Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentina
 

Note: This thread was originally posted in the Travel Forum. After Mat killed the forum, it was moved against my wishes to the Lounge. El Diablo suggested just restarting the thread in OOT if I felt it would do better here, so that's what I'm doing.

This thread was originally not posted in OOT because I felt it wouldn't get much serious discussion and would turn into Degen's "Orgies In Thailand" type of thread (not that there is anything wrong with that). I'm doing this thread because I hope it is actually useful to some and gets more people interested in this great city/country. Don't let me down OOT.

I will be reposting the best questions/answers from the last thread. I hope that isn't a problem for anyone.


I've got too many PM's the last few days asking about it, so if I'm going to answer all of these questions I mine as well do it in public so I don't have to repeat myself and so everyone can benefit from it.

Types of things I'll answer:

- Different neighborhoods: cost, feel, safety, things to do in each
- Argentine culture and history
- Visas
- Other cities in Argentina besides BsAs and things to do in them
- How to find an apartment
- Getting around the city and to/from the airport
- Language questions and questions about tango classes
- Cost of living and Argentine currency
- Nightlife: bars and nightclubs
- Restaurants, sidewalk cafes, delivery
- Theatre: tango shows, opera, plays, musicals, symphonies
- Sights to see, markets to visit
- Weather, seasons, etc
- Playing poker online here or questions about casinos here
- Pretty much anything else you want to ask about. Hookers, weed, whatever, I'm game for pretty much anything. I'm sure I've forgotten to mention some important stuff.

I'll start the thread off with some PMs I've received but feel free to add in your own questions. Keep in mind, I've only been here about 3 weeks now, but I did a ton of research before coming, I lived in a different country before this, and I have friends here who have lived here for more than a year... if I don't know the answer I can promise to find out for you. Perhaps some of the other 2+2 BsAs will show up from time to time.

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

Question from anonymous:

[ QUOTE ]
... what brought you to argentina? argentina seems liek a great place to me because it's spanish speaking which is what i'm learning, it sounds like it has all the culture and cool stuff of the US or europe, but is cheap, and different and latin american at the same time. do you know anything about language schools in buenos aires, or even colleges (is it hard for an american with bad grades like myself) to get it? and finally, have you learned the tango down there??? oh actually finally, argentina is super cool because they're so big on soccer too, how does that work for you?

[/ QUOTE ]

My answer:

I came to Argentina for pretty much the reasons you stated. Winter in Sweden was getting a bit too cold for my tastes and I was getting a bit bored with the small town I was living in. I wanted to move back to a big city and I was really looking to something Spanish speaking. Spain was going to be pretty damn hard and I'd already done the Europe thing. Buenos Aires just had everything come together for it: easy visa requirements, Spanish speaking, very cheap cost of living, lots of expats to help as a support network, tons of world-class theatre (opera, symphonies, musicals, play), beautiful women, one of the best nightlifes in the entire world, beautiful Euro-inspired architecture, temperate weather, lots of variety like California (skiing, glaciers, awesome beaches, big wine country, etc), as well as the fact that it was summer instead of a cold ass winter .

A 2+2er friend of mine is actually a part owner of a language school out here that also has a really good tango instructor that is usually really good at pulling in lots of girls for the classes, but he recently had knee surgery so I'm not sure how long he is out of commission.

Language school are generally pretty easy to get started on if you give them a few days notice. You can get private classes for $8-10 per hour with an instructor to work the hours you want and on what you want. It's the best way to go because you move much faster than with a group class and you can always get lessons tailored to you (for example... I want to learn how to order at a restaurant or how to pick up on girls or how to get my laundry done, etc). However, if you want to save a bit of money you can do group classes for $4-6 per hour with a class size of 2-5 depending on how many people are near your level. You can take as few or as many classes as you'd like. I currently take 2 hours a day, 5 days a week of private classes. If you are only here for a week and wanted to maximize your learning you could do 4 hours.

