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

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

[/ QUOTE ] 2+2 asado someday?

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

[ QUOTE ]
2+2 asado someday?

[/ QUOTE ]

For sure. Met PM'd me his cell so I'll get in touch.

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

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

[/ QUOTE ] 2+2 asado someday?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll volunteer my new place I move into in a few days. It has a rooftop pool/asado area pictured a page back. I alternatively volunteer Boquenese's place.

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

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[ 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

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Its plenty.

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Yeah that's more than enough. I don't even think I spend 100 pesos a day unless maybe I'm going to eat at a nice place and going to a bar afterwards. It'd be hard to do though.

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

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

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

[/ QUOTE ]
Hmmm... In San Juan (AR, not PR) it had steak and egg, and I think ham too. Mayo and cheese for sure. It had been pressed. Freaking awesome. Maybe there are regional differences though.

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

[ QUOTE ]
Hmmm... In San Juan (AR, not PR) it had steak and egg, and I think ham too. Mayo and cheese for sure. It had been pressed. Freaking awesome. Maybe there are regional differences though.

[/ QUOTE ] The best steak sandwich I've ever had in my life I got right outside La Bombanarra (Boca Juniors stadium). Basically, all they did was take a Bife de Chorizo (New York Strip) grill it, cut off some of the fat on one side and slop it on bread. It really is something.

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

Metetron,
Since you are in Argentina on tourist visa, technically you still reside in the US. Do you know if you are supposed to pay taxes to either the US or Argentina? Also, do you know anyone else who is using the tourist visa in the same way you are, renewing it every 90 days?

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

[ QUOTE ]
Metetron,
Since you are in Argentina on tourist visa, technically you still reside in the US. Do you know if you are supposed to pay taxes to either the US or Argentina? Also, do you know anyone else who is using the tourist visa in the same way you are, renewing it every 90 days?

[/ QUOTE ]

Everyone I know here is using the tourist visa. The renewal period is 90 days but every other time it can be done in the country without having to leave. So you only must leave every 180 days.

Depending on to whom I am talking, my residence can be either Argentina or Las Vegas. For Argentina's purposes, I am still a US resident and only here for vacation. For Party Poker and Neteller's purposes I am a resident of Argentina. For state tax purposes, I am a resident of Nevada (note: I believe if you hold a driver's license for a state with an income tax, you still owe them your state income tax even if you live in another country... unless you have residence there). Since I don't have a resident visa, I owe state taxes to the state I have a driver's license in... in this case Nevada has no state taxes so no worries. For federal taxes, I owe nothing to Argentina since I am a tourist. I still owe US federal taxes because all US citizens owe those regardless of where they reside. However, despite the lack of a residence visa, I pass the physical presence test for the foreign earned income exclusion (must be out of USA and in a foreign country for 330 out of 365 days a year) and thus my first $82k that I earn in Argentina is tax-free to the United States (federal income tax only, I still owe Social Security). After that, I owe taxes like any other American.

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

[ QUOTE ]
Also, do you know anyone else who is using the tourist visa in the same way you are, renewing it every 90 days?

[/ QUOTE ]

Last year I met someone who claimed to have been living here since the late 80's on a tourist visa. He was in Mendoza so would drive to Chile every 90 days.

I've had 2 6month+ stints here and ducked to Uruguay every 90 days or so with no problems.

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

god i [censored] love buenos aires. so sick

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

^ Please elaborate :0

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

So, I'm thinking about visiting BA in early April. I plan on staying in Recoleta. I am also considering moving to Argentina later in the year. Do you think 2 weeks is enough time to do enough sightseeing in BA, as well get a sense for whether I would like to live in Argentina? Would 3 or 4 weeks be better?

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

[ QUOTE ]
So, I'm thinking about visiting BA in early April. I plan on staying in Recoleta. I am also considering moving to Argentina later in the year. Do you think 2 weeks is enough time to do enough sightseeing in BA, as well get a sense for whether I would like to live in Argentina? Would 3 or 4 weeks be better?

[/ QUOTE ]

Depends on your goal. 2 weeks is more than enough for just seeing the sites in the city. If you plan on taking side trips to the rest of the country or Chile/Uruguay or trying to get a better view of what life here is actually like, I'd shoot for closer to 4 weeks. Whatever you feel comfortable with and have time for.

