South Africa used to be a 'cheap' country. 1Eur = R9,50
Paid the Belgium physio today, and also received last account from SA physio. SA physio charge R222,50 for half hour session, Belgian charged me R195 per session.
SA doctor charge between R250 and R300 for a consultation, Belgium
doctor consultations are set at R180.
You can by a dozen large eggs for R8,50, in SA it it R14. Milk is
R5,50 here, in SA R8,50. Now of course you can buy 'free range' milk and eggs for R22/l and R36/doz, and that is the strange thing here, the huge discrepancies between the same product with just different labeling, even though it is well known they come form the same
factory.
Pork is much cheaper here than in SA, chicken slightly cheaper and
Turkey a lot cheaper. Beef is slightly more expensive and lamb
somewhat more expensive.
Bread and staples are about the same, BUT it depends heavily where you buy. The same thing can easily cost three times the price, just depend on what shop and what label, with almost no discernible difference in quality.
Eating out is very expensive in restaurants but take away places is relatively cheap. There are no burger places here, no McDonalds, Burger King, Steers etc,. You have to go to a big city to find one and then they are scarce. Fruit in general is cheap and they have this thing called Witloof or Chicon that I love... between onions and cabbage but not quite. It is closely related to chicory.
Cars are cheaper and houses (considering that the quality is generally much better) are similarly priced. Rental is very similar and interest rates are much lower, which is one of the reasons everybody is driving nice new cars and you can get second hand ones very cheap.
Cheese and wine is the same as in South Africa, you pay for quality.
Beers are the same price, just MUCH better. You can get a very good beer for R5 in the shops, but easily pay R25 for the same beer in a bar or restaurant.
People with small incomes lives well because working couples only need one car as public transport is so good. So the family budgets are small, and that probably sums up the Belgian people. They are physically dwarfed by the giant Dutch to the north, the strong Germans to the east, the flamboyant French to the south and the 'superior' English to the west.
Belgians are quiet, hardworking and modest people that are the 16th largest exporter in the world with no natural resources and a tiny, heavily divided population.