One other thing to keep in mind is that the Spanish here is slightly different. There are really only two big differences. First, the city of Buenos Aires (along with Uruguay) the only places in the world to use the word "vos" instead of "tu". So instead of "tu eres" it is "vos sos". Tu is still used in the possessive and most of the regular verb conjugations stay the same, but other irregulars change like "tu tienes" becoming "vos tenes" or "tu quieres" becoming "vos queres". The teachers here obviously know the tu form and will have no problem just teaching that to you if that is what you want, though the rest of the Spanish world will understand if you used vos for example... they'd just know you learned in BsAs; much like we'd know someone using British slang is from there.

The other difference is that the "ll" is not pronounced like an English "y" but rather like an English "sh". The Spanish "y" is also pronounced like the English "sh". Again, the teachers won't do that if that is what you want, but that is the way everyone speaks here, so "Yo", "calle", and "llamas" may sound weird to you at first. It doesn't take long to get used to though.

Then there are also some slang words or words that are different. "Che" is used a lot as a polite way of getting someones attention if you don't know their name and also seems to have extended into a friendly term among friends (and a joke to US expats). Words that are different include "heladera" instead of "refrigerador" and other things like that which can be sort of confusing the first time.

As for tango, I personally haven't taken classes yet, but I believe they are around the price of group Spanish classes and possibly even cheaper (since the class sizes are usually larger, though there are 2 instructors). So I'd expect $3-6/hr for tango classes to be average. If you are going to be here a long time it's something you have to do a the very least as a way to meet girls or other people.

They are very big on soccer and if you are here during soccer season (Feb-June) or (August-Dec) and they are playing you have to go to a Boca Juniors game which is apparently an experience unlike anything you'll ever see. There are also some young twenty-something expats who get together for pick-up games of soccer on I think Mondays and if you speak Spanish and make friends pretty much everyone plays soccer sometime. Unfortunately due to my injury it's hard for me to run so I haven't gotten into it yet but I'm hopeful.

Useful Links:

Academy Recoleta - Run by Juan and a 2+2 friend, it has Spanish classes (private and group) and tango classes. This is where I go and pay $10/hr for private lessons.

Interhispanica - Another academy in the Recoleta neighborhood that has Spanish classes. No tango here though. I believe private classes are $8-9/hr.

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

[ QUOTE ]
Hi Met,

Thanks again for the info. If you don't mind, I have another set of near daily questions for you

Just looking at the ByT Argentina site, it seems as if the Palermo district is a little more "suburby" than downtown. Is it possible I could find a house with a yard in this area to rent? Are you aware of other places in Argentina that are low in crime but more like suburbs or rural? Do you know a good leasing agent I could take to to discuss various housing options? I think I would like the big city but having a dog may make it difficult.

Also, any advice on the best way to learn Spanish quickly? I took a couiple of years in high school so I probably remember some of the basics.

If I make it down to BA I'd definately like to buy you some beers for all your help

Thanks

[/ QUOTE ]

First of all, you don't want to live downtown (Recoleta is not downtown). Ideally you probably want to live in Recoleta, Palermo, Belgrano, or Barrio Norte. I'd stick with Recoleta and maybe Palermo when you first move here and the consider relocating later.

Palermo isn't suburby and Recoleta has more open park spaces, but it IS possible to find some places in Palermo with a small yard which is impossible to do in Recoleta. Recoleta is more 6 story and higher apartments with restricted entry and a doorman. Palermo is more 2-3 stories and don't have such things and things are definitely a lot more spread out there than in Recoleta. I can't give you exact information but I did go to a party last weekend at a nice 2 story, 2-bedroom condo with a decent sized backyard (by city standards) in Palermo and they are paying about what I am for a 1 bedroom in Recoleta. Not sure where they found it or I'd try to point you in the right direction.

As for other cities in Argentina, the farthest out you probably want to go is some of the nicer actual suburbs of Buenos Aires. I wouldn't move to other parts of the country. Unfortunately, it's city life for me so I don't know anything about the suburbs.