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

[ QUOTE ]
So, I'm thinking about visiting BA in early April. I plan on staying in Recoleta. I am also considering moving to Argentina later in the year. Do you think 2 weeks is enough time to do enough sightseeing in BA, as well get a sense for whether I would like to live in Argentina? Would 3 or 4 weeks be better?

[/ QUOTE ]

2 weeks is more then enough to get a good feel of the city, take tours and do all the touristy stuff. You will never see everything but it will be enough. If you are going to come to Argentina for that long please don't spend all your time in Buenos Aires. This country is so beautiful. Get out and see other parts of it. I have a few pictures of places away from BsAs in this thread. Check it out.

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

Porteños I arrived here today to check the city out. I´ll be here until the 27th. If anybody wants to meet up and give me some insight on the city I will be more than willing to buy you a few beers.

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

ha, great timimg Mark....pretty crappy couple of days as far as the weather goes.

Check your PM.

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

[ QUOTE ]
ha, great timimg Mark....pretty crappy couple of days as far as the weather goes.

Check your PM.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, what's with the thunderstorms? That woke me up in the middle of the night a few nights ago.

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

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, what's with the thunderstorms? That woke me up in the middle of the night a few nights ago.

[/ QUOTE ]

Speaking of weather, does Argentina have a history of any extreme weather? Hurricanes, floods, earthquakes... anything like that? Also, is there ever snow in the winter, or is it too warm?

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

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[ QUOTE ]


Yeah, what's with the thunderstorms? That woke me up in the middle of the night a few nights ago.

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Speaking of weather, does Argentina have a history of any extreme weather? Hurricanes, floods, earthquakes... anything like that? Also, is there ever snow in the winter, or is it too warm?

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Argentina is a horribly large country. There is snow in the summer in certain places. In Buenos Aires, no it doesn't snow in the winter. And as far as I can recall there are no natural disasters that happen here, although I guess a flood could theoretically happen if it rained like never before. No earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, or the like though.

PS - The best comparison I can come up with for the weather, is a slightly more humid South Bay (San Jose, Santa Clara, etc). It appears to be pretty close to that.

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

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- Pretty much anything else you want to ask about. Hookers, weed, whatever, I'm game for pretty much anything.

[/ QUOTE ]

So I understand prostitution is legal in BA. I came across some escort services online. Some of the girls there are freaking perfect 10 models. So, if any of you portenos have used these services, 1) do the pictures match the phone numbers, and 2) what are their rates?

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

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
- Pretty much anything else you want to ask about. Hookers, weed, whatever, I'm game for pretty much anything.

[/ QUOTE ]

So I understand prostitution is legal in BA. I came across some escort services online. Some of the girls there are freaking perfect 10 models. So, if any of you portenos have used these services, 1) do the pictures match the phone numbers, and 2) what are their rates?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm pretty sure its not legal, doesn't seem to stop anyone though. Never heard of anyone using an escort service that I know. Have heard of people going to the hooker bars and from what I remember it's somewhere around $30-50 depending on the girl. I think you might have to pay the bar like $5 or something to get the girl to leave.

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

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
- Pretty much anything else you want to ask about. Hookers, weed, whatever, I'm game for pretty much anything.

[/ QUOTE ]

So I understand prostitution is legal in BA. I came across some escort services online. Some of the girls there are freaking perfect 10 models. So, if any of you portenos have used these services, 1) do the pictures match the phone numbers, and 2) what are their rates?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm pretty sure its not legal, doesn't seem to stop anyone though. Never heard of anyone using an escort service that I know. Have heard of people going to the hooker bars and from what I remember it's somewhere around $30-50 depending on the girl. I think you might have to pay the bar like $5 or something to get the girl to leave.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have probably done more research on this than I care to admit [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img], but I am pretty sure that prostitution in BA is legal, based on info from various web pages. What is illegal is pimping or "escort services"; so basically the middleman I guess is illegal. Which is why the "escort service" web pages I referred to specifically point out that they do not facilitate any transactions; rather they just serve as advertising space for whoever to do whatever at their own discretion.

