But living on the poorer side of earth... I had 3 options what to do with it:

1. go academic = remain hungry :-)  (OK not so bad but not too good either)
   
2. go west (and forget about family life etc., I have colleagues who did that)
   
3. forget about it all and get a decent job
   

But the motivation why I went for PhD was different, I simply wanted to learn something... nowadays most of the young people here think different, they look at the study as a pure investment...

But I am afraid my experience is completely worthless for you...

Jan Waclawek