Expats not happy, why stay?
- Thread starter soulskier
- Start date
Why did I choose to reply to this as my first post ?
It is a question often postulated by locals whenever I complain about certain things.
Why dont I leave ?
The quick answer is that leaving would be easy......The difficult task is to change those inbread attributes in this society that negate the enormous potential that could make this a great country.
Complaining about those things lived is a start.
Being extorted out of 1000 greenbacks in customs , just because they could is a bad thing. Let me clarify/;
I brought my pet cat with me. I did ALL my homework regarding paperwork, forms , requirements. This was confirmed by the well dressed young lady at customs , . Regarless , she stated , "look , Ill explain it so you understand. If you dont get down with $1000 , your cat goes to quarantine , and , let me tell you , cats dont do well in our quarrantine" This episode happened no more than one hour after I arrived at the airport. But it didnt happen before this :
I used the services of Continental cargo to transport my cat. I was billed aprox $300. Fair price I thought. Yet when I arrived and went to the office of the argentine counterpart of said company , they decided to charge me an additional $200 ( had to pay in dollars) and gave be a receit in pesos. Horrified I complained. Their reply was that they didnt care that continental cargo USA told me that it was their policy that I wouldnt have to pay anything else , they were their own company and if I didnt pay , I wouldnt get the forms
Getting my container was another equally horrible illustration if the inbred banditry state of mind keeps investors out of this country
It is a question often postulated by locals whenever I complain about certain things.
Why dont I leave ?
The quick answer is that leaving would be easy......The difficult task is to change those inbread attributes in this society that negate the enormous potential that could make this a great country.
Complaining about those things lived is a start.
Being extorted out of 1000 greenbacks in customs , just because they could is a bad thing. Let me clarify/;
I brought my pet cat with me. I did ALL my homework regarding paperwork, forms , requirements. This was confirmed by the well dressed young lady at customs , . Regarless , she stated , "look , Ill explain it so you understand. If you dont get down with $1000 , your cat goes to quarantine , and , let me tell you , cats dont do well in our quarrantine" This episode happened no more than one hour after I arrived at the airport. But it didnt happen before this :
I used the services of Continental cargo to transport my cat. I was billed aprox $300. Fair price I thought. Yet when I arrived and went to the office of the argentine counterpart of said company , they decided to charge me an additional $200 ( had to pay in dollars) and gave be a receit in pesos. Horrified I complained. Their reply was that they didnt care that continental cargo USA told me that it was their policy that I wouldnt have to pay anything else , they were their own company and if I didnt pay , I wouldnt get the forms
Getting my container was another equally horrible illustration if the inbred banditry state of mind keeps investors out of this country
Fabe said:
This is a great example of a negative post that we can learn so much from. Personally I love Argentina but wish I would have read more negative/unhappy posts before I moved here to help me avoid all the traps like this one. Also the money she spent/was extorted out of
on her cat would have feed 1000 homeless cats in Buenos Aires.
Typical reply.
Its MY choice to bring my cat with me ( incidentally , Im a HE). Is it written somewhere that I need subsidise the poor cats here ? Just cuz I have a cat ? Secondly , again , I ll clarify , i was EXTORTED 1000 dollars. I PAID 300 to get my cat down here. Somehow because of my choice i need to feel guilty about it ? Somehow Im responsible ? These rationalisations come to my ears every day ........
Its not about the cost of a cat. This cat has been with me for a long time . It to was a stray. I felt that bringing her with me was the least i can do given she gave me company for so many years
Its MY choice to bring my cat with me ( incidentally , Im a HE). Is it written somewhere that I need subsidise the poor cats here ? Just cuz I have a cat ? Secondly , again , I ll clarify , i was EXTORTED 1000 dollars. I PAID 300 to get my cat down here. Somehow because of my choice i need to feel guilty about it ? Somehow Im responsible ? These rationalisations come to my ears every day ........
Its not about the cost of a cat. This cat has been with me for a long time . It to was a stray. I felt that bringing her with me was the least i can do given she gave me company for so many years
This kind of thing must be random. We also brought our cat (how would anyone leave behind a pet?). We jumped through all the hoops back in the States, got the shots and certificates, paid the fees. We paid to bring the cat in her carrier in the cabin with us, not in cargo. When we arrived, we and our bags in the cart, with the cat in her carrier bag on top, papers ready, were simply waved through the customs area without being checked for anything, cat or bags, and out we went. So it must be a random event. Maybe we just didn't look all that interesting. It was like being all dressed up with nowhere to go.
Fabe said:
I have a theory that native Spanish speakers are more likely to be the ones hit up for bribes, i.e. you understand what they are asking for, in Latin culture bribes are not uncommon etc. If you don't speak Spanish it's harder for them to extort the money and you might be willing to make a big stink over the issue where they know the Latin person is more likely to go along.
While in Argentina the wife and I were hit up several times from different government offices for money. It ranged from out and out extortion to 30 pesos to a policeman to forget a traffic violation.
You are definitely on to something here, Stanexpat. For example, I have a coffee mug on the shelf filling with monedas (that's coins, right?) because nobody can figure out how to tell me to use exact amounts or get closer to the total, so I am always getting piles of coins back when I buy something. Since I don't like to put on my glasses to see what the coins are, I just pitch them into the mug and just carry paper cash. I do essentially understand what I'm being asked for, but my stock answer to any query I don't want to deal with is, lo siento, no hablo castellano. It would be really difficult to ask me for a bribe, since as far as I know, they could be asking me where the toilet is.