Looks like I may owe the forum a trip report .... [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

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

[ QUOTE ]
I have probably done more research on this than I care to admit , but I am pretty sure that prostitution in BA is legal, based on info from various web pages. What is illegal is pimping or "escort services"; so basically the middleman I guess is illegal. Which is why the "escort service" web pages I referred to specifically point out that they do not facilitate any transactions; rather they just serve as advertising space for whoever to do whatever at their own discretion.


[/ QUOTE ]

I am 99.999% positive (only giving room for the fact that for some reason ALL of my many lawyer friends may have lied to me or that maybe the law changed overnight while I was sleeping and I haven't read the news yet today) it is illegal. Just nobody does anything about it and places to go to pick up a prostitute do not bother hiding the fact that you can buy girls there. The cops know, the judges know, the city knows, everyone knows. Christ, late at night they run classified type ads on TV with numbers of where you can call girls. But yeah its still illegal.

Trip report is strongly encouraged though.

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

[ QUOTE ]
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[ QUOTE ]


Yeah, what's with the thunderstorms? That woke me up in the middle of the night a few nights ago.

[/ QUOTE ]

Speaking of weather, does Argentina have a history of any extreme weather? Hurricanes, floods, earthquakes... anything like that? Also, is there ever snow in the winter, or is it too warm?

[/ QUOTE ]

Argentina is a horribly large country. There is snow in the summer in certain places. In Buenos Aires, no it doesn't snow in the winter. And as far as I can recall there are no natural disasters that happen here, although I guess a flood could theoretically happen if it rained like never before. No earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, or the like though.

[/ QUOTE ]
They do get earthquakes out east around San Juan, which reminds me of NV somewhat.

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

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
- Pretty much anything else you want to ask about. Hookers, weed, whatever, I'm game for pretty much anything.

[/ QUOTE ]

So I understand prostitution is legal in BA. I came across some escort services online. Some of the girls there are freaking perfect 10 models. So, if any of you portenos have used these services, 1) do the pictures match the phone numbers, and 2) what are their rates?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll show my hand for this one.

If you're looking at Platynum, gemidos, areavip, etc, the photos are touched up to a certain extent. You'll rarely get someone that stunning at your doorsteps. Some are outright bait and switch and use pics of models/pr0n stars.

They are all independents on these sites. 2 years ago when I went to BA for the first time, my friend's landlord offered a girl to him for 150p. After the 'pimp' takes a cut (50p) and the agency takes a cut (50p) the girl was left with 50p. Incredible. She said to just call her directly and she'd give him a discount.

Go to the countless number of boliches in BA and interview your girl in person before taking her home. With the stupid inflation, you're looking at no less than 100USD/hr in Recoleta. It use to be much much cheaper.

There are numerous privados scattered around the city w/ much more reasonable prices. It can cost as low as 80ARS to as much as 250ARS.

If you really want more info, PM me.

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

The interwebs are amazing, Seems there is at least one tube specifically for this question (escort tube). I'll likely be following up w/ a PM soon. Thanks!

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

Taking a break from hookers for a second, here are four pictures I've taken in the last week or two.

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/9979/catedralqr9.jpg
The Cathdral right next to the Plaza de Mayo

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/2609/obeliscotu7.jpg
El Obelisco on Avenida 9 de Julio

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/7...mbaneraqz9.jpg
Outside of La Bombonera (The Chocolate Box) before a Boca Juniors game

http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/4...tralgamky2.jpg
Inside La Bombonera right before Boca plays Rosario Central


PS - For anyone down here when the Boca Juniors are playing a home game, you must see it, even if you aren't a football fan. It's an experience and well worth the price. PM me if you need help getting tickets as you can't buy them at the box office or anything like that. For those that don't know the Boca Juniors have the most international titles of any football club in the world and they regularly compete with the top teams in the world despite being poor. Also, for the next 6 months, Riquelme is playing with them and is definitely in a class of his own.

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

Are there many good museums in BA? How does the quality/quantity compare to say NYC or Washington DC? What are the 5 must see museums in the city?

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

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For those that don't know the Boca Juniors have the most international titles of any football club in the world and they regularly compete with the top teams in the world despite being poor.

[/ QUOTE ]

Although the club takes on the part of being the club of the working man, the club itself is by no means poor.

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

[ QUOTE ]
Are there many good museums in BA? How does the quality/quantity compare to say NYC or Washington DC? What are the 5 must see museums in the city?

