Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

[ QUOTE ]
What are the supermarkets like? Might be fun reading if you described a typical trip down the ailes. How about the delis? What do you like to prepare at home? And how are the prices?

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What exactly do you mean what are the supermarkets like? Pretty standard but with obviously far less crappy junk food like in the States. Try to get more specific and I'll answer better.

Delis are all over the city and generally will sell you large selection freshly sliced meat and cheese at a certain price per 100 grams. Many of them will also sell you freshly made sandwiches. You can get a nice big submarine sandwich for AR$3-4 at most delis. Smaller ones are AR$2-2.50. Most meats are somewhere around AR$2-5 per 100 grams from what I've seen depending on what it is and where you are getting it. I can't really remember about cheese, but I think it was AR$3 for 100g... I could be wrong here.

I eat out far more than one should. I don't even bother making sandwiches at home anymore. No point when I get one for a buck and not have to worry about keeping fresh veggies.

I also don't really bother cooking my own dinner since I get dinner at most parrillas around here for under $5. [censored] I'm lazy. My Spanish teacher even told me that today. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] I also probably go out to eat at somewhat nice restaurants 3-4 times a week.

When I'm at home I eat fruit/veggies, sometimes cereal, yerba mate, and some other random snack things I buy at the grocery store. It's very rare I cook anymore which is something I should try to correct.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

Quilmes is good.

TM, are cars still sick expensive with the tarrifs? When I was there, I realized that a nice two-bedroom house and a VW Jetta both cost ~US$35K

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

Is there anything that you cannot find in BsAs that was common in the States or Sweden? For example, many Americans I spoke to complained that they could not get salad dressing in Venezeula. Any imported goods that are just impossible to find?

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

[ QUOTE ]
Is there anything that you cannot find in BsAs that was common in the States or Sweden? For example, many Americans I spoke to complained that they could not get salad dressing in Venezeula. Any imported goods that are just impossible to find?

[/ QUOTE ]

Things that are hard/impossible to find:

Peanut butter, root beer / Dr. Pepper, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, salad dressing, maple syrup, medicine that actually works, corn tortillas, refried beans, I'm sure there are more.

You can find some of these things at Wal Mart or Jumbo though. Root beer is the one that really pisses me off. FWIW, Sweden has a lot of these problems as well... hard to find a lot of things there as well.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

Metetron, you mentioned earlier that you had purchased health insurance. Have you had any experience with any health care providers? Or heard anything of the quality of the local hospitals. For example, ambulance response times, adequate staff, etc.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

[ QUOTE ]
Metetron, you mentioned earlier that you had purchased health insurance. Have you had any experience with any health care providers? Or heard anything of the quality of the local hospitals. For example, ambulance response times, adequate staff, etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

The doctors here are great from what I've heard. I could probably walk to the hospital quicker than an ambulance could get here, but they always seem to have adequate ambulances on hand and whenever I've seen them in action they appear efficient. I don't know anyone who has needed an ambulance so I can't say for sure.

I get my coverage through Swiss Medical who I have personally found great so far. My contact at the company speaks English and has helped me through anything I've needed so far. I am waiting for my card to come in the mail and then I'm going to see a dentist. I'll let you know how that goes.

I am also the only one I know who has medical coverage. Everyone else just pays as they need a doctor and the public health system will cover anything major. $60/mo for all-inclusive medical care with no deductible and dental seemed like a good deal to me so I went with it.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

No peanut butter? And then I really doubt all natural peanut butter is available.

What horrible news!!!!!

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

[ QUOTE ]
No peanut butter? And then I really doubt all natural peanut butter is available.

What horrible news!!!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

You can get peanut butter, you just have to search it out.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentina
 

Do you think living in Uruguay would provide a similar living experience in terms of prices etc. to the one you've described in this thread?

How about Chile?

If a magic force field appeared over BA and you couldn't ever enter it, what is the one city/region of Argentina you'd choose that is most similar?

