A few years ago, a friend introduced me to the Big Mac Index. This index measures the cost of a Big Mac hamburger in countries around the world as compared to the value of their currency. It's meant to be a fun way to look at currency parity - whether currencies equalize over time so that the cost of items (like a burger) is comparable across countries. Basically, it's meant to make economics a little more accessible for those of us who aren't economists, and if you've never checked it out, I recommend doing so here. It's pretty interesting to mess around with.
The first time I heard about the Big Mac Index, it made perfect sense to me. Thinking back, I realized that I've been to a a McDonald's in a lot of the countries I've visited. Not because I particularly like their food (about the only menu item I'll eat is the ice cream!) but for a variety of other reasons. In Ecuador, a group of us would go to study / hang out after our weekly Bible study because McDonald's was the only place open that late. On various trips around Europe, we've stopped at McDonald's because we needed free WiFi or a safe and recognizable place to sit and wait for a train or give our tired feet a break. In Morocco, I went to McDonald's only a few times and mostly when I was homesick and wanted a McFlurry.
These accidental visits have added onto one another, though, and when I stopped to count them, I realized I've been to a McDonald's in nine countries across four continents, and I've noticed some interesting things.
In most of the places I've been, McDonald's offered similar menu items but with a few local twists. We tried the McRaclette and the quinoa burger in Switzerland, the green tea ice cream in China and the much sweeter green tea ice cream in Japan, and the Flake McFlurry in the UK. My husband bought a McChoconut in France and talked me into trying a bite...and a bite was enough! In a country of delicious pastries, I decided I'd rather eat fresh croissants than what was basically nuts and Nutella in a brioche!
In addition to the variety of flavors, I noticed the variety of prices, which got me thinking about the parallels to local societies. The prices mostly match what the Big Mac Index suggests - a value menu burger in Switzerland was the cost of a meal deal at home, but a McFlurry in the UK is about 3/4 the price of one in the US. (If you look at the Big Mac Index, these numbers come pretty close to the valuations for the Swiss franc and the British pound.)
In contrast, I hardly ate at McDonalds in Morocco because it was too expensive for the average person to afford; my fellow Peace Corps volunteers and I jokingly refered to it as 'rich people food.' The actual, physical price for a McDonald's ice cream in Rabat (Morocco) wasn't significantly different than in the US, but any time I went there, it felt decadent and extravagant. I also felt a bit like I was betraying my local friends and co-workers by eating there, many of whom had never traveled that far from home and certainly wouldn't spend their money at expensive McDonald's. When a McFlurry cost about 1/20 my monthly rent for a one-bedroom little house, it was hard to justify.
Dealing with money when traveling brings plenty of stress and frustration, but I appreciate the discomfort and self-reflection of moments like these. It can be so easy to take for granted the financial ability to simply buy an ice cream, and I forget that plenty of people don't have that freedom. It reminds me to be grateful for what I have, to appreciate my "rich people" ice creams when I splurge on them, and to keep finding ways to make the world better. I don't think Big Macs are quite my calling, but I'll keep looking!
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