[/ QUOTE ]
Sadly I've only been to this one:
http://www.mnba.org.ar/

I was quite impressed. Although I don't really have a reference to compare it to places in NYC and D.C. It's not the Louvre but it's no joke either. Other then this, I don't know of any other really famous musuems here. There tends to be lots of little musuems that are devoted to one particular famous person. E.g. There is an Evita Musuem, a Borges Musuem, a Maradonna musuem etc. I've also been told there is this religious musuem called Terra Santa which is something to behold [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] Apparently they have this mechanical reinactment of the resurrection like every 30 minutes or something.

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

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
For those that don't know the Boca Juniors have the most international titles of any football club in the world and they regularly compete with the top teams in the world despite being poor.

[/ QUOTE ]

Although the club takes on the part of being the club of the working man, the club itself is by no means poor.

[/ QUOTE ]

Meh you know what I meant. Poorer than Real Madrid or something like that.

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

But still richer than 99% of football clubs [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

Great shots of the ground.

On the other hand, if you're a fan of the no.2 club in Argyland: River Plate, forget about going to watch a game for the next 5 home fixtures. Fans have been banned from the stadium due to the recent violence before last weeks kick off of the season opener. Apparently River finally refused to pay the $20K USD/month that the clubs 'barra bravas' (hardcore fans) have been extorting to keep the peace.

There's a good tube of the head of "La Doce" (the 12th man) Rafa de Zeo here. It's 10mins long and in Spanish, but the first 90 secs gives you a fair idea of how 'passionate' fans are.

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

1) Hooker bars are everywhere.

2) You have to continuously buy 20 peso drinks until you get a girl and get out of there. I recommend buying one and leaving with a girl immediately.

3) Expect to pay 30-50 pesos to get the girl out of there on some [censored] champagne drink.

4) 100-150 pesos for everything. Probably a bit more for weird [censored] and anal.

5) Get a friend to pay for it via some reverse psychology.

6) Get the hookers number if she is good so you can bypass all the crap later.

7) Wrap it up.

8) Good night.


Total Cost: $50-65 US

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

What exactly did you have to do to get your tourist visa? Was this done before or after you entered the country? What paperwork did you have to fill out, and what kind of questions did they ask? Is it the same process each time each time you renew your visa?

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

[ QUOTE ]
What exactly did you have to do to get your tourist visa? Was this done before or after you entered the country? What paperwork did you have to fill out, and what kind of questions did they ask? Is it the same process each time each time you renew your visa?

[/ QUOTE ]

You get off your plan and show your passport to the immigration dude. You fill out a really basic form while on the plane and check the box that says "tourist". He stamps your passport. That's it.

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

Does anyone know about having frieght shippped to Argentina? I have a large TV that I would like to take with me (about 75 pounds). All the quotes I'm finding on the net (UPS, FedEx, etc.) are about $700-$1,000. Anyone, have any experience with this, or know of a good company that they can recommend?

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

gmblpdam, I have no first hand experience, but you can try:

http://www.universalcargo.com.ar/v2/default.asp

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

Why do you need to bring a big ass TV over here anyways? You are going to get hit with 50% duty on top of freight costs. I can't imagine it is worth it.

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

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Why do you need to bring a big ass TV over here anyways? You are going to get hit with 50% duty on top of freight costs. I can't imagine it is worth it.

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I didn't realize the duty was on used goods as well, I thought it was just on new goods. Your right, probably not worth it.

I don't have to pay a duty on everything I bring over do I, like clothes, etc.? How exactly does that work?

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

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Why do you need to bring a big ass TV over here anyways? You are going to get hit with 50% duty on top of freight costs. I can't imagine it is worth it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I didn't realize the duty was on used goods as well, I thought it was just on new goods. Your right, probably not worth it.

I don't have to pay a duty on everything I bring over do I, like clothes, etc.? How exactly does that work?

[/ QUOTE ]

You don't have to pay duty on any goods if you are just visiting. Problem is that won't work if you ship over a big ass TV from the states. They won't buy the "I'm just on vacation" argument. It doesn't matter if the good is new or used, but any electronic device being imported into Argentina is assessed a 50% duty. I didn't pay for any of my stuff since I just brought it on the plane with me and said I was visiting (true because I'm on a tourist visa).