Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires, Argentina

[TheMetetron]

University of Buenos Aires is pretty well respected internationally. I can't give you too many specifics since I've never looked into it much. I'm not sure how the admissions process works at all.

[TheMetetron]

The following was posted in an Internet Gambling forum by me where some people were started to get the idea they were moving to Buenos Aires for the wrong reasons and without much thought. I love BsAs, but I don't want anyone doing anything stupid.


I actually agree with the naysayers here.

If you aren't doing this because you love to travel, go to new places, and soak up their culture you aren't going to like it here or anywhere else for that matter.

You have to give up your family, friends, and everything you've ever known. You are moving to a new country with a different history, way of doing things, and language. If you come to Argentina and want to act like you still live in the United States and do things the American way you are going to be in for a big disappointment.

I'm beginning to get the feeling I've made moving to BsAs too appealing to people and there will be some people doing it who won't enjoy themselves here once they start to experience daily life. I couldn't be happier than I am here right now, but this is my personality and what makes me happy. If that's not you, don't come. Especially the guy who has never lived on his own... that guy trying to move to Argentina has me cringing. He is going to hate it.

Also, I didn't speak correctly. I mean rent is at least 1/3 as expensive here than in NYC even if you don't try. If you do, it can be 1/3 as expensive as say smaller cities in California. Everything else here is at least 1/3 as expensive as California, except for imported stuff.

Still, if the only reason you are here is because it is cheap and you want to play poker, you are coming for the wrong reasons and I don't want to hear any bitching when you arrive. Don't forget the hidden cost of Spanish classes if you are going to be here for more than 3 or so months. If you are here that long and don't learn Spanish it is going to severely limit your interaction with the locals. So far I only have 3-4 local friends, while I have 10-15 english speaking friends. This isn't a good distribution and you don't want to fall victim to that.

Argentina is awesome. I love it, but tread lightly and don't come in with unrealistic expectations. Yes, it's cheap. Yes, it's an awesome big city. Yes, it is fairly safe. Yes, it has an awesome nightlife and beautiful countryside. No, it's not paradise. I need to add an entry into that thread with the ten things I hate most about Argentina. They exist.

[gmblpdam]

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University of Buenos Aires is pretty well respected internationally. I can't give you too many specifics since I've never looked into it much. I'm not sure how the admissions process works at all.

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The admissions process is actually quite a unique one. Apparantly, the only requirement for admission is a high school education, and its free. "Study at UBA is based on the Darwinian principle of survival of the fittest--everyone can enter, but only a small minority of the students who enroll eventually earn degrees--and they do this often by sheer persistence."

http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/soe/cih...s14/text3.html

[TheMetetron]

Thing I Hate About Buenos Aires


- The dog walkers who have 30 dogs on their leash and let them take a crap anywhere on the street without picking it up. I don't know who picks it up but eventually its gone. Still, around the time all the dog walkers are out there is way too much crap on the ground.

- The way Argentine business are run. They are never on time for anything. Never. When I arrived I had to wait for 2 hours in front of my apartment building with all my luggage in a country I'd never been to before waiting for them to show up and let me in. Then when I got in, the chick didn't speak English and I had to wait another 30 minutes for an English speaking guy to come. Last night we reserved a room at this restaurant for 5. We get there and the area where our room was supposed to be in was closed and they had a reservation for 4 with no available tables for 5. This is surprisingly standard.

- The complexity of the bus system. This is good and bad. It's really easy to get around using buses, but there isn't a good map for sale anywhere. I picked up the "Guia T" which is the best you can get, but it is horribly put together. I take the subway and taxis everywhere for this reason. On the other hand, my friends who know the bus network swear by it and I'm sure once I figure it out it is an awesome way to get around for 26 cents.

- Cost of flights into and out of BsAs. It is a pretty isolated city geographically compared to the rest of the world. Even South Africa which isn't really that far away is expensive, because flights have to go through London. It is going to cost me at least $1,300 to get to Europe and trip home to the States are about the same price round trip. Luckily, most places in South America can be reached via very cheap buses. I think it was $30 or maybe a bit more for a friend to get to Bolivia.

- Watching the Super Bowl with Spanish commentators. There was a bar here that for U$S 25 would let you watch the American feed... yeah that's not happening. It wasn't so bad though being with friends and talking throughout the whole game. Rex is a joke.

- Apparently a lot of restaurants close between 3pm-8pm. I haven't experienced this yet, but apparently it is very common. Argentines eat a later dinner in case you didn't notice.

- Feeling like you are going to die every time you are in a cab. Sometimes the cab feels like it is going to explode. The rest of the time, people here have no idea how to drive and make 4 lane roads into 7 lane roads. Traffic laws are merely suggestions, but they do seem to follow the no right on red rule.

- For a city called Good Air, the air quality isn't that great. It is mostly the horrible buses that do it and luckily we get an offshore breeze to blow the pollution away, but if you are standing on the street and one of the buses drives by you, good luck trying not to cough.