There aren't really leasing agents for foreigners. You can't get an actual lease because you need a guarantor, therefore you can of stick with getting fleeced by the furnished rentals (though if you shop around it's not so bad).

As for learning Spanish, I sort of answered the question above. I'd recommend 10 hours a week of private instruction. I took three years in high school as well and after one week I'm already back to stuff I was learning in the middle to end of my second year. It comes back pretty quickly, but the biggest hurdle is speaking and understanding people, as well as building a large vocabulary to allow you to get around.

Beers are always appreciated, though at $2.50 for a 3L pitcher, I think you could part with more than a few [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

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

tl;dr


<font color="white">far to easy, yet hard to resist </font>

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

For fun, here are some random pictures that I either took or got from online of Buenos Aires and Argentina.

http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/6...artment6uk.jpg
This is my apartment in Buenos Aires. Not pictured are a kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and balcony.

http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/4077/mystreet2sm.jpg
The street I live on. As you can see it doesn't feel like you are going to die.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...olonBsAsAR.JPG
The Teatro Colon. It's the national theatre and has it's own orchestra, ballet company, opera group, and is home to many other events. Unfortunately, it is closed for renovation until the end of the year in preparation for its 100th anniversary. All productions were moved elsewhere.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...eatroColon.JPG
Teatro Colon at night. Beautiful shot.

http://www.salvadorfotoclube.com.br/...a%20Rosada.jpg
Casa Rosada, the presidential palace of Argentina

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...9_de_julio.jpg
Avenida 9 de Julio. I admit it's an artistic shot, but it's all I have. The widest street in the world.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._Monserrat.jpg
Plaza Once Subway Station

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...r-P3050007.JPG
No idea where this is but it shows some of the open spaces.

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/8...edelamu1io.jpg
Puerto Madero

http://www.umabroad.umn.edu/programs...-rush-hour.jpg
Rush hour


I'll post more later.

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

[ QUOTE ]
Did you line up a permanent apartment before you went there? Or did you stay somewhere temporarily first (a hotel or whatever)? If you had the apartment before you showed up, how did you know what neighborhood you wanted to live in?

What hoops do you have to jump through if you want to play on Party/ use Neteller/ do other things that Americans can't do anymore? What did poker sites do to make sure that you were giving them a real address?

Do they have any American sports on cable TV channels?

[/ QUOTE ]

I actually had my apartments lined up for the first 7 months I will be here. I sort of lucked into getting the perfect location that I would have wanted had I known more. I just made sure I was staying in Recoleta and it was sort of hard to screw up.

I'd recommend getting a place for one month in Recoleta or Palermo. Then explore the city and see what area you like best. From there you can get a longer rental somewhere else and even see the place before you commit.

I lived in Sweden before living in Buenos Aires, so I've been able to play on every site for a while. Most sites want a scan of your passport and an electricity bill or lease agreement with your name and address on it. Party will even cross-check your IP the email is coming from to make sure you are in the right country you say you are and they also check your IP when you long on.

I fund my accounts with my Swiss bank account via bank wire. I'm trying to figure out how I want to fund my party account at the moment but I think I'm going to need to order a Visa from my bank and do it that way as they get upset I live in Argentina yet want to use a bank in Switzerland.

For TV, there are a bunch of different levels of programming. I get VH1, CNN, MTV, ESPN, and a few other American channels. You could probably get the whole lineup if you are willing to pay enough. Usually cable is included in your apartment price, but you may be able to upgrade. Using a slingbox or other such device is another way to watch American TV if you are so inclined. I usually just stick to [censored]. I don't really care, but it won't get you sports.

Also, for sports, you may as well get used to lots and lots of soccer. That's the only sport you are going to hear people talk about and see constantly on TV. But it is for a good reason, Argentina is actually pretty damn good.

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

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You can actually get a real residence visa as a poker player if that is what you prefer to do. I'll probably go through the trouble some day.

