Living in Olivos

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OLivos and VIcente lopez are really great!! i was living here all my life ( sorry for my english) and i can tell you is the best pleace in bs as.
20 or 30 minutes from the city depends car bus train.
if you want you can send me a email, [email protected]

 

[sleslie23]

Rosebud,

I would suggest you not place too much emphasis on the stereotypes you mention in your original post. "Superficiality" is not unique to Argentina, not that I even know what that means in this context.

In general, you won't find the people in Martinez, Olivos, San Isidro to be much different than the people of Belgrano, Palermo, or Recoleta.

I spent my first two years here working in San Isidro (actually Martinez / Acasusso). I personally would have been bored living there, though there are nice areas, restaurants, bars, etc.

Will you be driving? If not, you might find it a little more difficult getting around to buy food, etc.

 

[rosebud63]

Sorry, I meant "superficial crowd."

 

[rosebud63]

No, I don't have a car. I am surprised to hear so many comments (not just in this post but others as well) about how Argentines don't necessarily want to make friends with foreigners. I have lived in several other countries where this was not the case at all.

 

[sleslie23]

No, I don't have a car. I am surprised to hear so many comments (not just in this post but others as well) about how Argentines don't necessarily want to make friends with foreigners. I have lived in several other countries where this was not the case at all.

Argentines tend to have their own circle of friends (many of whom they have known since childhood) and don't tend to branch out. That said, it's not impossible, but it may take work and/or time.

How long are you here for? If you are here longer term, I would suggest taking classes and doing other activities you are interested in. That's how I've met most of my friends here.

 

[steveinbsas]

No, I don't have a car. I am surprised to hear so many comments (not just in this post but others as well) about how Argentines don't necessarily want to make friends with foreigners. I have lived in several other countries where this was not the case at all.

If you never venture out of GBA you will go away calling this the portena attitude.

It certainly is not limited to the "city center" as you call it.

As a foreigner who doesn't speak the language it will be difficult for most Argentines to help you even if they want to.

How can you possibly expect to become friends with someone if you cannot communicate well with them?

If you are only here temporarily they won't think you are worthy of their friendship. If you can't speak their language why should they bother with you in the first place?

That is the porteno attitude.

It isn't limited to the city center.

I never speak English with the Argentines where I live.

And I have many Argentine friends...who know I am here for (the rest of my) life.

And they are either thrilled or incredulous that I chose to live here.

 

[FerLiu]

Most of the porteños are friendly, I don't know what is it with the "attitude" thing, but since I was born HERE I've never had that problem (and my parents are not from Argentina). Obviously, there are certain exceptions, but that's totally normal.

I'm eager to meet people from all around the globe and learn about their cultures, traditions and way of living (so are most of my friends). But from my point of view, there is a common belief that porteños are unfriendly, selfish, unhelpful and so on and that's the main issue why it's hard to make real friends, because nearly all of us have prejudices . I believe that a reduced number of individuals shouldn't reflect what the society really is like.

I certainly don't believe that the length of your stay determine whether you're "worth" someone's friendship or not. That's really f*cked up, and to be honest, I've never heard that before. Even if porteños can't speak english, they'd try to help you out (it's hard to find a porteño that speaks ZERO english nowadays, c'mon).

Olivos is a beautiful place to live, and like everyone said, it's just a 20 minute ride from the city centre, and the train that takes you there is the safest one so far (Línea Mitre, Retiro-Tigre). Also, there's buses too (29, 152) that you'll eventually learn how to take. Public transport, luckily, is super cheap in Buenos Aires (not taxis though...).

I don't know why is that everyone thinks that porteños are like "mean creatures" that are super hostile, desperately wanting to scam you or whatever their minds can imagine. It is certainly not like that and you'll find plenty of opportunities to meet really nice people who you'll eventually make friends with, wherever you are. That doesn't mean that you should talk to everyone on the street and trusting everyone or anything like that, of course you've got to be cautious, like in any other country.

Hopefully you'll be able to enjoy and get the most out of the city of Buenos Aires while meeting nice people, and who knows, you might end up loving it here.

If there's anything you need just let me know, I'll be glad to help!

Best regards,

Fernando

 

[steveinbsas]

Most Portenos don't speak English and that's the reason they seem unfriendly.

Most of them are nor scammers, either, but most foreigners who don't speak Spanish never have the opportunity to discover this fact.

There are too many English speaking scammers in the way.

 

[rosebud63]

Like I have said, I have lived in several other countries throughout the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. I did not know the language in ANY of these countries as I am on 1 year assignments from my job.

However, I had a good number of friendships with the locals, who were interested in me as a person and as an expat living in their country. My local friends were also more than happy to speak English with me, and didn't hold it against me in the least.

When I am in the US, I am always interested in expats and those who have just moved here from other countries. I would definitely go out of my way to help them regardless of how long they stay.

I would think that most young educated Argentines are going to know conversational English, and would understand that most of the educated world can also speak conversational English.

I don't see why anybody should hold it against me if my job assignment is in Argentina for 1 year and I speak only English. Nor do I think that would affect my friendships with the locals if they are capable of speaking English. It's not like I decided to move to Argentina on a permanent basis and refuse to learn Spanish. My job assignment is in Argentina for 1 year and has nothing to do with Spanish.

Of course I think I should make an effort with Spanish but the bottom line is- I'm not going to be fluent or near fluent within a few months of when I'm there. Therefore, I am going to have to communicate mostly in English. Argentina has to be a very arrogant country indeed to refuse to speak English to expats or tourists in the city of Buenos Aires, which is one of the major cosmopolitan cities of the world.

I understand that there are a lot of international students (college, grad school) studying there for a semester or longer. I know there are also many expats there for other reasons. Do they all know Spanish? No. Does that mean they should be treated like crap or not worth people's time??

I just find it extremely hard to believe that young educated people in their 20's and 30's aren't going to be interested in friendships with expats. It just doesn't fit in with the rest of the world. So basically ALL OVER the world young, educated people are interested in friendships with expats (as I have experienced) EXCEPT those from Argentina? I mean, are Argentines from another planet?

So far on this thread, a couple of expats in particular have done a wonderful job of making Argentines sound arrogant, anti-social, and racist.

How stuck up, boring, and bland must Argentines be to not want to socialize with people outside of their tight homogeneous Argentine circle? And this is an INTERNATIONAL, COSMOPOLITAN city?!?!

Sorry, I just don't believe it.

I am a good looking, social, and friendly person in my 20's. I don't believe I'm going to make no local friends.

 

[Iznogud]

Too many erroneous assumptions in your posts, also WAY too many "I"s in your text. Might be your llfe, but the Universe is not about You.
As friendly, or not, as the people here or anywhere are, you are supposed to adjust to their environment and not the other way around.

Particularly for a young person like you, a profound attitude adjustement would be most beneficial and welcomed. When you use the word arrogant you are systematically barking at the wrong tree, go look at yourself in the mirror.

Best of luck here amongst us stuck up, boring, etc.
It's not that we're so ignorant we do not see you as God's gift to Mankind, more likely we do not give a shit.
You expect others to make the extra mile while refusing to take a step in the right direction,