- There is also more litter than there should be for a city with trash cans on every corner. I'm not sure what the story is here. Argentines can't really be that lazy. It isn't horribly bad or anything, but there shouldn't be any with the way the system is set up.

- Nobody can make [censored] change anywhere. Paying with a AR$100 bill is a pain in the ass (about U$S 33). Almost no one will have change without going back to the safe... and they never look happy about it.

- Buses/subways striking. I haven't experienced this either, but apparently large parts of the city can get shut down when everyone decides they want to strike. You won't get stuck in the middle of the subway line or anything, but this is how people get around and it [censored] things up a lot.

- The high cost of electronics. There is a 50% import tax on electronics and everything is imported. In addition to a 21% VAT on everything you buy, the price of consumer electronics is pretty high if you buy them here. Bring everything you want with you. Once you are here for a while you start to find friends that are going back for a bit or know people coming. It's not uncommon for them to pick up some stuff for you.

[TheMetetron]

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I'm going to defer to Chairman Wood for a good Thai place. I'm sure he knows the restaurants better than me. I would guess Palermo as well though.

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We went to a crappy Thai place in Las Canitas that was horribly expensive and not very good at all. I highly recommend against it. I'll try to get the name posted here. There was no spice at all in the food and we paid $5 for a liter of beer (horrible ripoff here). Going to try a few different places in the coming weeks. Hopefully, something good comes up.

[Chairman Wood]

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We went to a crappy Thai place in Las Canitas that was horribly expensive and not very good at all. I highly recommend against it. I'll try to get the name posted here. There was no spice at all in the food and we paid $5 for a liter of beer (horrible ripoff here). Going to try a few different places in the coming weeks. Hopefully, something good comes up.

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This was not my suggestion for the record. Although way overpriced, the food wasn't that bad and the $5 beers were tasty but not worth it.

[TheMetetron]

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We went to a crappy Thai place in Las Canitas that was horribly expensive and not very good at all. I highly recommend against it. I'll try to get the name posted here. There was no spice at all in the food and we paid $5 for a liter of beer (horrible ripoff here). Going to try a few different places in the coming weeks. Hopefully, something good comes up.

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This was not my suggestion for the record. Although way overpriced, the food wasn't that bad and the $5 beers were tasty but not worth it.

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The food was bad. Yours might not have been because apparently it had some spice, but mine was the least spicy Thai food I've ever tasted in my life. I swear we asked for all of our dishes to be extra spicy, right?

[yellowdoyle]

The Met,

It sounds like BsAs is more similar to Europe than I had originally thought.

How difficult would it be to live a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle down there? I noticed "beef with a side of beef" as being a common dinner mentioned once or twice.

Is bicycle riding common? How about the cost of bicycles?

I am getting a bit confused on the exchange rate. Your apt. is 1k USD/month? So what if my median net income was 2k USD per month. Half that gone in rent, so that leaves me 1k USD or 3300 pesos. How manageable is that?

This is a great thread, thanks for the info.

[TheMetetron]

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The Met,

It sounds like BsAs is more similar to Europe than I had originally thought.

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It is. For a long time it was known as the Paris of South America. That's fairly accurate though the economic crisis has obviously made it a much poorer Paris. This isn't necessarily a bad thing.

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How difficult would it be to live a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle down there? I noticed "beef with a side of beef" as being a common dinner mentioned once or twice.

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It is possible. There is one or two completely vegetarian restaurants in town. Most restaurants have at least one or two vegetarian dishes on the menu. I have a friend here who is a vegetarian. She finally cracked down and started eating fish because once in a while there would be places without a vegetarian option, but there is always a fish option. Obviously, you'd probably be happiest cooking your own meals, but when you go out you can usually find something good to eat.

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Is bicycle riding common? How about the cost of bicycles?

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You mean as a means of transportation? If so, I wouldn't recommend it. The drivers here are insane and I'd be surprised if you didn't get hit in your first month trying to bike around town. The public transit is good enough, don't worry about a bike.

If you mean for recreating, there are some nice parks and trails that you can ride your bike through. I have no idea about the cost. If the bike is made outside of Argentina, it is probably about the price of a bike in the USA. If it is made in Argentina, probably about 1/3 the price.

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I am getting a bit confused on the exchange rate. Your apt. is 1k USD/month? So what if my median net income was 2k USD per month. Half that gone in rent, so that leaves me 1k USD or 3300 pesos. How manageable is that?

This is a great thread, thanks for the info.

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My rent is 1k USD per month. Most people don't pay this much. I've seen some good 2 bedrooms in my neighborhood for $700 or so a month. So if you split with a roommate you can be under 1000 pesos per month. I'm just spoiled.

Even so, if I only made 2k USD per month and had about 3,100 pesos per month after paying rent, I'd be fine. The poverty line is 1,000 pesos per month INCLUDING rent. 3 times that with rent paid is more than enough to get by with. I know people here who aren't making 2k USD a month and living just fine. You probably won't be going to Opera Bay every Saturday and eating out 5 times a week, but you can survive just fine.

[Insp. Clue!So?]

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?