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

To people who live or have lived in Buenos Aires... What do you guys do down there? Do you just chill out all day and sit in cafes or did you get jobs, volunteer work? Also what are your experiences with tango dancing!? There's a very good chance I'll be going to Argentina in the relatively near future. As I told meteron in PM it is so sweet because it has more culture and stuff than other latin american places, it has tango dancing, soccer, cheap prices, people speak spanish so it's cool.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

[ QUOTE ]
Do you think living in Uruguay would provide a similar living experience in terms of prices etc. to the one you've described in this thread?

How about Chile?

If a magic force field appeared over BA and you couldn't ever enter it, what is the one city/region of Argentina you'd choose that is most similar?

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think there is one in Argentina. The city is just too big compared to the rest of the country. I've never been there so this is totally pulling it out of my ass, but if I HAD to choose a city in SA, I'd go with Santiago.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

[ QUOTE ]
To people who live or have lived in Buenos Aires... What do you guys do down there? Do you just chill out all day and sit in cafes or did you get jobs, volunteer work?

[/ QUOTE ]

My typical day involves getting up and taking care of stupid crap for an hour, going to Spanish class for 2 hours between 1-3pm, eat some lunch at a cafe either before or after, either play a few hours of poker or taking care of some errands I need to get done, drink some mate, come back and play some more poker until about 10pm. Then I usually either go out to a restaurant with friends and then possibly to someone's house or a bar/club after or I just eat alone and veg out relaxing. Occasionally, I'll go out to some sort of show before dinner like a few nights ago I saw a free jazz concert at the Plaza de Mayo; other possibilities include catching a movie or some form of theatre production. Once in a while, grab some friends in the middle of the day and hit the Palermo parks for a picnic, some sun, and some mate. Weekends are completely up in the air and never seem to be the same.

[ QUOTE ]
Also what are your experiences with tango dancing!?

[/ QUOTE ]

I know a tango instructor, but I have neither taken classes nor seen a show. Mostly because I don't feel my back is good enough yet for classes and the best shows aren't the touristy stage ones, but the impromptu dancing that goes on in tango clubs and I wouldn't feel comfortable there if I wasn't going to dance. I'm sure I'll be getting into this in a month or two after getting my Spanish a bit stronger. I'll probably try to catch a stage show at some point before then just to see it.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

[ QUOTE ]
To people who live or have lived in Buenos Aires... What do you guys do down there?

[/ QUOTE ]

I try to work for 30 to 40hrs a week, sometimes more. 2pm to 10pm on the laptop, grinding.

Typical day is very lazy.

Up at around 11am, nip down to the nearest restaurant (30sec walk) for coffee, juice and pastries (ubiquitous breakfast here). Cost $1.50USD.

Buy newspapers, Clarin (Spanish) and BA Herald (English).

Chill by the pool and read for a couple of hours. During the week the pool is empty until around 5pm.

Poker.

Evenings vary from quality time with gf, to walking/window shopping and eating out and meeting with friends.

There are 3 gyms within 10mins walk of my apt.

Open/peaceful green spaces are at a premium in the city, though there are Plazas dotted around. 10min subway journey for me to Plaza Italia.

Cinema 5 min walk. Pool hall opposite (above the supermarket Coto).

Uninspiring stuff.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

[ QUOTE ]
If a magic force field appeared over BA and you couldn't ever enter it, what is the one city/region of Argentina you'd choose that is most similar?

[/ QUOTE ]

Similar? There is nothing sinilar to BA in Argentina. Aprrox 30million total population, nearly 50% of them living in BA.

Mendoza is a pretty nice city.

San Rafael, a small town in the Province of Mendoza is very charming. Great climate and great views of The Andes. There are 'Fincas' (small farms) everywhere. Most of Argentinas grapes (hennce wine) come from this Province.

Also, Bariloche in Patagonia is amazing. Stunning mountains and lakes, pristine. Check it out on google earth if you can. Total contrast to BA.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

What are a couple of things that you have noticed, which are very different from America? Something that when you saw it or did it, you just couldn't believe it. I know bribing the police would seem amazing to me.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

[ QUOTE ]
What are a couple of things that you have noticed, which are very different from America? Something that when you saw it or did it, you just couldn't believe it. I know bribing the police would seem amazing to me.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm from the UK but....

