The mortgage crisis and the price of a piwo.

Let's jump in the Way Back Machine and set the dial to August of 2006. A wide-eyed American is in his first month of employment at AS-Dub and life is good. The benefits of working overseas are quickly realized due in no small part to a tax-free income in dollars, rent paid by the school, and a relatively cheap cost of living when compared to life back in the US of A.

"Way back then" you could buy 3.1 zlotys (Polish currency) for $1.00 and a pint of beer at one of those clubs with no-necked bouncers and a velvet rope cost around 10 zloty (about $3.20). It felt good to know that every fine restaurant and swanky bar in Warsaw was accessible to the common man. Well, maybe not to the common man, but to the common foreigner.

My rental allowance also covered my monthly living expenses (about $900). I even had a little bit left over to pay my electric bill. Not one penny of my apartment cost came out of my pocket. *sigh* I was living the high life.







I know what you're thinking. Next, he's going to give some pitiful sob story about the crash of the dollar due to the mortgage crisis and how life is sooooo tough now. WRONG! On the contrary, I am still very much in love with life over here, thank you very much. I am dating an amazing woman, fulfilling my travel dreams, and working at a world-class school.

The point of this financial analysis is to give you some perspective of how fortunes rise and fall given the fate of the U.S. economy. You read the Kielbasa because I hope you find it interesting, right? The correlation between Joe Blow trying to afford a $400,000 4 bedroom house on a $50,000 salary and the skyrocketing price of beer in Poland is nothing if not fascinating.






So fast forward to present-day Warsaw. Today, the currency is trading at 2.17 zloty for $1.00. The same beer is costing around 15 zloty ($6.90) due to Warsaw's deluded vision of being on par with other European Union capitals. This represents an astonishing 215% increase in 18 months. Just typing these numbers makes my pulse quicken and brow sweaty.

If the cost of a pint wasn't tough enough to absorb, I am now paying an additional $344 to supplement what the school gives me for my rent. Alright, it's not so bad since it only averages out to an extra $98 / month since I moved here. Damn . . . I'm usually such an upbeat person but now I wouldn't mind having a Pez dispenser full of Prozac. Okay, on the bright side, there is a place down the street where I can still find a 5 zloty piwo so upon paying my rent every month I can go drown my sorrows while planning my next travel destination.

I listened to an interesting episode of This American Life from NPR that explains the mortgage crisis using stories of ordinary people. Check it out here. By the way, I never thought I would become so addicted to NPR. Just one more thing I have in common with my parents as I grow older. I remember when the only thing we had in common was a last name. ; )

I hope all my stateside readers enjoy the Memorial Day weekend. Take the time to remember the true reason for Monday's holiday. If your here in Polska, enjoy the long four-day break from your daily grind. If you're not of the religious ilk, find out why you have a holiday so you can impress all of your Catholic friends. Na razie!