let me try to live, in my mind at least, on $1.50 a day in the philippine context. at the current exchange rate, that would mean around 60 to 65 pesos. it's enough, but just barely, for a simple 3 square meals for the day and nothing else.
5 pesos - water from the nearest public dispenser; good for only one drink, but being poor, i'll spread it throughout the day
20 pesos - yes, this can still buy me a full meal, though fastfood fare is out of the question. the cheapest at jollibee costs 65 pesos, the package at 7-eleven is at 47 pesos. (the sizes of both, according to an american i overheard here, are enough to feed an ant.)
so i'll settle for that rice and fish at the turo-turo. no meat; the cheapest piece costs 27 pesos, thus it's out of the question. i'll consume all the rice (i need that for energy), but i'll reserve half of the fish (invariably, an inun-onan) for my next meal, which will now be rice and vegetables. again i'll reserve half of the vegetables for my third meal, for which i'll buy only a serving of rice for 5 pesos. i'll buy additional water for 5 pesos.
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