What a Dollar is Worth

As I write this the current exchange rate is about 47 Dominican pesos to one US dollar. It has been pretty stable throughout my PC service, fluctuating around the 45 peso mark. When converting in my head I round it up to 50 for simplicity's sake.

Dolla dolla bill y'all.

Here is a list of things that cost about 50 pesos or $1 USD.

• 1 botellón (5 gallons) of water safe for the foreign stomach.

A single serve (.5 liter) bottle of water? 10 RD ($.20 USD).

• 50 minutos of cell service 
• .175 liters of VERY low quality rum 

The local nickname for this stuff is chiribita - "sparks."

I can easily eat a full meals worth of calories for less than $1 USD.  50 RD buys:

• 5 sobres de avena lista (individual packets of instant oatmeal)
• 5 heads of ajo (garlic)
• 5 heads of organic butter lechuga (lettuce)
• 10 individually wrapped loaves of "bread" (think hotdog buns).  
• 10 huevos (eggs) bought wholesale by the carton of 25.
• 1 lata of tomatoes

• One used gorra, bought from a street vendor. It seems to be the standard price for a piece of previously worn clothing.

The last time I wore this, a woman called me Donald Trump

.

All of this probably seems pretty comparable to US readers, and it is, until we get to big ticket stuff.

For instance, that same $1 US will cover 2.5 months of our municipal water bill.

50 RD will also buy a 45 minute ride to the nearest town. Sure it's only 7 miles but gas is a lot more expensive here. When I left San Francisco (a 7x7 city) the going rate was $2.25 USD (112.50 RD) for any ride of any length.

A complete shave and a haircut? 100 RD, ($2 US). And by haircut, I mean "straight razor shave to the scalp", why is my preferred style. In a big city, I would pay 200 RD ($4 US) for such service.

A hotel room in Santiago, the nearest big city, is 750 RD ($15 US) a night.  Sure, the accommodations are on par with Motel 6, but it's located in the heart of downtown.

The largest single expense Cat and I pay each month is rent. For a fully furnished, 3 bedroom ranch style house with fruit trees in the back yard we pay 3750 RD - about $75 USD. I defy you to find a place in the US where you could rent a single room for so little. This $75 was after we bargained down from 4000 RD ($80 US) and locals still think we are getting ripped off. A Dominican family would expect to pay about 2000 RD ($40 US) for the same house sans furniture.  

Cat and I had an in depth conversation about money on her podcast El Cuerpo de Cuentos:

• Episode 1
• Episode 2