[/ QUOTE ]

What are you doing right now to stay in Argentina. Once your 90 or whatever day visa is up what do you do? I, like some others here, are looking to relocate for awhile, but i don't wanna have to move to a new country every 90 days. Can you do visa runs or anything like that?

If anyone has anymore information about applying for a self-employment visa (poker) please feel free to chime in.

What is the climate like year round in Argentina? Are the beaches nice?

[/ QUOTE ]

Argentine Tourist Visa Information

When you arrive they will ask you the purpose of your visit. Just say you are a tourist. They will stamp your passport with a Visa that is good for 90 days. This is free. They will give you something to give them on your way out, but if you lose it isn't the end of the world.

Within the first 60 days (or while you still have at least 30 days left on that visa), you can go down to someplace in BsAs and get it extended for another 90 days for a 100 peso ($33) fee. In this manner you are essentially getting a 180 day tourist visa. This can only get an extension once per entry into the country.

So after 180 days, you must leave. Fortunately, Buenos Aires is on the water and Uruguay is right across from it. You can take a 120 peso ferry to Colonia and back that will take about 9 hours roundtrip. I believe they have an express ferry that is around 200-250 pesos and will take you one hour each way (plus around two hours of waiting time in Colonia in which to grab lunch or something). When you come back on the ferry you get a new 90 day visa even if it is the same day.

You can also obviously leave to Chile, Brazil, the USA, or any other country and get a new visa when you return, but Colonia, Uruguay is the closest. If you overstay your visa, you have to pay a fine on the way out. I've never heard of anyone getting too much of a hassle when trying to return after overstaying their visa, but I've heard it can mess up you getting a residence visa at a later date. Also, they are free to change their mind at any point.


For the residence visa you need to either set up an Argentine corporation and hire yourself as a necessary employee (some sort of BS managerial role) or you need to be receiving sufficient dividends from investments (can even be in your own offshore corporation) to sustain yourself in Argentina. It's complicated and sucks. Plus you owe taxes on worldwide assets if you have residence here.

Buenos Aires is about the same latitude as San Diego. It is more humid, but not Florida like. The summer average high is in the mid 80s. The winter average high is around 60. So pretty temperate. Here is a link to weather.com's averages for Buenos Aires.

For beaches, there are no beaches in Buenos Aires. It is a port city. However, Mar de la Plata is about a 4 hour bus ride away, and Punta, Uruguay is a tad bit longer on a ferry. Both are really good beaches. Argentina has a very diverse range of landscape in the country, much like the USA. Argentina has glaciers, snowy mountains for skiing, a huge wine country, beaches, etc. If you live here there is ton to see outside of the city.

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

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks Metetron!

So if i understand you correctly, you can do boarder runs infinitely. After i come back from a boarder run from say Colonia, can i get an another extension?

Thanks again. Great thread!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep. In a year period, you could come get your original 90 day visa, get one extension, go to colonia, get another extension, and then not have to leave again until a year from your original entry date.

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

I found your intended post.

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

[ QUOTE ]
Sweet thread, thanks.

Have you looked into buying real estate? Can foreigners do it? Do you think it is/would be a good investment?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, you can, but you have to through some processes first. I intend to do it at some point as buying a place is cheap compared to what it rents to foreigners for. For example the place I rent for $1,000/mo or so definitely didn't cost the owner over $100k... probably even less.

[ QUOTE ]
Are there casino's? Live poker?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, there is a casino with pretty much everything you could want, except of course much live poker. It might just be because it is the summer but they didn't have anything the one time I was there. One of the people nearby said they somewhat regularly get $600 buy-in sit n go's going and they are supposedly fairly fishy. I intend to check it out at some point.

[ QUOTE ]
How late are the club's open?

[/ QUOTE ]

You can't even go to a club before 1 and see anyone there. People tend to file out on their own a few hours after sunrise... so 7 or 8 in the morning.

