crab sandwich

Around these parts, most everyone is obsessed with how much things cost.

The other day I strolled two blocks up to the basketball court to shoot some hoops with a new ball I bought for a friend here.¹ One of the other residents of the Olympic Village was walking by and made a gesture to pass him the ball. I gladly obliged and he dribbled through his legs a few times with the skill of someone who knows how to play.²

– Hmpf. Nice ball. How much?

Whether it’s an iPad, soccer shoes, a bicycle or a trucker hat, “how much” is usually the first thing an Angolano wants to know.

For some reason I usually lie a little and give a figure below what I actually paid. Maybe I don’t want to give the impression I buy expensive things, or maybe I want to downplay the quality of whatever it is they’re asking about. I’m not exactly sure. But in the case of the basketball, I had no reason to fib: it’s just a $20 jobby from Sports Authority.

Futsal / b-ball court

Ten minutes later while I was clanging bricks off the rim (or missing the backboard entirely), a neighborhood boy of about eight stepped onto the court. I let him take some shots and eventually he drained a couple with a shout and a leap. High fives all around. After asking relentlessly “do you have another ball?” and “how many balls do you have?” and “where’s your other ball?“, he took the ball from my hands, looked at it and demanded, “How much?”

Even at eight, he’s already obsessing over price / cost / things.

To be fair, most imported items in Angola are mind-bogglingly expensive. The same ball in an Angolan shop might cost $75, and an iPad is more than most Angolans make in a year. And yet you see teenagers on the street touting smartphones and shooting videos with their tablets. Something tells me that when their friends ask “how much”, they’ll gladly tell them how expensive their new toy was.

It’s disheartening to see people who seem preoccupied with things rather than the things that matter.

Running water. How much? Consistent electricity. How much? A decent education. How much? Reliable health care. How much?

Then again, maybe it’s easier to ask a friend or foreigner how much [fill in the blank] costs than to ask a corrupt government to care.