Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentina

[mark_foley]

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?

[Dids]

What happened to the Swedish chick?

[JaBlue]

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?

[TheMetetron]

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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?

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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.

[JaBlue]

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.

[JaredL]

Just how good is the air?

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

[TheMetetron]

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Just how good is the air?

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

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Dude, you can do better.

[TheMetetron]

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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.

[Chairman Wood]

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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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I would say that is accurate. I've described parts of this city to others as a "Poor man's Paris." Considering other towns, I don't necessarily know where to start answering your question. What is necessarily South American? Cause, I would say perhaps that Buenos Airesd is more European than South American however, is Lima more South American then Rio? One thing, though within Argentina, there are few cities that are like Buenos Aires. Regionalism is quite high and a theme of a lot of Argentine history is the struggle between other parts of the country with a dominating central power in Buenos Aires. Could be viewed as similar to some of the US's conflicts concerning Federalism/States Rights. So a lot of other towns in Argentina pride themselves on not being like BsAs.

[kurti]

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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.