Comparing the price of chickens

Being one of very few buleh (white people) in Jambi, everyone I meet here is extremely interested to learn about me and where I come from. Sometimes this only goes as far as the basics: my name, country of origin, if I can speak Indonesian, and if I am married and have children yet (This last one may seem strange to you, but for Indonesians it is far more strange that I am here single. They prefer believing either that I moved here with my husband or am suffering without my husband who still lives in the US). On other occasions, however, my nationality elicits curiosity and further questions about life in America. My host family, coworkers and neighbors often ask me if fill in the blank activity/food is the same “in my village in America.” After the immediate chuckle from thinking about my small hometown that still cannot be described as village, I proceed to answer their question. A similar situation happened the other day while having dinner at Sumi’s friend’s house when the husband wanted to compare wages between the US and Indonesia. I tried to counter his awe at the $6/hour average pay at McDonalds by explaining how much higher the cost of living is in America. I was dumfounded when this man then asked me “How much a chicken cost in US?” He clearly meant to ask me how much a whole, live chicken would cost at the market and then use that number to compare to Indonesian chicken prices. Reflecting on the packaged chicken breasts I usually bought in the supermarket I had to admit that I did not know the price of a chicken in the US. This possibly disappointing end to the conversation was saved when I offered the price of a meal with beverage at an average restaurant. The poor man was blown away by the number so I had to return to emphasizing the wage restaurant workers earned. He then thoughtfully retreated into personally contemplation of things I can only imagine.