Cost of Living

Although this country is abundant with fruits and vegetables and nice people, it is also tough, especially financially. While I normally write about how delicious and beautiful life is here, it's important to remember just how poor and tough life can be here for the Moldovans. And it will be especially tough in the upcoming months with the tough winter we are preparing for. I want to show some of the prices of goods I recently came across in an article in my region's newspaper. The article was pointing out the big price increase for buckwheat, a staple in the Moldovan diet. There has been a shortage in Russia where they grow it, and it is affecting Moldova. They also showed some other prices (most all showing a little increase over the year prior):

1 kilogram buckwheat:
2009- $0.63- $0.67
2010- $1.25-$1.42
rest of 2010- $2 - $2.25

1 liter sunflower oil: $1.25- $1.41
1 kilogram fish: $1.92 - $6.66
1 liter milk: $0.58
1 kilogram meat (cow): $5.83- $8.33
1 kilogram sugar: $1.08- $1.42
bread: $0.20 - $0.32
1 kilogram potatoes: $0.29- $0.50
1 kilogram cheese (goat): $4.58-$5
10 eggs: $0.83 - $1.25

While these prices illustrate the vast difference in prices from America, I must note that Moldovans are living in the poorest country in Europe. Several sources site the per capita GDP being just over $2,000 with a majority of people living on less than $2 a day. During training we were given roughly that amount solely for "spending" money, which was quite difficult even for only that. A 10-minute phone call to the states on my cell phone cost $3, so you can imagine I didn't have many of those. A beer in my town that I was training in was $1, so budgeting was pretty tough.

In my mayor's office my colleagues have told me they make roughly 1,000 lei a month, which is about $83. My tutor who is living on a pension receives $75 a month, and has told me she receives a higher pension than many people because of her 30 years of teaching in the schools. Farmers receive almost half of what she does, she said. During the summer people can get by, but in the winter things get difficult since so much of their money is spent on heating. A good pair of boots or a winter coat easily cost more than their monthly income. Since incomes are low this results in so many people working abroad and sending remittances back to Moldova to help everyone make ends meet. Moldova is only above Haiti in the highest amount of remittances received (money flowing into the country from abroad). Remittances make up a third of the country's GDP.

While many people living in cities need to buy all of these goods mentioned above in stores and the markets, most families living in the villages can live off their gardens... we have chickens, tomatoes, winter squash, cucumbers, pears, apples, grapes, raspberries, watermelon, pumpkin... Though now that summer and fall is over I've been noticing we eat a lot of rice, buckwheat, potatoes, turnips, and cabbage. What's interesting is that even though I know everyone around is struggling, they ALWAYS bring food--homemade jams, homemade bread, fruits, cookies, and sausage to work to share with everyone at lunch. I'm not short on invitations to join people for dinner or tea and cookies either. This community really helps each other out and I'm growing such an appreciation for their open hearts, despite their tough circumstances.