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

nice pics

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

[ QUOTE ]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...9_de_julio.jpg
Avenida 9 de Julio. I admit it's an artistic shot, but it's all I have. The widest street in the world.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is this an overlay?

It looks like about a 20 second exposure, but if that where the case, those people would have had to be standing real still to not blur.

It's a good pic. I would have loved to see it better composed though from the exact middle of the road, ie. the line in the sidewalk lining up directly in front of the building in the background.

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

[ QUOTE ]
Metetron,

Thank you for doing this thread (you probably saved yourself at least 8 PMs from me [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]). My gf and I have decided to live abroad for a year or 2, and BA sounds really good. It is really important to me to make sure we can swing it (financially) before we go. So...

Financial questions on living abroad:

1.) A common theme in these threads on Thailand, BA, etc. is that the 'cost of living' is lower. Does this mean that, even if you worked in the city and were being paid in the peso (thats the currency, correct?), that your living expenses (rent, food, utilities, etc) are a smaller % of your income than they would be in the US?

Our plan is for me to play poker, and she is going to work wherever she feels like in the area (im assuming being paid in local currency).

2.) Are there any complications for someone staying on the visa you outlined above to find work locally?

3.) As I mentioned, I will be playing poker. You said that you have a swiss account, and that minimum balances to open an account are 5k +. We will probably have about 5k exactly at the time of the move. If I deposit 5k into a swiss account can I then withdraw 1k? Or is 5k the minimum balance? Can I open another account internationally for less?

4.) How exactly does currency exchange work? If I play in US$, can I make withdrawls in BA from an international account in US$? Do you have to convert this to the peso or can you spend US$ in BA? Any info on this topic is appreciated.

5.) You said you rent a 1br funrished in Recoleta for 1k/month. Could i find a decent one for less (~500-800) in the same area? If I grind out ~ 1.5k a month (I am trying to budget for a 'worst case scnario') and my gf works in thec city part-time. will we be comfortable financially?

As you can see, I know virtually nothing on this topic. Any other info you think may be relevent would be appreciated.

thanks again,
GS

[/ QUOTE ]

GS,

1) No, the cost of living in lower if you are paid in US Dollars. If you are being paid in pesos it is probably only marginally lower. You plan can still work though.

2) She will be working illegally if she gets a job like this. Doesn't mean I don't know a lot of people who do it. Most Americans I know teach English here and get paid somewhere between 18-30 pesos per hour depending on where. This usually required taking a class first to be certified which is about a month long and runs about $1,000 if I am correct. Some of my friends who speak somewhat fluent Spanish are considering getting other jobs as a waitress or something similar. Others still (like poker players) work online and make USD.

3) You should probably not attempt to open a Swiss account. If you are barely at the minimum they aren't going to appreciate it very much. I'd look into a Caribbean island nation for your banking needs.

4) For me, I make money in USD from poker. I get that money wired to my USD Swiss Bank Account. When I went to take money out I transfer a certain amount to my Swiss Franc (CHF) Swiss Bank Account and use my Maestro card to take money out of an ATM. You get the interbank exchange rate with a small ($3-4) ATM fee. I also have a Argentine Peso account if I needed to wire money here in ARS, so I could do the currency exchange all at my bank in Switzerland.

USD are not really accepted outside of renting apartments, spanish classes, or private drivers to/from the airport. Back when the peso was pegged to the dollar at 1:1, they used to be interchangeable as currency everywhere in the city. Now, you have to pay in pesos.

5) I paid 1k/mo for mine. You can certainly find places for $500 for a 1 bedroom, even in the same area. The furnishings will probably be older and the building not quite as nice or new, but it's doable for sure.

If you are making 4,500 pesos per month and she makes say even 1,000 pesos a month, after paying for an apartment you should have 3,000-4,000 pesos to live which should be plenty. Even if your rent is $800, at a worse case scenario that gives you 2,100 pesos a month to live on. Could you live on $2,100 a month in the united states after paying for rent? Sure you could.

