Being American in America

I have been enjoying my first week in Houston. I took a couple days to rest and then hit the floor running. I slip back into the routine at Patty's just like I have been here all along. I didn't go to the gym this week and I miss it - I am now 3 weeks without spinning class and my (old) abs already look slack. But this week, I promise, I will go get a one month's membership and get back in the groove.

(Marissa, age 5 days - photo not apropos to this entry, just that Sarah Lulu has been bragging about the coming of her new grandbaby and it made me think of these old photos - she was the most beautiful baby ever!)

Patty actually lives in Missouri City, just outside the Houston city limits and to the southwest. To avoid renting a car I take her to work in the morning then use her car until 4:30 when I have to pick her up. This somewhat limits my day but when here I need some limitations. I spent most of last week getting my eyes examined, a mammogram, seeing an orthopedists for my creaky knees, etc, etc and scouting out prices and options on electronics such as a new digital camera. There are doctors in Brasil but I prefer when possible to go to them here just so I can be sure of what they are saying and the focus on electronics because it is impossible to buy them in Brasil. The technology is at least a year behind and the prices 3 times as high.

 

I bought right off a new external drive for my photos. I have carried the one I had around for two years and it had a sound of a piece of plastic rattling around inside and was 95% full. The old one is 250 gb and I paid $160.00, my new one is a terabyte and was $137.00. A terabyte is 1000gb. Now I am trying to decide on a new small pocket camera and/or a zoom lens for my Nikon d40. The pocket camera is a must (having one not the new one). In Rio I don't carry my big camera around on the street. It would get me mugged or worse, I carry a little Sony Cybershot and have been very pleased with the photos it produces. The knobs and buttons are wearing down and beside I just like new cameras.... my old one is 8.1 mp with 3x zoom and there is a newer version that is 12.1 mp with 4x zoom. Probably in the whole scope of things there is not much difference - anyone have any opinions?

Currency exchange rates

After last week's Friday Shoot-out, I received several comments about the cost of food here - or comparison with food prices in other home towns. When I read the other's entries there were several that gave the prices of some meals then converted those local prices into US Dollars. I often get asked by friends in the US what it means when I say something like 'gas is R$2.63 per liter.' It means that gas is very expensive here.

All of this is about expats converting prices to their home currency then saying it is 'cheap' to live in Brazil.  Or when a news report says someone in Africa makes only a dollar a day. These kinds of report really have no meaning.  It is the purchasing power of the local currency in the local economy that counts.

 

I just read in http://expatbrazil.wordpress.com/ that "Approximately 9,200 people stood in line in Mauá, SP,  greater São Paulo, f or six hours to register to take the test for 120 part-time jobs with the Mauá’s county government.   Salaries for the jobs range from R$835 to R$945 ... per month." This is about 1.5 to 1.75 minimum salaries.   {like minimum hourly rates in the US}

 

If we go back to the gas prices I mentioned above, converting not the price but the volume is significant. A gallon is 3.78 liters.  So we have to multiply the price by 3.78 to get a comparison on prices of gas. A gallon of gas in Brazil would be R$9.95. To fill a 10 gallon tank on a small car once would cost more than 10% of the monthly salary for these Brazilians looking for a government job - if they even had a car.

 

Many expats are paid in a combination of local currency and in their home currency. Their companies pay them a living allowance in local currency plus put money in the bank back home.  If you want to live really well here as many expats do, (compared to their Brazilian counterparts) they must convert part of their home money to local currency also.  So converting currency to determine the true cost is okay.  I receive a small amount doing accounting and I'm paid in Reais - so for me the cost here is the cost. Even if I convert the gallon of gas to the dollar it still costs US$4.42 a gallon - Gas is expensive here. ** it cost me about R$125.00 to fill up my car, this last nearly a month - it is right at 10% of my pay. This is only one example of using exchange rates when living abroad : in my earlier blog I said, " My meal was R$9.62 and Camillo’s R$8.96." If I converted this to dollars by today's rate of 2.24 then my plate would have been US$4.27 and Camillo's lunch would be US$3.98 plus a soda or water - Yes it is cheap to live in Brazil if converted to American currency but the last time I was in Houston I went downtown to have lunch with friends - my pasta plus tea plus tax cost over US$17.00 which to me is totally out of line.... everything is relative to income...

 

go to this link to be SHOCKED and APPALLED!

http://expatbrazil.wordpress.com/2009/03/23/off-topic-what-does-a-trillion-dollars-look-like/