Life in USA vs. Argentina

[soulskier]

BAJay, I think some of your observations might be Capital Federal related. You may find less poop, nicer people, and more secure areas in other parts of the country.

 

[jp]

Can't comment on life compared to the US.
Compared to London life is good. I do a similar job to back home for a commensurate peso salary and this brings in enough for two. I spend more of my income on good food, eating out and entertainment and less on consumer goods.

Life in BA has many advantages over where ever you've come from, but it really depends on what you are looking for. For me quality of life has gone up, but that's not to say I'll stay here forever or wouldn't reconsider my position if things changed.

Its silly to say that Argentina is inherently worse or better than anywhere else. Its always going to be subjective and based on what any one individual is looking for.

 

[Ashley73]

And I imagine that it is human to to view a different culture as interesting and intriguing. There is a long list of what I have started to love about BA, but I also know that I am from the United States and can go back when I want, which is a privilege. This city holds so many people from all over the world, and there seems to be a demographic of non-stop lateral thinkers. These are all idealistic observations, but I can't help what has captured me so much. Of course, the "go with the flow" attitude is not good when it is applied to economy and government but I imagine, for lots of people, it is a breath of fresh air.

 

[KatharineAnn]

Life in USA vs Argentina. This is such an interesting question for me, and I´d like to speak up on behalf of the ex-pats who are neither living on a foreign salary in dollars/euros NOR income from some business started here. I do believe there are good business opportunities here, most of which unfortunately require capital, which I do not have.

First of all, there are positives and negatives to life in Argentina, even for those living on a miserable salary in pesos. First of all, there´s family. I just love Argentine family - they are a lot closer and it is of higher importance in the US.

The pace of life is different, I think it is a little slower, less rushed. I see this as a lack of motivation to earn more money, at least, this is what´s happened to me. As an English teacher, I have the option to either work very little, a normal amount, or a lot, as I wish. Working very little I can just squeeze by, normal amount I can live comfortably, and working a lot I can save. But what is the kind of ´savings´ I would acquire by working a 50 hour work week here? Probably no more than 100 dollars a month. Unfortunately, this is not enough to entice me to work hard, rather the contrary. It has caused me to decide to work as little as possible, in order to enjoy the non-material, beautiful things life has to offer - such as free time. I think this probably happens to many people. As the opportunity for economic advancement is quite low, so, then, is the motivation to work harder and harder.

This is both a positive and a negative for me. It´s made me less materialistic, and I value free time and relationships and experiences more than things I buy. However, I am also living in probably one of the least attractive neighborhoods of Capital (Once, on the plaza), and would rather die than raise a family here. I´m young, happy with my life for the moment, but in the long haul I could never live here, unless I wanted my children to grow up thinking prostitution and drug dealing were totally valid professions.

I think a lot of peoples´ arguments are a result of the drastically different experiences people have here. It´s really amazing how two Americans can move here and have complete opposite experiences. My experience isn´t like any of my friends´, for example. But I´m happy with mine, for now. Until I run out of the very few savings in dollars I have (and I will), and run home to the US for the security of knowing I will have enough money to buy my groceries next week, or pay the rent in a neighborhood that isn´t the projects.

 

[soulskier]

Stan, I cordially invite you to come over to my house, sit on my couch and have some mate, an cerveza artensenal or vino tinto with me and I will show you my version of logic and reason.

Stan this post is for you. http://livinginpatagonia.com/?p=1328

Hope to see you soon!

 

[rickulivi]

Life in USA vs Argentina.
You wrote, life in Argentina has " . . . made me less materialistic, and I value free time and relationships and experiences more than things I buy."

Why couldn't you live that way in the USA? Don't you have freedom of choice in the USA? You don't have to have the newer car, the nicer apt., the ipod and so on. Why can you live a simpler life in Argentina, yet be unable to do so in the USA?

I have enjoyed your thoughtful responses.

 

[Zenobia]

For starters, I used to live in the country. The great thing about the beginning of southern Maryland (Anne Arundel Co.) is that you can live in a big house out in the country, surround yourself with nature, play loud music and have parties without the neighbors calling the cops, and still be within a short drive of civilization. Here, I get the advantages of the big city, like not having to drive, being able to walk to stores, or someplace other than the mailbox, with not as much of a risk of not being seen and subsequently flattened by Lexus SUVs or shot by hunters who mistook you for a deer. So, I find just being able to walk places and having sort of a sidewalk, and sometimes streetlights that don't turn white for thirty seconds and start to flash red when you're only halfway across and legions of angry yuppies are ready to mow you down with their luxury SUVs if you don't get out of the way amazing.

 

[Zenobia]

Also, I find that they use a lot more keys and locks here. My apartment has four locks on the door and an alarm system. That is impressive, because I've been living or keeping more than half my stuff in my parent's house for eight years, and I still don't have a key for any of the six exterior doors. So learning to use the weird keys that look like screwdrivers was a challenge, and using the alarm system took a lot of practice. That's one thing I have here that I don't have in the U.S. House keys.

 

[KatharineAnn]

Life in USA vs Argentina.
You wrote, life in Argentina has " . . . made me less materialistic, and I value free time and relationships and experiences more than things I buy."

Why couldn't you live that way in the USA? Don't you have freedom of choice in the USA? You don't have to have the newer car, the nicer apt., the ipod and so on. Why can you live a simpler life in Argentina, yet be unable to do so in the USA?

I have enjoyed your thoughtful responses.

Well, I should be able to live that way in the USA, but unfortunately there is a generalized frenzy to buy, buy, buy, a consumerist culture that makes it quite difficult to forget about buying, to forget about these ´needs´ that capitalism has created, that really aren´t needs at all. You earn good money, and in general, if you work hard you have opportunities to save money and advance economically. This sparks the greed that I think is innately human, and you become fixated on it. You know you shouldn´t, but you do it anyway. Like I said, Argentina´s economic situation made me think less about materialistic things because I just really don´t have a CHOICE...but I ended up being quite happy about that. Also like I mentioned, there are things I´m not so happy with. The grass is always greener, I suppose.

 

[citygirl]

Well..my plusses are probably not the norm but for me, the best thing is that I can live in Cap Fed and be in the campo with my horse in under 45 minutes. It's the best of both worlds for me - city and country. And no, I could not have that in the US. If you live in a major metropolitan area, you don't have access to farms in a 45 minute drive.

The rest - well, I enjoy my life here more both because of a favorable exchange rate & because of a paradigm shift in my thinking. Could I have lived that way in NYC? In theory yes, I could have stopped to enjoy life more but that's fairly hard when you're working 80+ hours a week. Here, I find I get more done in 40 hours and also enjoy the rest of my time a lot more.

Everyone will have different experiences and I don't think anyone says that life in Arg is vastly superior to the US. But for some of us, for various personal reasons, it has been a great experience.