LLAMA'AS, LLAMA'AS, LLAMA'AS!

Buying minutes on the street

In Colombia you can have 2 different types of phone plans: pre-paid or post-paid. Post-paid is like having a plan, paying for one month and getting a certain amount of minutes and text messages. But most people my age have a pre-paid plan, where they just buy cards on the street or in stores to recharge their minutes whenever they run out (this is what I have).

However, if you don't have enough money to recharge your card, you can "buy minutes" on the street. Anywhere in Bogotá you can find vendors with cellphones selling minutes to make phone calls. They usually cost between 200-300 pesos per minute (about 12-16 cents).

In front of La Javeriana you can hear the yells every morning..."LLAMADAS LLAMADAS LLAMADAS!" (calls calls calls!) They do this all day every day. I can't imagine having a job like this, but I appreciate the accessibility of this service.