A lot of advice needed

[Bajo_cero2]

Had you ever deal with hiperinflation before? Electricity bills rised 1000% in one year, salaries 15%. And the economy is going to crush soon.

 

[Kaminoge]

No, I’ve never dealt with hyper inflation. And that’s part of the reason I’m asking all these questions. To try and get a feel for what I’d really be signing up for.

Obviously I don’t need to move to Argentina. I would like my next job to be in South/Central America but that’s a lot of countries and there will be plenty of other jobs. But there are some things I really like about this job so I’m weighing up whether taking it is worth the risk. And, what it is I’d actually be risking. Remember my rent and utilities are covered. So inflation can hurt in 2 main ways. Food/living expenses and the value of any savings. Compared to most people I’d have a lot less to worry about.

Other concerns would be civil unrest (any opinions on how likely that is?) or the school going bankrupt and not paying me.

Thanks for your feedback though. Clearly you think I’d be nuts to risk it and I do see why you’d say that.

 

[Bajo_cero2]

There is going to be social unrest and brutal police represion.
This happened short time ago:

And this was the last crisis on 2001:

It was a massive rebelion that left 37 death people and Thousands of shops looted.
There was no cash available so people created barter clubs.
So, yes, the school can go on bankrupsy.

Quilmes is surrounded for some of the worst favelas and the nice areas are small. So, insecurity is an issue. And it is going to be worst.

 

[Bajo_cero2]

In red the the villas miseria:

 

[Bajo_cero2]

How dangerous they are? Ambientalist started to clean a stream and they found 8 bodies:

 

[Kaminoge]

Thanks for the information. Definitely some food for thought there.

 

[sergio]

They should be guaranteeing you a dollar based salary. Inflation is likely to be 40% over the next year. You are presumably being hired from the UK. Have you any idea what housing conditions are? The salary they offering is low compared to international schools in general. If they do not adjust it to inflation it will be a poor salary with uncertain living conditions. Of course what they are offering you is a lot more than they pay local hires but you are not a local.

 

[Kaminoge]

Nah, I'm Australian. But as I said I'm a career international teacher so I've been in Bulgaria for the past 5 years (and Tokyo before that - variety is the spice of life!).

Most of the teachers at the school are Argentinian. I'm not sure what the deal is with fees (that students pay) but if those are hit by inflation they couldn't really have the foreign hires getting a guaranteed dollar based salary and the locals seeing theirs get devalued massively. Especially since, if it did all spiral out of control, we're the ones who would be able to get out a lot more easily than the Argentinians.

I don't know the specifics of housing. It would be a 2 bedroom, furnished, apartment. Possibly at the school itself, possibly in Quilmes (basically they fill the apartments they own and then they rent). You do get a say in where you live (if there's no spot at the school), so apparently some people live in Buenos Aires but I don't want the commute.

 

[chris]

I think school fees there are very high.

 

[Kaminoge]

Weird. The reply I'm seeing here is not the same as the one I'm seeing in my email.

Thanks for your input Chris. I agree with what you wrote (which isn't appearing here) - too far for a commute given the working hours. That's why if I do end up in this job I'd definitely be living closer to the school rather than going for an option that involves a commute (although my understanding is that you can take a school bus in the mornings so you'd only deal with public transport in the afternoons). In the working week I generally find I don't do much except work anyway so I'm fine with the idea of just going up to the city for a day out on occasional weekends.

Most overseas British schools are imitating British schools as they were 100 years ago rather than as they are today. And, based on my teaching experience in the UK, that's a good thing. The school I was at in the UK is not something you'd ever want to copy. But, as an Australian a lot of the "British" stuff (eg uniforms, houses) are standard in our schools too so in some ways it would be more familiar to me that the more American style of many international schools.