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

[ QUOTE ]
If you were going down there to live for a year or longer, is there anything you would recommend bringing from the US? Things you wish you had brought? I assume any electronics (computer, ipod, carmera, etc) would be cheaper to bring from the US.

Another random question is whether most poker sites ship there. Like FFP items and stuff.

[/ QUOTE ]

Definitely bring any electronics you want to have (that is dual voltage) because otherwise it is going to cost about 50% more than in the states. Other than that, there isn't really anything too necessary that you can't find here.

I have no idea about Stars shipping here. The mail here isn't super reliable unless it is sent certified so I wouldn't really chance it.

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

Those were the most useful responses I gave in the last thread. Feel free to ask anything else you may want to know.

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

Is it easy to get a hold of blow there? (Assuming the visitor is traveling alone without a preexsting connect or anything)

Also, is weed legal there?

Thx for reopening this thread!

--AD

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

In your experience how are Americans treated by the local populace? How receptive are the girls? Is the level of anti-Americanism higher there than in Western Europe?

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

What happened to the Swedish chick?

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

How would you compare Argentina to other South American countries? Where would you most like to study abroad if you were in school? What towns would you suggest looking into that are not as multicultural as buenos aires?

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

[ QUOTE ]
Is it easy to get a hold of blow there? (Assuming the visitor is traveling alone without a preexsting connect or anything)

Also, is weed legal there?

Thx for reopening this thread!

--AD

[/ QUOTE ]

No idea about anything harder than weed, but I'm sure its easier to smuggle it into Argentina than into the USA, so I'm sure you can get it if you want.

Weed, if you hang out in the right bars and give off the right vibe, you shouldn't have too much trouble, but the weed isn't nearly as good. I haven't bought any so I can't give you any more specifics on the process. It isn't legal.

As a general rule, if you ever get in a bind with cops, just give them 100 pesos and go about your business.

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

[ QUOTE ]
In your experience how are Americans treated by the local populace? How receptive are the girls? Is the level of anti-Americanism higher there than in Western Europe?

[/ QUOTE ]

Like everywhere else in the world, they aren't especially fond of Americans. They are very friendly people though. I haven't been here long enough to guage exactly how bad it is, but they are at least very good at hiding it. They realize that you are vital to their economy at this point and will treat you very well; though it's very possible they are saying stuff beyond your back. If you make any effort at all to speak their language, they are generally pretty happy about that.

The girls are very passive because the guys here are so aggressive. They are generally receptive to foreigners, but due to a lack of Spanish 80% of the girls I've interacted with so far speak english, so it's hard to say.

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

[ QUOTE ]
How would you compare Argentina to other South American countries? Where would you most like to study abroad if you were in school? What towns would you suggest looking into that are not as multicultural as buenos aires?

[/ QUOTE ]

Argentina is very different than any other South American country. First of all, the population is somewhere between 80 and 95 percent Caucasian and of direct European descent. There are some "mixed race" people, but they are mostly immigrants from other South American countries, as the Argentines did a good job of killing all of the natives, much like in the USA.

Partially due to that ancestry, Argentina is much more like Europe than any other SA country. There is a lot of European inspired/created architecture and a lot of the cultural scene spills over as well. During the first half of the 20th century, Argentina was a powerhouse country with Buenos Aires being one of the world's great cities (and the most expensive one as well). After World War II, a lot of things started going wrong for the country, eventually getting to the point it is today where they are attempting to recover from a financial crisis that has put 70% of the nation below the poverty level ($330/mo for a family of 4). Still, there is a lot of money here, especially a lot of old money from Europe. Argentines consider themselves better than the rest of SA, on equal footing with the USA and Western Europe.

Argentina is definitely the safest South American country... and has a lower rate of violent crime than any country in both North and South America except for Canada*. Still you have to be careful in bad neighborhoods and exercise caution in Buenos Aires like you would in any big city.

