Max TP # 3

In our meeting on March 19th, Rebecca seemed distressed. I asked her what it was and she explained that she had to get to a bank today but didn't know when they closed or how she would get there. Naturally, I extended an invitation after we finished our assignment for the day. I oversaw as she answered a multiple choice worksheet on a reading passage. Most of the questions were in the model format of recognizing a detail of the story. After we finished that, we got in my car and were off to the bank. As I was driving I got to thinking, why did we need to go to *a bank* versus an ATM? She explained that she had to make a deposit in cash, and I told her we can do that at an ATM. Ironically, we ended up going to the Bank of America ATM that was in the FSU Student Union, which frankly was about as far of a walk as my car was from CIES. Her parents mailed her several thousand US dollars, all in small bills. It made me think of what it must be like in Burkina Faso to accumulate USD, and who's hands changed those bills before we did. I helped her with the ATM, as there was a long line accumlating, because we had to enter bills only a few at a time and there was a large stack. I'm sure it was confusing to those around us to see a white male and a black female, the female handing the male cash in the thousands into an ATM and operating the ATM on their behalf. Overall, it made me appreciate that in a foreign country, even small everyday tasks can seem like a stressful event.