14.6

What a week for the peso. Since making the decision to move to Mexico, the peso has dropped over 30% and continues to make historic drops each day. I've been watching the peso since September, trying to decide when would be a good time to send money home to pay off school debts and other things. I kept hoping the 11 would go back to 10, then the 12 back to 11, the 13 back to 12, and now really wondering if the peso will ever drop below 14 this year. And trying to predict its variability is as confounding as predicting Texas weather. The Bank of Mexico even tried to buy pesos yesterday to pull the peso back up, but to no avail. 

In a conversation with a fellow expat co-worker today, she moaned the fact that teacher salaries here don't add up to much when there are debts to pay back home. She calculated that she makes about $4 an hour--maybe about average here in this country--but definitely not enough to send home. She said she'll be packing up her bags and heading back north when the school year ends. Vales keep her fed, but the cost of rent and debts are posing too big of a concern despite really wanting to stay. 

I'm thankful my husband has a job that allows us to live well here in this country, but our stomachs will be churning when we have to finally give in and send that money home at a 30% loss. 

UPDATE: buying up pesos seems to be working. As on Feb 6, the peso fell to 14.1!