An Ex-Expat's Observations from the US

[A&A]

IS THIS AMERICA? I don't think so

I don't think so either as I am pretty sure this is Argentina? Let me get this straight: You are an ancient hippie American living in Paris, ranting about U.S. politics on a Buenos Aires message board?

Your purported girlfriend must be boring as hell. (Yeah, I so went there!!!) Did I miss something?

As for the OP, you probably see more women with short hair and or less woman with old-school Cher length hair than here. Has anyone else noticed the hair thing? (Notwithstanding the purported hair fallout post)

 

[steveinbsas]

I don't think so either as I am pretty sure this is Argentina? Let me get this straight: You are an ancient hippie American living in Paris, ranting about U.S. politics on a Buenos Aires message board?

I believe Dudster is living in LA. He made it clear in another thread that when he is in his apartment in Paris he doesn't pay any attention to what is going on in the USA.

Why he bothers with expressing his views about US government here is a question I already asked.

He just feels like it.

Actually, I think it's better for him to vent here (even with his insults towards others, including me) than take it out on himself.

If he does post a photo of himself I won't be surprised to see him foaming at the mouth...unless there's a gun in it:

Dudester - Crestfallen and spinning the cylinder.... (click)

(From Obamacare: Say goodbye to Grandma and the grandkids! #157.)

Of course I hope he doesn't actually have a gun or would ever use one to harm anyone, including himself.

(I don't remember anyone else in the forum ever joking or even hinting about using a gun.)

 

[soulskier]

Yes, we should legalize pot (guess who one of the big blockers of legalization is - Pharma. Big losses if people can grow it in their backyards and substitute it for some expensive Pharma meds). I agree with TRUE FREE ENTERPRISE but some industries do not practice that. There's no competition in the drug industry. The Antibiotic Erythromycin costs 10 times more here than in Paris - WTF is THAT all about? One of my customers is a very stressed out woman, she's about 5 years away from Medicare. She got some sleeping pills ($320 for 30, too new for a generic) and Zanax ($160 for 90 non generic - lower price since there is a generic but she's scared of stuff maybe made in China) she can't afford health care so her daughters had to pay for it. Again, I'm sure this stuff is about 90% less in France/Europe - there's no competition - it's a monopoly - that's not free enterprise.

President Eisenhower warned us about the "Military Industrial Complex" in his farewell speech in very late 1960 or early 61 (this is a 5 Star GENERAL talking !!!) He warned us about it and it's here. Yeah , we need to defend ourselves but not go fight over oil. It's always Oil. And Iran is NOT going to nuke Israel, it - Iran - would become an INSTANT DESERT from the US nuke missiles sent back in a split second. The War machine is alive and well because it makes TONS of money and changes the power balance.

Ah, don't even get me started on CHINA or the US BANKS. That's a couple pages each. Yeah we are not so far apart, when does the revolution begin? All the Best, Dudester

Oh yeah, the pot thing here in California is out of control. Anyone can get a prescription for almost any reason. There is even a pot dispensary next door to a strip club that is open until 2am.

Hot chicks are the budtenders and there are over 40 different varieties of really high grade stuff. A free sample is given to first time visitors.

 

[muppditt]

Men are more handsome here <3

Less variety of fashion styles among individuals here

More variety of food (in SF at least)

Ahhhh the beauty of being able to stay out all night with actually a place to go and other people around! yay BsAs on that one

 

[Napoleon]

I'm a firm believer that there should be a rule that only Ex Pats living inside Argentina should be able to derail threads with anger and vitriol.

Those posting from outside the country can only contribute positively.

I think that that's fair enough.

PS- I miss Dark Chocolate, Slurpees, and the convenience of Free Parking. (I'm obviously not talking about SF, LA, or NYC.) And doctors/dentists who take credit cards.

 

[Hache]

I don't know why their is so much hostility with someone moving back to the States. It's their desicion. What do we care.

