ON....

I agreed to walk back across the street to the pharmacy and wait for her friend who went away with the bill to come back so we could take a look. After about five minutes, her friend finally came back and was practically pointing fingers at me, saying I gave them a fake bill. "How am I suppose to know?" I asked in defence. "I am not even from here!" "Well" they replied, "it was the person who gave it to you!" Yeah, Alicia was really trying to give me a fake bill. Anyway, the other woman was not nice about it at all. I agreed to return my purchases, give them their change back, and take back my "fake" bill, which I thought was pretty nice of me. I even asked them to explain to me why they thought it was fake, in an attempt to understand. How ridiculous! If I were trying to cheat them, I would have ran away when the lady called for me in the first place! Part of me wished I had ran by that point..

When I went home I showed Cirilo (Veltza's husband) the bill and explained what happened. He said that the bill looked fine to him, and it should be accepted in other places. It was probably from an earlier generation, he said, and that is why it looks a bit different, without the shiny tape part. Those ladies were paranoid!!! I bet if I ever try to buy a slice of cake from them they will examine my coins under a microscope.

I walked home feeling astonished at what happened, and could not imagine living in such a place that lacks a fundamental sense of trust.