As far as what towns are not as multicultural as BsAs, I'm not sure I understand your question. BsAs isn't really a multicultural city unless you are breaking down the Argentine culture back to its roots. True, many Argentines are proud of their Italian or Spanish heritage, but the culture here, while influenced by those cultures, is a totally different and unique Argentine culture.

Another thing that makes Argentina much different than any other SA country is its varied landscape. There are huge glaciers in the south, snow-covered mountains in the winter for skiing, many beautiful beaches, a huge wine country producing some of the world's best wines, a major metropolitan city, and everything in between. It is very much like the USA (or even just California) in that regards.

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

[ QUOTE ]
What happened to the Swedish chick?

[/ QUOTE ]

She was Danish. And nothing besides the normal stuff. Sorry to disappoint.

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

Hey Metetron,

I've always wanted to vist BA and plan on doing so this summer. I'm Mexican/Puerto Rican so I'm kinda brown. Will the the people in general hate on me because of this? How will the women respond? I speak Spanish pretty well and do well with the ladies here, but I've always heard of the Argentineans having pretty racist tendencies...

Also, I'd want to live in an apartment within walking distance to the bars and clubs. What town should I be looking at?

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

[ QUOTE ]
Hey Metetron,

I've always wanted to vist BA and plan on doing so this summer. I'm Mexican/Puerto Rican so I'm kinda brown. Will the the people in general hate on me because of this? How will the women respond? I speak Spanish pretty well and do well with the ladies here, but I've always heard of the Argentineans having pretty racist tendencies...

Also, I'd want to live in an apartment within walking distance to the bars and clubs. What town should I be looking at?

[/ QUOTE ]

Umm, the bars and clubs aren't really all centered in one area and you don't want to live by some of them. I'd say Palermo may be a good fit, but it is far out there from a lot of stuff. Recoleta is of course a good stanby. You don't need to be in walking distance because cabs are $2-3 from Recoleta to anywhere in town you could want to go. If you want to feel like a local, the bus system is good and costs 30 cents per ride.

As far as the brown thing, I'm of Mexican descent (although I admittedly am not a very dark brown) and I haven't really felt any sort of discrimination yet. Although, I don't exact give off a poor mixed race vibe that they are used to either. I'm sure if I was on the street begging and in torn clothes the reaction would be a lot different than what I get dressing nicely and going to expensive clubs. I don't think you'll really have any problems.

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

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What happened to the Swedish chick?

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She was Danish. And nothing besides the normal stuff. Sorry to disappoint.

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Unless I'm wrong, moving to another country for somebody seems not the normal stuff.

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

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What happened to the Swedish chick?

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She was Danish. And nothing besides the normal stuff. Sorry to disappoint.

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Unless I'm wrong, moving to another country for somebody seems not the normal stuff.

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She moved to the states for me first. We were both getting bored of it. Sweden seemed like a fun idea. I stayed there for months afterwards on my own until the winter made me want to leave for someplace warmer. Afterwards, I moved to Argentina instead of back to the states. It's not like I moved there solely for her; it was, however, a convenient reason to go. I was on the way out of the country anyways.

Edit: That's about as much detail as I'm going into, especially in this thread, which should remain about Argentina. And no, there won't be pics. PM me if you need to know something that bad.

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

Great thread! I was born in Argentina, and came to Canada when I was 2 years old. I am fluent in Spanish, and obviously English.

Are there any big money making opportunities for someone like me? You mentioned that to lease you need a guarantor. As a citizen of Argentina I would be allowed to do whatever I want with land. Is there any money to be made in that area?

Have you ever been to a place called Hurlingham? (Just curious because I was born there).

Do you cheer for River or Boca?

Have you gotten tired of asado yet?

Were you surprised by how 'white' most people are?

Have you had any alfajores? If not, highly recommended (the Havana company ones are the best).

Have fun pal. Try not to mess up the motherland too much.

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

For money making opportunities, buying an apartment, furnishing it, and renting it out to foreigners seems to be a big racket here. Places that can't cost more than $100k with furnishings are going for over $1,000 or even more per month. That seems like a solid investment if I were you.

