Is A Short Term Move To Ba Doable With A Young Family?

[jaidan]

It seems there might be space at St. George's - at both campus' I think. Maybe unfortunately, it seems that the location of the school campus' are not necessarily in the choice neighborhoods. Cost is $8000 per month * 12.

I laughed when I read about evening parties for kids. Unkind whispers fly around if a kids' party runs past 4:00 pm here in Toronto ))

 

[syngirl]

haha… I think the source of the bitterness may have been related to the dollar problem, as well as the general economic issues locally. It's actually quite difficult to understand the magnitude and practical implications of the dollar restrictions, even as I can appreciate that it's a PITA.

Well that plus a lot of people think that when they move down here they are coming to "The Paris of the South" and are disappointed when they find out Buenos Aires ain't no Paris. Have you visited before?

If you send to St Georges you may want to reconsider where you live -- neither campus is in Buenos Aires by any means -- or prepare for either buying a car and learning to drive on highways here, or for paying for the bus service for your kids -- but that will make for a very long day for them. Are they already 4? or do they turn 4 after June 30? ie will they be in Salita de 4 or de 5? Some schools require full day attendance in Salita de 5 -- which is generally from 9am-5pm, + travel times of about 40mins each way makes for a very long day for 4 year olds. So if you choose St George's you may decide you want to live closer to there, out in Pilar or something -- but living in Pilar will just mean a regular suburbs life, in many ways similar to North America.

 

[JulieMango]

Hi Jaidan, I'm Canadian as well and have been living here for the past 4 years. Our son is now 2.5 and was born here.

Just a few quick things that haven't been covered by others before:
- You will have to adapt to the way you are raising your children: schedule is very different (kids stay up late, rarely nap, tweens from 11 year olds have parties that START at 9pm, etc), the amount of sugar your kids get offered daily is madness, etc. But otherwise, it's a great place to be with kids. I love that we can take our kid to any restaurant and people react well.
- I wouldn't worry about the school being bilingual honestly, you'll be speaking to your kids in English and they would most likely be bored in the English classes anyways as they would be much better than the other kids. If you were here longer-term it might make sense, but for only a year, it's not necessary.
- Count in at least 2500 pesos of healthcare monthly, unless you contract an Expat international company for a flat year fee of around 2000 US (but this only covers accidental while a local one will cover everything including dental). I can recommend some local ones or international ones if you need.
- Unless you want to buy a car (which is a hassle if you're here short term only), I would limit your searches for school/neighboorhood to within Buenos Aires city. Recoleta, Palermo and belgrano (including colegiales, chacarita, etc) would be your best bet for a walkable, park-filled family life.

To give you an idea, we live in Palermo, I walk my son to soccer practice, we bike to his school and all necessities are within 2-3 blocks distance. Public transport wise, anything that is walkable distance to the D subway line is great to connect anywhere in the city. Obviously the big difference in those areas from most of Canada is that it's extremely urban and dense. Few people have access to yards, there are some large parks but definitely not the greenery we're used to.

Good luck!