DH is back from Central America, where he spends three weeks every year with some of his graduate students. He is amazed at how in one year, the cost of living has skyrocketed. DH enjoys being immersed in the culture and likes to talk to the locals (DH and I are both fluent Spanish-speakers). The wages of the typical worker (hotel and restaurant workers, drivers, etc.) have remained the same. However, food, clothing, and many basic necessities (e.g., bus fares, taxis, and tuk-tuks) have increased in some cases by more than 20% from a year ago. The minimum wage is about $175 a month. In the bilingual school where DH and his students worked, local Spanish-speaking teachers are paid $250 a month; English-speaking teachers (typically from USA, New Zealand, or Australia) are paid $500 monthly, double the salary albeit still very low by our standards. In my opinion, it is unfair to have this double-standard but they cannot get native English speakers to work otherwise.
On a brighter note, here is a link to a good article from Money Magazine,
18 Ways to Beat Inflation:
And we think inflation in the USA is bad?
June 15th, 2008 at 02:31 pm
June 15th, 2008 at 11:58 pm 1213574288
our minimum wage is $175 (soon to be raised to an "impressive" $200)...as a bilingual administrative assistant, I was considered well paid at $800 (I changed jobs a year ago and am now making more than that!)...and, yes, prices HAVE soared!... 2 weeks ago I bougt a 3 lb bag of detergent for $1.65...yesterday, I found that same bag marked $2.00...and I paid $1.39/pound for chicken...honestly, I don't know how people can manage to live on minimum wage here!
June 16th, 2008 at 01:54 am 1213581268
June 16th, 2008 at 02:04 pm 1213625096