A Champagne Lifestyle on a Lemonade Budget in Ecuador
By Edd Staton
By Edd Staton
IL
correspondents sometimes share their monthly budgets to help readers get
a feel for the ongoing costs of living abroad. Items such as rent,
utilities, and food are self-explanatory, but what about that nebulous
"entertainment" category? Expenditures can vary wildly from person to
person depending on individual interests and taste.
I’d like to invite
you along for a "double date" with my wife and me in Cuenca, Ecuador to
give you an idea of how you might spend an evening and what it would
cost...
It was time for
Cynthia to get her hair done, so she suggested I meet her afterward for a
drink at a "Gringo Night" gathering near the salon. The cut, color, and
blow dry she used to pay $120 for in the U.S. came to $36... and she
looked fantastic.
We walked a block up
the street to Fabiano’s, a relatively new Italian spot with excellent
food and very reasonable prices. There was already a big crowd there at
5.30 p.m., and, after greeting numerous friends, we settled into a table
with another couple. Both the conversation and adult beverages flowed,
appetizers were ordered, and we were having so much fun we decided to
stay for dinner.
Three glasses of
wine, two super-sized beers, an appetizer of six large garlic bread
"knots" with marinara sauce, plus a shared Caesar salad and lasagna
entrée later, our bill was $21 including tip. I calculated a similar
dining experience even at a chain restaurant in the States would have
set us back around $80.
It was opening night
for the Cuenca symphony, and we spontaneously decided to attend. The
event’s location was a church in a part of town we had never visited. We
had a general idea of where it was so we set out walking and, sure
enough, 20 minutes later we were inside and seated "center stage."
We love the symphony
but attendance had always been an extravagance because of the cost.
Decent seats back home ran at least $50 apiece...and that was mid-range.
(For the best seats, we would have paid $75 each.) Here in Cuenca
performances are free, as are many museums and film festivals.
After an exhilarating concert we grabbed a $2 taxi ride and were home by 9.30 p.m.
First let’s do the
math... $36 for the hair appointment, $21 for food and drink, plus a $2
taxi fare comes to $59. The same evening (this is theoretical, because
what I’m about to share would have been cost-prohibitive) in our
previous life would have run $120 at the salon, $80 at a similar
restaurant, and at least $100 for the symphony. We’re already at $300,
so forget about the taxi.
Now
throw in the extras that didn’t cost a penny—a lovely evening with
friends, an invigorating walk in the cool night air, the chance to
explore a new neighborhood, and an enriching cultural experience. As the
commercial says—priceless.
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