Expats making friends with Porteños

[Philsword]

This is an actual phenomenon in certain places, so I guess the debate is whether it's the case in BA.

Well just based on my experiences I would say it is the case. My guess is that most expats hang out with other expats in B.A. Some folks in this category are probably limited due to language difficulties. But I have found that native Spanish speaking expats have the same problems in getting to know people and making friends.

 

[legilber]

Just asked my boyfriend his opinion of Porteños, as he's from Cordoba. The conversation went like this:

"Amor, que opinas sobre los porteños?"

Alejandro: "Ufff (pregnant pause) y bueno... Hay porteños buenos y hay porteños malos pero en general no me gustan."

I'm not being debby downer on this subject, as I think argentines are amazing. But Argies from outside CF are distinct. If you put a statement on a public forum asking opinions, don't be surprised if their opinion differs from yours.

 

[sundae]

Porteños are often upper-mid to high class, so if you're around Recoleta and Palermo, there's a good chance you'll meet a lot of the snobs of the city. I'm not sure this is any different than trying to make friends in Beverly Hills or uptown Manhattan.

As with all generalizations, though, they aren't always right and there's all kinds of people. We're in greater Buenos Aires and I've found the people to be quite friendly.

 

[Caz]

I must have got it all wrong I guess - almost all the people I know here who are in the friend category are locals - I do know a couple of expats here - but to be honest I spend all of my time with the locals It makes sense to me - I live here now

 

[pennaigor]

Just asked my boyfriend his opinion of Porteños, as he's from Cordoba. The conversation went like this:

"Amor, que opinas sobre los porteños?"

Alejandro: "Ufff (pregnant pause) y bueno... Hay porteños buenos y hay porteños malos pero en general no me gustan."

I'm not being debby downer on this subject, as I think argentines are amazing. But Argies from outside CF are distinct. If you put a statement on a public forum asking opinions, don't be surprised if their opinion differs from yours.

Well, if the thread is about porteños vs. the rest of Argentina, then it's very subjective. There's always province vs big city love-hate relationship. Argentina is not special in this sense (ask any russian what he thinks about people from Moscow) Having said that, i have a few porteños that i consider my close friends after 3 years in Argentina and i still would argue that it's very easy to make porteño friends as long as you speak spanish well. Otherwise it won't be, for the lack of a better word, authentic.

 

[deeve007]

As with all generalizations, though, they aren't always right and there's all kinds of people. We're in greater Buenos Aires and I've found the people to be quite friendly.

But as with many (never "all) generalisations, some are based on some element of truth.

And a question: What if a Porteño agreed with a general consensus that most Porteños were a little insular with regards to making friends?
(I know of at least one who does...)

My point: Just as with some of the other comments, your personal experience doesn't make your view fact either.

 

[BA_local]

Hey Guys,

First of all I want to let you all know that I'm a local porteño and I just read a few of the posts under this thread and I agree with some of your comments, not all of them though. I know that we, porteños, can be a little bit hard to hang out with at first, but if you spend like 5 min with us, you'll like us.. hah.

I really like meeting new people, specially from other countries. I lived in the US for a few years and sometimes I miss hanging out with english native speakers, not that my english sucks (you'll be the judge on that) but I like the different perspectives on things and culture if you will.

Well, once again, if you need any tip/advise on anything related to this crazy city, PM me and I'll be glad to help you.


Saludoss.