Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Crazy Prices!

The cost of living here in Brazil is pretty comparable to the U.S. in some things. Like the price of clothes is about the same, food here is a little cheaper, and rent/housing is a little cheaper. But anything you buy, like electronics, cars, books, tennis shoes, just to name a few, are extremely more expensive. I like to think I've gotten used to the crazy high prices here, but sometimes I'm still a little blown away.

Before I continue to tell you the outrageous price I saw yesterday, I must explain a little more about Brazil. Cooking here is much different then the U.S. They don't have "prepared" foods here. Like packages of meals put together, or cans of soups. So I usually can't use any "quick" cooking type recipe because it always calls for a can of this, or a package of that. Everything is from scratch here and fresh. So I'm adapting my cooking skills as I go. And I must say, I can cook up a pretty good "brazilian" meal of rice, beans, and meat, if I do say so myself. :)

Anyway, back to what I saw yesterday. Renato and I were in our local supermarket to do our weekly grocery shopping. I saw something at the end of the aisle that caught my attention, because it looked unbelievably familiar. As I walked closer, I could not believe my eyes! They had CANS of Cambell's soup!!! About 5 different kinds! I was so excited I almost grabbed a few to put in the cart because like I said before, they just don't have this here. Then, I happened to glance at the price.... and quickly put the can back on the shelf. Again, I couldn't quite believe my eyes. ONE can of tomato soup was priced R$7.98. This price is in Brazlian money, but still. Even with conversion to US dollars it's $5.00. Crazy! I know it's imported, and I may get to a point that I feel I MUST HAVE some tomato soup, I may just pay that much, but let's be realistic here. My budget for the whole week is
R$100. So there is no way I'm going to shell out R$7.98 for a can of soup.

Just thought I'd give you another little snapshot into my life here in brazil. I guess I will never cease to be amazed at things here. :)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your pregnancy! I know it is hard to have to cook everything from scratch. However, soon it will grow on you. We cooked all "fresh stuff" in Cairo and now when I go to the market here I don't go anywhere near the pre-packaged foods!!!

Stacey said...

WOW! That is expensive for a can of soup. I bet the food made from scratch tastes a lot better! :o)