Never been to or heard of Hurlingham.

Boca Juniors all the way.

I'm not tired of Asado, but I wish they would spice it up. Luckily, there is some decent (albeit overpriced) Indian food here that lets my tongue feel alive at times.

I wasn't surprised when I got here, but when I first learned of how white everyone is it was a bit of a surprise, yeah.

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

by multicultural I was referring to the European feel... I guess I meant "which country feels more like South America," or "what are some towns that feel more culturally South American" because I had heard that Buenos Aires was a very international city.

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

Just how good is the air?

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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

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by multicultural I was referring to the European feel... I guess I meant "which country feels more like South America," or "what are some towns that feel more culturally South American" because I had heard that Buenos Aires was a very international city.

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Hmmm, I haven't visited any other cities at this point and the only ones anyone really talks about are the Argentine vacation spots (Calafate, Mar de la Plata, etc), so I really am not qualified to answer your question. I can at least so that there are no big cities with that feel, the only ones that may be like that are smaller ones on the outskirts of the country that I wouldn't go to.

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

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Just how good is the air?

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

Dude, you can do better.

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

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Argentina is definitely the safest South American country

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This is not quite accurate I believe. General consensus is that Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay are at least as save as Argentina. But this doesn't mean "save" by European standards of course.

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

is there good asian food there?

Post deleted by Mat Sklansky
 

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

met,

Didn't read most of the thread yet, so if this is already answered, let me know and I'll scroll up.

Did you travel much elsewhere in South America? If so, how would you compare those places to Argentina?

Very sweet pics, btw.

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

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Is it easy to get a hold of blow there? (Assuming the visitor is traveling alone without a preexsting connect or anything)

Also, is weed legal there?

Thx for reopening this thread!

--AD

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No idea about anything harder than weed, but I'm sure its easier to smuggle it into Argentina than into the USA, so I'm sure you can get it if you want.

Weed, if you hang out in the right bars and give off the right vibe, you shouldn't have too much trouble, but the weed isn't nearly as good. I haven't bought any so I can't give you any more specifics on the process. It isn't legal.

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To add on, the weed there is of generally poor quality. It typically comes in this "brick," condensed form that I've never seen. When my friend came back to the US, I got him some typical, ordinary US weed, and he was very excited because it was so much better than what he gets in BA. When he can get normal, "leafy" pot, he's pretty happy and buys more than he normally might. I know he has ready access to both acid and coke, but for a short time he did live with a drug dealer, so maybe he's got better-than-usual connections.

Note, he's American, has lived in BA for almost three years, and didn't really smoke too much until he moved down there.

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

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TELL US ABOUT THE HOOKERS

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I haven't had much personal experience, but I've heard stories. For the most part, there is no such thing as a strip club in Argentina. They may call it that and there may even be a pole, but don't be fooled. The girls aren't there to dance, they are there to screw you and they don't really [censored] around with it.

Like in any country, you can spend as much or as little as you want. I've heard stories of fat whores propositioning people for a 6 peso [censored] (literally a $2 bj). I've also heard of prices going as high as $100-$150 for anything you want with a high class girl of supermodel quality. It's really up to you, I'd say the standard is about $30-50 for everything with a decent looking girl. Usually, I think it's $15 to the establishment to get her to be able to leave and then you negotiate with her directly.

Most recently, an anonymous person told me a story where he paid two hookers $30 each to go back to his place and have a sex show for him. It was both videotaped and photographed (and they were okay with this). I will attempt to get permission to post the pictures here, but I don't know if the girls are that great looking or not. I'm sure he could have screwed them both without paying extra if he was so inclined.

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

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is there good asian food there?

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By your standards, no. There are Thai, Indian, Chinese, etc places here, but they aren't very common. Maybe a few nice restaurants of each at most. They are comparable in quality to the same food in the United States, but clearly aren't as good as the stuff you can get in Asia.