It took a couple of weeks to adjust to the typical level of customer service here. For e.g. going to the Kiosko to buy smokes, if the owner is chatting with a friend expect to be ignored until the conversation is over. Don't expect a smile or a thankyou. It's almost as if you're a pain in the a$$ and he'd rather you weren't there. I used to get pissed off and walk out to spend my money elsewhere. Water off a ducks back now.

As for the cops, I've only had one incident a year ago. My visa had expired by a week (50 peso fine at the airport, absolutely no problems with returning etc). There was a domestic in my building, the cops came knocking to see if I heard or seen anything. As soon as they realised I was a gringo they wanted to see my papers and have a good look around. One cop took me into the hall and basically said "what are you going to do to help us out?". 100 pesos solved the problem. Never offer a bribe, wait for it to be hinted.

Oh, and kissing guys when you meet them was a little weird at first. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

[ QUOTE ]
Oh, and kissing guys when you meet them was a little weird at first. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

I only do this with Argentine guys (not extranjeros), yet I do it with all girls.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Oh, and kissing guys when you meet them was a little weird at first. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

I only do this with Argentine guys (not extranjeros), yet I do it with all girls.

[/ QUOTE ]

Any extranjero tries to kiss me and I'm getting out of there. [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

Wohoo! Found the thread. Thought it disappeared into a black hole. Lots of excellent information in this thread.

I'll be down in BA first full week of March. Met, Audi, or anyone else, if you guys want to get together for a beer, drinks are on me.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Oh, and kissing guys when you meet them was a little weird at first. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

I only do this with Argentine guys (not extranjeros), yet I do it with all girls.

[/ QUOTE ]

Any extranjero tries to kiss me and I'm getting out of there. [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

But I do this with every extranjera. And it seems to be the standard. I'm not sure why except everyone is a homophobe.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

[ QUOTE ]
Wohoo! Found the thread. Thought it disappeared into a black hole. Lots of excellent information in this thread.

I'll be down in BA first full week of March. Met, Audi, or anyone else, if you guys want to get together for a beer, drinks are on me.

[/ QUOTE ]

I do not pass up free drinks. How long are you staying here for? Shoot me a PM.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

[ QUOTE ]
But I do this with every extranjera. And it seems to be the standard. I'm not sure why except everyone is a homophobe.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not sure I follow. I kiss my female friends on the cheek when saying hello in the UK too, just not the male ones.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

[ QUOTE ]

I'll be down in BA first full week of March. Met, Audi, or anyone else, if you guys want to get together for a beer, drinks are on me.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm in. Drop me a line nearer the time.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
But I do this with every extranjera. And it seems to be the standard. I'm not sure why except everyone is a homophobe.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not sure I follow. I kiss my female friends on the cheek when saying hello in the UK too, just not the male ones.

[/ QUOTE ]

Okay,

In the United States we don't kiss anybody on the cheek. In Argentina, they kiss everyone on the cheek. The standard I've seen among Americans is to kiss other American girls on the cheek when in Argentina, but not other American guys. Everyone still seems to kiss Argentines of both sexes on the cheek.

I just find it interesting that Americans have made a half adjustment only. Not that I have any desire to start kissing my male friends on the cheek, but I'm intrigued into how this developed.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

Ahhhh, now I follow, cheers.
That is kinda cheating...kiss both sexes, or neither I say.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

Do most theaters play English movies in English, with Spanish subtitles. Or are they typically dubbed in Spanish?

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

If you're looking for eastern tastes, there are a few places in my neighborhood that kick ass. All of these places are in like a 6 block radius

Sudestada is like an argentine/thai fusion fine dining restraunt. It's on fitz roy and guatemaula, and may be the best meal I've had in the city (i've been here like 4 months now). They actually have food that's spicy. holy [censored]!

