I met an Argentine woman the first week I was in BA in 2006. She was 15 years younger then me and had recently retired from her "night job" of dancing stage tango at Cafe Tortoni (her day job was working as a systems analyst). On the very first morning we woke up together (actually I woke up first and started my laptop), upon hearing the "chimes" as Windows started, she suddenly became so ill that she could not go to work. She started crying and told me that the mornings were for "the couple to be in the bed together" and not for me to be using the computer.
That morning she revealed to me that she had a previous American boyfriend that she met when giving tango lessons in BA. She moved to Chicago to live with him but he was a boozer who worked from his apartment as a systems analyst, locking himself in the second bedroom of his apartment , spending all day on the computer and drinking beer. She was not allowed to do anything except to go for walks in the neighborhood, especially going to the nearby supermarket to buy more beer.
On three occasions she became physically violent. The fist time she slapped my on the side of the head, "boxing" my left ear which resulted in partial (and permanent) hearing loss. The second time she threw two " small" bronze sculptures that bounced off my leg and damaged the floor in my first and only rental apartment. Less than ten minutes later (while continuing her tirade) she actually lapsed into a "mini-coma" and I had to call an ambulance and have her taken to the hospital where they "revived" her an hour later. The last time she was violent (which was also the last day I ever saw her) she twisted my right ear until it bled.
For those who want to know the "reasons" she became violent:
1. I made an offer to buy a house in Tigre less than a month after we first met and did not consult her first because she was in Spain at the time. She became violent upon seeing the "reservado" for the real estate purchase after she returned to Argentina.
2. I went to AFIP and got a CDI (on my own).
3. I asked her if she would take care of my Chihuahua while I went to Bariloche to look at property.
She also told me that I would go to jail for "washing the money" if I did not transfer the funds to buy an apartment or house directly into the bank account of her lawyer friend and that I could not legally buy any property unless her name was also on the title.
She was actually threatened by my ipod because it was "only for one person." I don't think she was mentally ill, but it was clear that she was emotionally unstable.
I met a second Argentine woman last year. She was not mentally ill, either, but she fit the description of a narcissist with sociopathic tendencies like a glove. She had undergone numerous plastic surgeries, had "regular" injections of Botox, and even had "stem cell therapy" (which made her look very good for a woman of "53" years).
After seven months she revealed that she was ten years older the her "stated" age (as if the truth was optional) and was actually (by then) 64. There is a great deal more to the story but I'm not ready to reveal it here. I'm writing a screenplay about finding "love" in Argentina. Hopefully, I will be able to get the film shot entirely on location in Argentina with an Argentine cast and crew...and with a few expats from this site appearing in cameo roles as themselves.