03-13-2007, 02:04 AM
Aloha, Greg,
I'm sure Beachboy can back me up when I say that not everybody who lives on Maui is rich--not by a long shot. And, yes, it is expensive. That's why I don't live there full time. I have to make a living and Maui no ka oi, but no pay good money either, brah.
And before you get too envious visualizing me sitting under a palapa drinking margaritas: I'm here to work, trying to get some money together for retirement and maybe, just maybe live on Maui where I have most of my friends. But if that doesn't happen, I hope to be on Big Island where I own property.
You guys are right--Mexico is no longer the bargain it used to be. But if you live like a Mexican, eat at the restaurants that cater to the locals and stay away from tourist spots like this one--I've really never cared for northern Mexico--you can live a lot cheaper than in the U.S. still.
In the past I have found it to be easy to live more inexpensively on the Big Island. I tend to eat what the farmers grow or what drops from the trees or what I can grow and I stay away from most of the processed, packaged food that is so expensive. I don't know if this has changed, but I do commiserate with you and the sticker shock of the food stores. I like to shop health food stores and yeow! that can be pretty shocking. Mo bettah go on diet.
Here in Mexico I also stick to eating like the locals--muy barrato para tortillas, fish, tomatoes, chilis, onions, avos and fruit juice. Milk is the same price, but tastes so much better here.
Just think of the people who are really poor and how hard it is for them. A construction worker makes $25/day here.
A hui hou,
April
p.s. Beachboy--I certainly never said that a worker only get a Union job--I know they may have the only job they could get and are trying to feed a family. It isn't the workers who bear the responsibility for the company's bad practices. Although they could organize--WalMart is so vicious they would probably just fire everyone.
april
I'm sure Beachboy can back me up when I say that not everybody who lives on Maui is rich--not by a long shot. And, yes, it is expensive. That's why I don't live there full time. I have to make a living and Maui no ka oi, but no pay good money either, brah.
And before you get too envious visualizing me sitting under a palapa drinking margaritas: I'm here to work, trying to get some money together for retirement and maybe, just maybe live on Maui where I have most of my friends. But if that doesn't happen, I hope to be on Big Island where I own property.
You guys are right--Mexico is no longer the bargain it used to be. But if you live like a Mexican, eat at the restaurants that cater to the locals and stay away from tourist spots like this one--I've really never cared for northern Mexico--you can live a lot cheaper than in the U.S. still.
In the past I have found it to be easy to live more inexpensively on the Big Island. I tend to eat what the farmers grow or what drops from the trees or what I can grow and I stay away from most of the processed, packaged food that is so expensive. I don't know if this has changed, but I do commiserate with you and the sticker shock of the food stores. I like to shop health food stores and yeow! that can be pretty shocking. Mo bettah go on diet.
Here in Mexico I also stick to eating like the locals--muy barrato para tortillas, fish, tomatoes, chilis, onions, avos and fruit juice. Milk is the same price, but tastes so much better here.
Just think of the people who are really poor and how hard it is for them. A construction worker makes $25/day here.
A hui hou,
April
p.s. Beachboy--I certainly never said that a worker only get a Union job--I know they may have the only job they could get and are trying to feed a family. It isn't the workers who bear the responsibility for the company's bad practices. Although they could organize--WalMart is so vicious they would probably just fire everyone.
april
april