Totally. I suffered it myself when I moved back here. I was a college student, not an expat. When college was over, so was my life in the US. I really had no reason to stay. I think I would have only stayed if something extremely personal and significant happened to me on a human level. Something beyond the material world. For people here I just left the "First World" and returned to the "Third World". It just didn't make sense to them. Even today, after twelve years of returning, when things get tough for me, they tell me I should have stayed in the US. If they only understood "categories" or development aren't so relevant when it comes to life beyond the quality-of-life you can measure in comforts. When it comes to the last, the differences between the two countries are very real. I can't think of a single field in which we top the USA as a country. In fact, I can't think of a single field in which we are even close at all. But is that so important when it comes to human existence? Despite finding our ways of life very similar in many and mostly superficial ways, I couldn't fit on a closer human level. Or maybe I didn't want to/tried hard enough, or wasn't interested or needed to. It was possible. America is an inclusive country with an inclusive society. It is. I know it because I lived there. Is that common? Of course I came across a few exceptions. The stereotypical guy beating his chest while shouting how great the USA is while doing nothing to contribute to such greatness, as if being born in a country that made great achievements were an achievement in itself they could rub on foreigners' faces. The guy who sarcastically asked me if we had electricity in Argentina. Unlike what many people around the world believe, these stereotypical superior bullies were VERY rare to find. All in all, it was a great experience and probably the best period of my life, but the period came to an end, and staying wasn't in my mind. As you said, I returned to what I knew, and let me add, understood. No one is to blame for that.

Every other day I want to move back. Not because it's better, but because it's what I know. I had friends & family there. Here (in Bariloche) I have none.

I don't know why you came here and I may be wrong, but by saying this you give me the impression of looking for something too deep to be found in a physical location, and that now you know what you left behind better and value it more. It makes me sad you aren't making friends, and I hope you do very soon. I hope you finally break through the ice wall and make one local friend at least. Don't blame yourself or anyone else if you don't. Life is a journey much greater than results, and we aren't perfect. We are human.

 

[Nicole_Ramirez]

I don't know why you came here and I may be wrong, but by saying this you give me the impression of looking for something too deep to be found in a physical location, and that now you know what you left behind better and value it more. It makes me sad you aren't making friends, and I hope you do very soon. I hope you finally break through the ice wall and make one local friend at least. Don't blame yourself or anyone else if you don't. Life is a journey much greater than results, and we aren't perfect. We are human.

I moved here because my husband is Argentinian & we wanted a better place to raise our kids. Yes it is my fault for agreeing to move to a place I never visited. I had been to Buenos Aires several times to visit his family & assumed where we would be living would be like that. Again my fault. I didn't know I would be living in filth. Mostly dirt roads here. I do not even have a washer to wash the dirt out of my kids clothes. Do I know that I would be happier moving back to the States, nope cause I haven't been back for a visit yet to realize I hated it there. Can't afford it. So please don't be hard on me, it's taking me a lot longer to adjust than most people.

 

[citygirl]

Nicole - give yourself some time. My first year and a half, I loved it here. I moved here alone & made lots of friends. Unfortunately, they were 99% expats. After about 18 months, everyone started leaving one by one. The next year or so was really difficult for me here- in fact, I posted a thread here about halfway through '10 when I was thinking about leaving. I didn't really have any friends, life was just hard, I was working on starting the company here and I was sad and exhausted all the time. But I gave myself a deadline - the end of '10 - and decided that I would do everything I could to make the most of it and make local friends and if at the end, it still didn't work, I would leave. I'm still here and happier than I've ever been. It took a while but I've made new (local) friends, have learned to enjoy the great parts and ignore the bad things as much as possible and really commit to living here.

Anyway, this is a long-winded response but if you need to talk, feel free to PM me. I can certainly empathize but it will get better. And if at the end of whatever trial period you've set and after you've made all the efforts you can, if you still don't like it - there are ALWAYS other options! Return to the US, move to BsAs or a million other ideas.

 

[marksoc]

It seems to me that many posters deal with the typical problems of immigration, and those problems are not specific to Argentina. Sure, it is easy to make friends if you live in any town or city which is not BA (center or northern neighbourhoods, colder folks there in the country clubs and behind security fences, and that is to be expected in similar locations everywhere). But this problem is part of the process of moving to a new place, even worst when it is a new culture. People are certainly friendly here. I even managed to make local friends in Israel, a country on which it is certainly true that everybody seems to know each other since childhood, or at least since the Army.

So give it time, share some summers in the coast, go to a tango club, dance some folklore steps in the Gaucho Feria de Mataderos. You will meet people right away, only with your ten or twenty accented words in Spanish. What the heck, it is possible to make very good friends in France (but I don´t know in Finland or Japan, I don´t know how those people manage ).

And yes, probably it will never be home, but there are very positive aspects to be found where you are now,and I am sure that you will find enough porteño folks to discuss the identity of the Mother in "How I Met Your Mother" or how awesome "The Wire" was.They are there, hanging out in Corrientes Avenue after a session of an Herzog retrospective, or drinking a liter of Quilmes at the door of a rock bar in the suburbs. Believe me.

 

[soulskier]

It's nice to see this forum hasn't changed since I've been gone.