I was chatting with one of the Egyptian ladies I work with at the library a while back and she was trying to convince me that it was less expensive to live in the US than in Egypt. Her reasoning? She declared that one US dollar was the same as one Egyptian pound but you can buy a lot more with a $1 US. That’s true, you can buy more with $1 US, but only because the current conversion rate is 1 Egyptian pound = $0.18 US. In the end, I think she was talking more about per capita income and percentages of income spent on living expenses rather than straight conversions, but no matter how I approached the subject she wasn’t convinced so I gave up – with her.
Instead, I will present some examples from my grocery bill here and let you decide. I’ve said it before, but one of the things I love most about living in Egypt is the produce. Each new season brings with it a delicious new assortment of tempting fruits and vegetables. Right now we have pomegranates, strawberries, and citrus fruit as well as new carrots and potatoes. Best yet? It’s all so affordable there’s just no excuse not to eat well.
(1 Kg is 2.2lbs)
cherry tomatoes : 0.75 kg for 9 EGP ($1.64)
10 bananas: 1.2 kg for 11.40 EGP ($2.07)
5 mandarin oranges: 0.61 kg for 2.77 EGP ($0.51)
5 clementine oranges: 0.54 kg for 2.43 EGP ($0.44)
5 Gala apples: 0.97 kg for 17.06 EGP ($3.11)
I didn’t buy strawberries this go round, but they generally cost about $1.50 for half a kilo. And this is shopping in my “upscale” expensive neighborhood shop where I’ve been told the prices are at least 1/3 higher than they are elsewhere. It boggles my mind to think things could be any cheaper. Is it any wonder I suffer from sticker shock when I am in the US all summer? I have never been able to get this much fresh produce in a store in America for so little money.
Why am I thinking your fruit must also taste fresher and better than ours does? Is it? Bet it has fewer miles on it than ours up here in the frozen tundra does.
(
by Mama Pea December 15th, 2009 at 7:21 amMost is grown in Egypt, aside from the apples and the Dole bananas
by Jenyfer December 15th, 2009 at 8:10 amI think the bananas on this grocery trip were the local bananas though – the imported ones are predictably more expensive!
by Jenyfer December 15th, 2009 at 8:14 amMan…..when it comes to fruit prices, I can see I would have sticker shock. Prices on our “fresh” fruit and vegies here is sooo expensive.
by Sandy Updyke December 15th, 2009 at 11:46 amOne of the many benefits of visiting MN in the summertime – fresh, free berries for the picking (grazing)!
by Jenyfer December 15th, 2009 at 4:11 pm