The Green Bamboo is a really really solid vietnamese place. It's also kind of fine dining, but not at the tier that sudestada is~ Great atmosphere, the wait staff/bartenders are A+, the food is excellent as well. I think it's on Carranza and Costa Rica but i would check the guiaoleo before going. A buddy of mine has only tried one dish from there (the duck confit) and i think the kid dreams about it. seriously.

Also, Bangalore is a british pub that has got some pretty good indian food. The squash (calabaza) curry is to go back for. they have a decent selection of curries too. i probably like the food at the indian place on cordoba better. But they have artesenal beer at bangalore and the atmosphere is like a million times better than the joint on cordoba. this place is on humbolt by vega (right by club 69)

i know a few other pro poker players here, we should get together the toughest home game in the continent :x

or at least go get a few beers somewhere [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

[ QUOTE ]
Do most theaters play English movies in English, with Spanish subtitles. Or are they typically dubbed in Spanish?

[/ QUOTE ]

Most movies are in English with Spanish subtitles. Cartoons are usually dubbed into Spanish for obvious reasons. Another thing to beware of is that the title of the movie is usually translated into Spanish or often changed completely (for example, The Departed was released as Los Infiltrados).

For these reasons, I recommend picking up a copy of the Buenos Aires Herald before trying to see a movie. It is AR$1.70 and lists the American movie titles as well as if the movie is in English or Spanish. The paper is also a daily English-language periodical so you can keep up with world events while here if you can't read Spanish.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

I recently found this thread about Buenos Aires http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=439584 on a forum I lurk at sometimes. I was taken back by the pretty amazing architecture that is found in that city. I mean it pretty much on par or beats out any city in Europe. Are these like photos all of one street, or are there plenty of buildings like that. http://img342.imageshack.us/img342/6...a6408ac0zi.jpg is this the only street that looks like this, or there are many? What about other cities in Argentina, are they full of such awesome architecture or is it just Buenos Aires? Where do poor people live?
Also I was told that there is a very large % of white people living in Argentina, Is it close to 97%?

Thank you

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

This is not necessarily specific to BsAs, but how did you go about meeting new people? I assume that you didn't know a single person when you moved there. Was the language barrier an issue for you? I'm sort of a shy person, so I would have trouble going up to a random person and just introducing myself. What sort of things did you do to meet friends?

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

sightless,

Jesus Christ that guy took a crapload of pictures. At first I was going to say a lot of those seem to be around Plaza de Mayo, then I realized how many pictures there were. He got a lot of different areas of the city in there, but I still think most of what he got was downtown.

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/4...eras9cekx3.jpg

This building is actually pretty close to where I live in Recoleta. It is actually an old architecture school that was designed by some really famous architect that killed himself while designing/building the building. Interesting little fact.

But yes, there is a ton of awesome European architecture here that certainly rivals the best cities in Europe. What is really sad is how many beautiful buildings were destroyed in the creation of Avenida 9 de Julio. Argentina tore down a lot of incredible buildings in their insane quest for the widest street in the world. That one specific picture you linked appears to be taken from the Plaza de Mayo facing towards the direction of Florida... I think.

The rest of Argentina isn't like Buenos Aires at all. They are much more inspired by the natives, while BsAs is very much European-inspired. Also, there isn't another city in the country that comes even close to the population of BsAs, so the opportunity for huge buildings is limited.

The overwhelming majority of Argentina is white. At one point it was probably 97%... I'd say somewhere around 90% is accurate at this point in the city of Buenos Aires. The other 10% is mostly comprised of Bolivians and other South Americans who immigrated here. There is very little real diversity in this city.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

[ QUOTE ]
This is not necessarily specific to BsAs, but how did you go about meeting new people? I assume that you didn't know a single person when you moved there. Was the language barrier an issue for you? I'm sort of a shy person, so I would have trouble going up to a random person and just introducing myself. What sort of things did you do to meet friends?

[/ QUOTE ]

You are correct that I didn't know anyone when I got here. I've met two other people from BsAs who post here which has been a pretty big help in meeting people. Also, I've met people through the school I am taking classes at as well as in bars/discos. At those places you just kind of introduce yourself when you hear people speaking English. Most people are more than happy to chat it up with you.

