Another S. America for December thread

[RainDog]

I'm going to buy a ticket somewhere to S. America from approximately Dec. 13th till Jan. 5th.

I plan on getting a temporary apartment lease/sublet (under $600/m) and getting to know some city a little.
This sort of opportunity is obviously more available in bigger cities. I wouldn't mind going the hostel route, but it would have to be a darn good place if I'm gonna spend 3+ weeks there.

I'm looking for recommendations on where would be a good place to camp out for awhile. It's going to be the beginning of Summer and probably wet and sticky in many places. For this reason, being around an ocean breeze would probably be very rewarding. This needn't be an end all requisite though.

Buenos Aires seems to be a favorite here and was one of my 1st choices, but the pricier air fares and lack of city beaches are negative points. I may save Buenos Aires for Winter (U.S. Summer) travel when nearby beaches won't be as vital.

Right now Lima is looking good with fares under $700 from Miami. I may try to get even cheaper via Priceline "name your own price".

Any cities I should take a close look at? Cities with close by; affordable places to travel would be nice. Quality city culture is important too if I'm going to be dwelling city center. While I would love to stay somewhere out of the city if possible, I don't know how well accommodations and transportation would work out. Any tips are highly appreciated.

Cheers

p.s. if anyone is really wanting to tag along and throw in on an apartment, let me know. However, I would expect you to try to speak Spanish with me and the locals on a regular basis (my Spanish is very poor and I want to work on it as much as possible in the meager three weeks)