Saturday Morning and the Cost of Living

The peso falls a few cents everyday. Today it is 14.81 pesos to the dollar. I am reluctant to get money out of the ATM machine because it will be worth less the next day. So far the prices here have not reflected these changes. It is only a matter of time until they catch up to our valuable dollar. In the meantime I am enjoying my new found prosperity. I don't mind going out at night and having what I once thought of as expensive meals. Last night I went out dancing again at La Bodega. Today I hurt all over, especially my bad knee and fractured wrist. I am going to have to quit the dancing until my body is healed. But it is hard to resist the music.

I have no plans for today, Saturday. Maybe I will walk into the plaza, have breakfast and decide after that. I got a book at the LCS library yesterday, Paradise of the Blind. Written by Doung Thu Huong. It was banned in Vietnam. It is about a young girl growing up in Vietnam in the 1980s. About the crushing poverty and damage caused to her family by the land reform movement. But it is also about what a person owes to his or her family. How much do you sacrifice your own life for those you love? I can understand why it was banned. It shows a bad picture of Vietnam during that time period.

It makes me feel extremely fortunate to be living here now. In the States I would be considered in the poverty zone. Any set back could be potentially devastating for me financially.
I have no health insurance. My knee operation cost me two thousand dollars here. My friend had the same operation at the same time but in the States. It cost thirty thousand dollars! My fractured wrist cost me forty dollars for the doctor visit and x rays. I would guess it to be a lot more in the States. It makes me nervous to be up there. Things happen and in an instant I could lose everything, just from a hospital visit.

Here I can live comfortably on my income. I am saving money every month. Considering that I have no car here and no insurance, no taxes, no heating or air conditioning bills, no phone, no cable television, those things added together are more than I live on here. My only monthly bill here is my rent. Plus the food here is cheaper too. Again I say, this is a great life!