We're Going Underground 🥡 Can We Sell Black Market Takeaway Fried Rice From Home?

I hope it doesn't sound like everyone behaves this way, but it's a high enough percentage that it's the first country I've ever lived where I've lost interest in learning the language, culture, and getting to know the locals more. So far no hits on the rice yet, but we don't have the social network here that locals do, and since there is no way to socialize with strangers in this country, making friends comes only with massive efforts. !ENGAGE 10

Thanks for the kind words. @Sreypov is an amazing cook, and she's come a long way since we met. I have to admit the fried rice is all mine though, at least Indian-style fried rice like in this photo. She does make a mean Southeast Asian-style fried rice that is outstanding. !ENGAGE 35

So far it's unsuccessful, but we have no social network here because we are foreigners and local people are very hard to socialize with. In Cambodian we once had a very successful cafe. !ENGAGE 10

We don't offer any delivery unless it's nearby where I could do it on the bike, but we haven't even had a hit yet. Surinamers keep tight social circles, trying to support the businesses of friends and families during this crisis. We don't fit anywhere into this economic model as migrants without friends. !ENGAGE 25

We have done some catering before through friends, but we've never taken the leap of trying to sell directly, lesson learned. You need to have a vast network of friends to have a successful business at this time. Well, we only lost $6 during this experiment, so it wasn't a big gamble. !ENGAGE 15

We might do that, but moving forward we've learned a valuable lesson. I think we should try and sell stuff to local restaurants to resell at a price of their choice. We had zero engagement on this offer, and I think locals prefer the 30SRD fried rice made from white rice, but it lacks seasoning and more than a few pieces of vegetables. !ENGAGE 15

Thanks, we are not thinking it will work, just wanted to try, so far no luck. The social scene here is very hard to penetrate, and there is nowhere to meet people in public spaces anyways. We now have weekend lockdowns and a 6pm curfew, so no deliveries or anything are happening after 6pm.

I think HIVE is still our best bet right now, even though it's the still the lowest paying job I've ever had in my life. I can no longer teach Khmer online because my former students can't afford $10 per hr for private classes. I have been thinking of doing a Patreon channel for learning Khmer, as it could be a cheaper option. We only need a few hundred extra dollars a month to feel like we're doing more than just surviving day-to-day. However, I can see light at the end of tunnel. !ENGAGE 40

Well....it looks like HIVE is still the best gig in town, but we still need extra income because the food prices increase every few days and the Suriname dollar also drops each day. Locals are starting to look more and more stressed, and are now behaving more selfishly in public. I fear for the future here, and doubt we are far behind Venezuela, especially with recent major oil discoveries off the coast. Much love from the family and I brother. !ENGAGE 60

I think these underground businesses are the way of the future, but as migrants we lack the social network to develop a customer base. There are some immigrant communities here that we feel we'd have more success in, but Brazilians, Guyanese, Haitians, and Cubans live in tightly knit communities, and we'd likely still face the same problems.

The Haitians have been the most open and friendly group of people here in Suriname, perhaps because they understand our situation here. !ENGAGE 20

Ha-ha, sorry we can't send you some my friend. Secret though, I am the fried-rice master of the house, and anything involving heavy pans, fast movements and raging flames. Pov makes a mean SE Asian style fried rice, but I do the Indian-style yellow fried rice like in the photo. !ENGAGE 20

Thank you, I think your fried rice too. We just have very different styles of cooking, but that's why we made such delicious set meals in our former restaurant. !ENGAGE 10

Ha-ha, it was kind of a flop, but we hit the social media hard for a few days. Surinamers is the hardest country to build social networks that I have ever lived in. I think we just focus more on internet work, but you're welcome to come take a fried rice to go anytime you need, I'll give you a major discount and let you pay in sh*tcoins if you like. !ENGAGE 35

We're already reminded of how quickly the world is changing. In the last week it's become to hard to secure even the most basic of foods like brown rice and tomatoes on a daily basis. A car is needed here to have any success in this country. I spend so many hours on the seat of a bicycle to do the simplest of things, it's so inefficient.

It's more profitable to cook dishes for all of you Hivers to enjoy. I have been drumming up some NFT ideas lately where I could feature a PDF cookbook as the unlockable file. !ENGAGE 15

Thanks for the kind words, at least the only invest are the cheap containers, and this post actually covers those costs. I still think we are better to stay active on HIVE, especially as the economy here slips more and more into desperation. If things get a little worse, it may actually be better for us because locals might start accepting crypto as payment for apartment rent. !ENGAGE 35

No problem, I wish that were possible, but the problem is I can't open a bank account here because I don't have a notarized and apostilled labor contract to prover where my money comes from. There are a few ATMs here that dispense US dollars, but you have to have an account with that bank first.

What I'm left with is withdrawing the local currency from an ATM at unrealistic exchange rate, although better than it was a year ago. Western Union is still the cheapest way for me drain my life savings to use as rent and survival money here. I am almost able to keep up with the losses via my Hive account, but now we're almost broke, so I'm gonna to start transferring funds off of HIVE eventually, unless I can get my landlord to accept HBD. !ENGAGE 15

Give thanks, time will tell, but I can't say we are optimistic due to the economic crisis. Much like Venezuela, the locals here are in survival mode, only helping close friends and family in this time. We are outside these social circles, and we find it really hard to make friends with or trust many of the locals. !ENGAGE 10

We certainly have no feline rescue distractions in our way, only the economic crisis and a really tough population to penetrate. One thing we've learned is folks here aren't culinary adventurous, even the overwhelming majority of ethnic Indians here say they can't stand traditional Indian food. !ENGAGE 50

We are careful to stick to Facebook only for now because we know the government will take advantage of any "illegal" activity if they can make a quick buck. Locals here don't even use Facebook as it's a bit of a risk, but they have WhatsApp, a private place where they can communicate with a secret customer base. Our biggest problem is penetrating the closed social circles of this country. We've made less than 10 friends here in 2 years, and we walk the streets every day.

In Cambodia, my first day in the country landed me with more friends than I had time to socialize with. Everything here is the opposite of Cambodia, and I think that's the hardest part for my family. Thanks for the kind words my friend. !ENGAGE 20