There are also some expatriate newcomers groups who get together a lot, though I suspect many of these are filled with older expats. I've never done something like this so I don't know for sure.

Other options include taking tango lessons, playing football, etc. Just talking to people on the street works well.

I've only been here a month and I'd say I probably know about 30 people decently well and see them once in a while and there are probably about 8-10 people I hang out with fairly regularly.

As far as the language barrier do you mean in daily life or in meeting people? Pretty much everyone but a couple of people I know speak English, even the Argentines. Until my Spanish is better, having in depth conversations with Spanish speakers isn't possible, so obviously making friends with them doesn't really work.

In my day-to-day life, my Spanish was pretty horrendous when I got here and it was a bit of a problem. I wouldn't do a lot of things by myself because I couldn't express myself clearly (eating at restaurants, going to the movies, taking cabs, etc). I've gotten over that now (and my Spanish has gotten a lot better) after realizing if you don't at least try, you are never going to get any better. At this point I can order from a restaurant and understand 90% of the menu, talk to a cab driver, call and order delivery, tell my maid what I need done, get my laundry done, go to the movies, and go shopping while being able to tell the person what I need. This is a vast improvement from a month ago when the extent of what I could do was tell the lady I wanted a number one at McDonald's. My biggest holdup is understanding people when they speak, but I'm sure that will come with time.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

[ QUOTE ]
I finally went to the fuiteria today and bought some apples

[/ QUOTE ]

i want to be a part of BA, buenos aires, big apple.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I finally went to the fuiteria today and bought some apples

[/ QUOTE ]

i want to be a part of BA, buenos aires, big apple.

[/ QUOTE ]

Congratulations you've seen a movie/musical. How witty. At least you contributed something useful instead of just wasting space.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

TheMetetron, I've had lomo and lomo gigante sandwiches there, and I don't remember the ingredients. Do you know what's in them?

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentina
 

The idea of spending some time in BA is very appealing to me. Would you say something like 10k is sufficient for a 6 month stay? Assuming 1k for plane tickets? 6 months rent at like $5-700 month (I don't need the nicest place in town)? Leaving about 5k for spending over 6 months. Would this be a good estimate? When you say 5-6k is cool for 6 months is that like going out all the time and entertaining women, or is that enough to get food/transportation/a bit of entertainment?

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

[ QUOTE ]
TheMetetron, I've had lomo and lomo gigante sandwiches there, and I don't remember the ingredients. Do you know what's in them?

[/ QUOTE ]
Steak + Bread = enjoy! If you are feeling frisky you can add a tomato.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentina
 

[ QUOTE ]
The idea of spending some time in BA is very appealing to me. Would you say something like 10k is sufficient for a 6 month stay? Assuming 1k for plane tickets? 6 months rent at like $5-700 month (I don't need the nicest place in town)? Leaving about 5k for spending over 6 months. Would this be a good estimate? When you say 5-6k is cool for 6 months is that like going out all the time and entertaining women, or is that enough to get food/transportation/a bit of entertainment

[/ QUOTE ]

Its plenty.

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

[ QUOTE ]
This is not necessarily specific to BsAs, but how did you go about meeting new people? I assume that you didn't know a single person when you moved there. Was the language barrier an issue for you? I'm sort of a shy person, so I would have trouble going up to a random person and just introducing myself. What sort of things did you do to meet friends?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm sorta similar to you, once the ice is broken I'm cool enough.

I don't know any expats here, but have made friends via the people in my building. Get an apartment with a social area, like a pool or asado. Many Argies have a smattering of English plus I knew enough Spanish from day 1 to introduce myself, say where I'm from, what I do etc. Many Portenos are keen to improve their english so quite often they'll want to practice on you (bit of a double edged sword when you want to improve your spanish).

Argentines are a social bunch and I got invited to house parties fairly frequently.

Also, seems there's a growing 2+2 community here!

Re: Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentin
 

[ QUOTE ]
Steak + Bread = enjoy! If you are feeling frisky you can add a tomato.

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL. And if it's 'completa' it has a fried egg.