Every morning while I was staying in the Dominican Republic in January, I would get up, leave the hostel where I was staying and head one block down to the local breakfast stand, basically a white cart, wheeled to the curb in the mornings by an older couple. I would order an egg empanada, which was made by taking a pre-made flour tortilla (presumably made up by the wife the evening before, since there was always a stack of about 100 by the time I arrived), folding it in half, rolling up the edges and patting gently with a fork to seal, leaving only one end open. An egg was then cracked so that a dime sized hole was opened on the end, the contents stirred to break the yolk, and poured into the open end of the tortilla. This was immediately sealed and the whole thing dropped into the already hot oil. A few minutes later, the cooked empanada was fished out with a metal skewer and set on rack to allow the oil to drip and the empanada to cool. 10 pesos. Or about 30 cents US. I know that economies differ regionally, but it still amazes me how some people can make a living when their margin can't be all that large. Even a local Dominican restaurant, far from the tourist traffic will charge 3 to 4 dollars US for lunch. Compared to a fast food place in Canada, we're not talking magnitudes of difference. I guess it always makes me wonder if economies of some regions aren't existing in some sort of unrealistic bubble. And when I read that North America has 5% of the world's population, and uses 35% of the world's energy, well, for
somebody's economy, a bubble-bursting is probably in order.
Photo: Not breakfast. Worm composting in the DR which can increase yields and quality of vegetables, reduce costs and environmental damage by decreasing the farmer's dependence on chemicals, and be a source of income since the compost itself can be sold.
