COST OF BREAD TRIPLES IN PRICE!
The cost of food/housing has been going up for the last year or more but this last month food proces have skyrocketed. Bread, which used to cost 5 soms has gone up to 16 soms. A large bag of flour, around 30 lbs., has gone from 1,150 soms(what we payed 3 weeks ago) to 1,500 soms and is expected to go up to as much as 2,500 soms when Ramazan(the islamic month of fasting we are currently in) is over. Oil has doubled from 45 soms a liter to 95 or more. dairy products and pretty much all other food items have gone way up as well.
The dollar is falling. It has been falling for years here now. When i first came here the exchange was 49 soms to the dollar. Today - 33 soms to the dollar. last night we saw it drop to 30! there are rumors saying it will go back up next month but regardless the american dollar is still worth significantly less than what it was a few years ago.
this sudden increase of food prices and the dropping value of the dollar does affect me but not as much as it does the people here. this time of year is when most locals would be canning fruits and vegetables to get them thru the winter but many are not able to afford do this now. normally you could buy tomatoes for about 4 or 5 soms per kilo, but the price has never dropped and remains around 12 to 20 soms.
i realize these things don't affect most of you and are hard to understand maybe. even for me it's hard to fully comprehend how it affects peolple here but i do hear people around town talking about it.
The other day i was buying bread and an old russian lady came in complaing about the p[rice of bread, which has been going up everyday. on marshrutkas(public mini buses) i hear people talking about it. anyway just a bit of life here right now i thought i'd share. if you would like to know more just let me know.
Also, not quite as disturbing as the drop of the dollar, but still disturbing for skinny people like myself has been the rapid drop in the temperature recently and quite suddenly. it was down to -2 celsius last night.
The cost of food/housing has been going up for the last year or more but this last month food proces have skyrocketed. Bread, which used to cost 5 soms has gone up to 16 soms. A large bag of flour, around 30 lbs., has gone from 1,150 soms(what we payed 3 weeks ago) to 1,500 soms and is expected to go up to as much as 2,500 soms when Ramazan(the islamic month of fasting we are currently in) is over. Oil has doubled from 45 soms a liter to 95 or more. dairy products and pretty much all other food items have gone way up as well.
The dollar is falling. It has been falling for years here now. When i first came here the exchange was 49 soms to the dollar. Today - 33 soms to the dollar. last night we saw it drop to 30! there are rumors saying it will go back up next month but regardless the american dollar is still worth significantly less than what it was a few years ago.
this sudden increase of food prices and the dropping value of the dollar does affect me but not as much as it does the people here. this time of year is when most locals would be canning fruits and vegetables to get them thru the winter but many are not able to afford do this now. normally you could buy tomatoes for about 4 or 5 soms per kilo, but the price has never dropped and remains around 12 to 20 soms.
i realize these things don't affect most of you and are hard to understand maybe. even for me it's hard to fully comprehend how it affects peolple here but i do hear people around town talking about it.
The other day i was buying bread and an old russian lady came in complaing about the p[rice of bread, which has been going up everyday. on marshrutkas(public mini buses) i hear people talking about it. anyway just a bit of life here right now i thought i'd share. if you would like to know more just let me know.
Also, not quite as disturbing as the drop of the dollar, but still disturbing for skinny people like myself has been the rapid drop in the temperature recently and quite suddenly. it was down to -2 celsius last night.
posted by tony at 10:00 PM
<< Home