Everyone wants “small money” (piaster notes or 1 or 5 pound notes) no-one is willing to give them out as change. CHANGE – what is that? Practically no-one has change, or if they do, they’re not giving it to you/me/anyone.
“Mafeesh fakkah” = no change. Get used to it.
It costs 5LE for me to take a taxi to school – I have to have exact change. So does everyone else, so EVERYONE gives the taxi driver a 5 or 5 ones for fare. Yet if you give him a ten, he tells you “Mafeesh fakkah”. It is the same just about everywhere. If you try to pay with anything bigger than a 20, people can’t/won’t give you change. Just for reference 20LE is about $3.20USD. If I try to buy an 8LE coffee with a 20LE note, I get the exasperated looks, sighs and gesticulations that indicate I’m trying to break the bank! Even at the bank, they are reticent to give small money out. I tried to buy 20 five pound notes with a 100 pound note and had to INSIST that they give me the small bills!
I believe that part of it is that if there is no change given, then the change is left. I am ok with this in some cases: if my lunch costs 18LE, I give 20LE and never ask for change. I have issues with it when my taxi ride is 5LE and all I have is a 10.
There is also the oddity that there are no coins here. ALL MONEY IS IN BILL FORM. This means that the wallet is constantly stuffed with bills that are nearly worthless. A 10 piaster note is worth $0.017 or 1.7cents! There is a BILL for that amount. This seems ridiculous, yet the bills are around. AND if you ASK for them, you will be told, “Mafeesh fakkah!”
Get used to it