I wish I could go to a market like this every weekend! Sadly this one is a couple hours away from Valencia.

In this post I’m not going to so much talk about MY money as I will tell you some average costs when grocery shopping since I just went to the market today. Hopefully after you read this you will consider teaching here or at least visiting (hey Mom!).

When I exchanged last I paid $1US for 84bs (Friday it was at 90!). So I will be writing the bs amount followed by the dollar equivalent at the 84 rate.

Things are cheaper when you go to the local farmer’s market, but they don’t give you a receipt so I only remember the cost of a few things. Everything else I got from the local Supermarket in town called Kromi on the same day.

Upside of the market is that you can find everything pretty fresh and really cheap. Downside is that it takes longer to find exactly what you want or you wont be able to find it at all.

Upside of big chain store is that you can find almost everything you want. Downside is that it is quite a bit more expensive AND waiting to check out seems to take me about 30 min on average.  I try to only go to these type of places once a month and just walk to the farmer’s market and go to other corner stores instead.

Farmer’s Market

1.5 liters of freshly squeezed orange juice- 110 bs/1.31

1 liter of freshly bottled coconut water- 80 bs/.95

1 loaf of fresh wheat bread- 50bs/.59

1 kilo roma tomatos- 90bs/1.07

1 kilo crimini mushrooms- 200bs/2.39

36 eggs- 110bs/1.31

Kromi- (most expensive chain grocery store in town but it has everything)

1 liter of boxed milk-80bs/.95

Average bottle of wine- 403bs/4.80

.75Liter Bacardi Lemon White Rum- 480bs/5.71

1 Kilo of tomatoes- 190bs/2.26 (I hadn’t realized how much cheaper the farmer’s market was until I saw this price difference!!)

500grams Bolognese Sauce- 56bs/.66

Spinach infused spaghetti noodles- 70bs/.83

12 eggs- 60bs/.71

1 bundle fresh basil- 17bs/.21

1 bundle fresh mint- 13bs/.15

1 bundle fresh rosemary- 8bs/.09

6 medium Limes- 38bs/.45

.73kilos of Bananas- 20bs/.24

12 rolls of Toilet Paper- 90bs/1.07

800grams brown rice- 20bs/.24

5 chicken breasts bone in- 160bs/ 1.90

420grams German Sausage- 150bs/1.75

750grams Artisanal Yogurt- 80bs/.95

These are just some items that I bought today, so if you want to know the price of a certain thing that is not here just let me know and I might be able to find out. As you can see, everything is pretty much cheaper than in the US by quite a bit (maybe not the milk) so you should come visit me!

Please comment! What is your favorite thing to buy in your local markets?  What is really hard to find?