Currency Smart

In some places you have to be Currency Smart as well as Linguistically Smart.

When I was in Northern Ireland in June 2010 I had Euros (since we started and were ending in the Republic of Ireland), English Pounds (since we were going to London, England) and Northern Irish Pounds from the 3 different Banks there.

There are Northern Irish Pounds issued by the Bank of Ireland, Danske Bank and Ulster Bank (which are only accepted in Northern Ireland and a few Irish Border Towns or at any Bank in the UK for the local Pound at par.)

You can’t just use English Pounds anywhere since that shows you are a Loyalist/Protestant and you can’t use Euros since that shows you are a Republican/Catholic.

The same with the 3 different types of Irish Pounds by the 3 different Northern Irish Banks. Of course speaking with an American accent got me out of any kind of trouble for using the “wrong” Pound in the “wrong” Place (ie. a Protestant-Friendly Bank Pound in a Catholic Area or a Catholic-Friendly Bank Pound in a Protestant Area.)

I was once called a “Taig” which is a derogatory term for a Northern Irish Catholic.

I was also once called a “Prod” which is a derogatory term for a Northern Irish Protestant.

I know some Brits that use an American Accent when they travel to certain parts of the UK and NI so they can’t be “found out.”

I simply said I was an American and then everything was fine. I also tried to use my Credit Card as often as I could.

I will say that the people I met in Northern Ireland were friendlier and more helpful than the ones I met in the Republic of Ireland or in London – maybe because they knew we were Tourists and they got so few of them.

 

It was the same when I was in Bosnia, Croatia and Montenegro in December 2010.

Even today there are Ethnic and Linguistic Rivalries between the: Slovenes, North Macedonians, Croatians, Serbs, Montenegrins, Bosnians, Kosovars, etc. stemming from Centuries-Old Issues, World War 2 and of course the different Wars in the Former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

All the different Languages (once Called-Serbo-Croatian) are largely mutually intelligible with one another so a person who knows Croatian (written in the Latin Alphabet) can understand a Serb (written in the Cyrillic Alphabet.) When speaking there is no Alphabets and it is easier to know the Ethnicity of the person – for those that look for that kind of thing.

We had several individual private tours when in Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro and our guides would only speak in English even when speaking with the Locals so that the Bosniak Local couldn’t tell the Guide was Croatian or the Bosnian Serb Local couldn’t tell our Guide was Montenegrin, etc.

I also learned the Local Words for Thank You in Croatian (Hvala), in Bosnian Latin (Hvala), in Bosnian Cyrillic (Хвала) and in Montenegrin (Hvala.)

As for Currencies:

At the time Croatia used the Kuna (it now uses the Euro), Montenegro used the Euro and Bosnia used the Convertible Mark, but everyplace accepted the Euro.  

I had no issues using my Kunas in Croatia and no issues using Euros in Montenegro or on Bosnia (almost no place accepted Credit Cards.)

I did have Bosnian Convertible Marks, but never used any while in Bosnia because the Serbian Part of Bosnia (called the Republika Srpska) had Convertible Marks with Cyrillic first and the Bosniak Part of Bosnia (called the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina) had Convertible Marks with Latin first.

I didn’t want to have any trouble so just used Euros everywhere in Bosnia.

To be fair I met some of the nicest and most helpful people in Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro. Maybe it was because they knew we were Foreigners.

 

When I went to Israel and the West Bank in October 2017 I had Swiss Francs (because we also went to Switzerland), Israeli New Shekels, Euros and American Dollars.

In Israel we could use the Israeli New Shekels anywhere, but not in the West Bank (even though it is technically allowed and the Israeli New Shekel is written in Hebrew, Arabic and English.)

I used either American Dollars or Euros in the West Bank and had no issues. Israeli Citizens are forbidden to go to the West Bank under both Israeli Law and Palestinian Law so the Palestinians there knew we weren’t Israelis.

In a lot of places in Israel you could also use American Dollars or Euros if you didn’t have any New Shekels.

I also learned to say Thank You in Hebrew: Toda - (תודה) and in Arabic: Shukran - شكر)

 

Those are just some of the places I have been to and had issues with Currencies or Languages.