Moving To Ba From Texas In January!

ilovelucy55

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Hello everyone!
I am moving to BA In January of next year and i am really excited. I am still trying to grasp so much, the money, the culture, the dating scene!
From what i have learned so far Argentina is a really wonderful place to be. I am moving from Dallas Texas.
Does any one have any general suggestions, tips, hacks for an ex-pat?

Any info is appreciated on any topic at all!
 
You might find allot things you like or consider indispensable are not readily available in Argentina so plan on bringing such things with you. Also make sure you have electronics etc with you as they can be very expensive here. You might want to invest in new tablet, cell phones etc if you are going to be here a while as replacing or upgrading them here would cost much more than in the US.
 
You might find allot things you like or consider indispensable are not readily available in Argentina so plan on bringing such things with you. Also make sure you have electronics etc with you as they can be very expensive here. You might want to invest in new tablet, cell phones etc if you are going to be here a while as replacing or upgrading them here would cost much more than in the US.

Agreed. Buy or bring down your electronics. Also buy a few power converters. I bought three of them on amazon that had three outlets on them as well as 4 usb ports.

Be prepared for small inconveniences such as:

- Things not delivered whey they are supposed to be, like water that comes two weeks after the water guy says he will be there...

- getting a phone hooked up and being told by 6 different Moviestar locations that A) they don't have the chips, B) they don't have a sim card cutter, or C) there system is down, maybe go check (insert new location)

- Phone system... this one was a very strange thing for me. So apparently cell phones can call landlines, but landlines cant call cell phones...

- bank accounts: well we tried getting a bank account, but you cant get a bank account without a utility in your name ((they wont take your cell phone bill), in order to get a utility in your name you have to be renting a long term apartment, to get one of those long term apartments you have to have a garantia which you need a bank account for. LOL it is pure crazines.

- A lot of foods you are used to do not exist so you have to find substitutions, make it yourself, or find a way to get it here. I suggest for any types of chili check out Barrio Chino. It is awesome!

- Bring USD with you don't convert it first, also when you are here convert what you need don't change all of it at once.

Please don't let this discourage you in any way.

My boyfriend and I packed up our things and made the move sort of out of the blue. He came two weeks before me to get an apartment, mainly so it was easier for me to come down with our cats and we would already have a place for them. Moved from LA and 4 months ago, and don't regret a thing. It really is a beautiful city full of awesome things to explore. Come with an open mind, it is definitely different but I feel like it is a good different.
 
Agreed. Buy or bring down your electronics. Also buy a few power converters. I bought three of them on amazon that had three outlets on them as well as 4 usb ports.

Be prepared for small inconveniences such as:

- Things not delivered whey they are supposed to be, like water that comes two weeks after the water guy says he will be there...

- getting a phone hooked up and being told by 6 different Moviestar locations that A) they don't have the chips, B) they don't have a sim card cutter, or C) there system is down, maybe go check (insert new location)

- Phone system... this one was a very strange thing for me. So apparently cell phones can call landlines, but landlines cant call cell phones...

- bank accounts: well we tried getting a bank account, but you cant get a bank account without a utility in your name ((they wont take your cell phone bill), in order to get a utility in your name you have to be renting a long term apartment, to get one of those long term apartments you have to have a garantia which you need a bank account for. LOL it is pure crazines.

- A lot of foods you are used to do not exist so you have to find substitutions, make it yourself, or find a way to get it here. I suggest for any types of chili check out Barrio Chino. It is awesome!

- Bring USD with you don't convert it first, also when you are here convert what you need don't change all of it at once.

Please don't let this discourage you in any way.

My boyfriend and I packed up our things and made the move sort of out of the blue. He came two weeks before me to get an apartment, mainly so it was easier for me to come down with our cats and we would already have a place for them. Moved from LA and 4 months ago, and don't regret a thing. It really is a beautiful city full of awesome things to explore. Come with an open mind, it is definitely different but I feel like it is a good different.

Two comments on the above:

1. Landlines can indeed call cell phones - I have a landline in my apartment and call cellphones all the time. The only caveat is that the owner of the line has to allow for the landline to call cellphones. In a temporary apartment, the owner most likely simply has this disabled because there is an extra cost. Even in a long-term lease, the owner may have a landline already installed which they will probably want the renter to use, and may come by default blocked to call cellphones.

2. Bank accounts have always been difficult to get here and now is even more difficult (I don't know how much, or if, it will change now with Macri). You're right that you need a utility bill in your name, but it doesn't stop there. The biggest thing (and this has always been the case) is residency (though successfully applying for residency gives you a precaria, which you can use) . I don't know if the law actually requires residency (it didn't use to) but it has always been required by every bank at which we ever tried to open an account. In addition, nowadays you have to have proof of local income via income receipts or tax payment records. This latter part may change with Macri in office, but I don't know. Also, now thanks to our wonderful US government, US citizens (even people who are dual citizens here and there) have to comply with FATCA, an additional hurdle that isn't so difficult to overcome necessarily. But definitely don't count on bank accounts here and doing things like wiring money to your bank account here - even if you have an account that's another level of complication,just to get money into the account from the outside.

A couple of comments of my own about living here:

Be discouraged if you are thinking that everything will be nice and neat, cheap, easy to do things. Don't be discouraged if you are looking for an adventure in a cool place.

There are many cool things about Argentina but living here for an extended time can be a pain in the ass. Since I moved here in 2006, I started out in love with the place, became a bit disenchanted after my first year when I tried to get out of temporary apartments and integrate a little more with society, and then found myself wishing that my wife (Paraguayan), our family (really, her three younger sisters who are as my daughters) and I had decided to move to Paraguay 5 years ago when my business here went south (the reason I came to begin with). Unfortunately, once you're ensconced in a place and start putting down roots, it gets difficult to pull up those roots for transplant :)

One of the biggest problems of the last 4 years seems to be going away - getting money here if you are earning from outside the country. The other biggest problem, procuring long-term rentals, is still going to be a big problem and I doubt will go away in the next decade, if ever, because of the laws that protect renters at the expense of the owners' security.

The political climate is more uncertain and often more turbulent than that of the US. It makes for uncertain times. We currently have a pro-business candidate which, if you're on the socialist side of things in your thinking, may seem like a bad thing, but after 12 years (and more specifically, the last 8 years) of living under a fascist/socialist regime, most people here (and I'm not just talking about expats, but Argentinos themselves) who believe strongly in social programs are relieved that the previous administration's policies were not continued with Cristina's chosen candidate, who lost the election.

The more time you live here, often the more you become cynical about the place, at least to an extent. It is heavy in corruption and getting things done, once you are really trying to do more than be a long-term tourist, can be time-consuming, difficult and frustrating and may never be completed. I'm thinking specifically of a refrigerator that I had that I spent more than 4 months trying to get fixed, finally worked for about a week, and then crapped out again. Or something as simple as getting the handle to the elevator door to our apartment fixed (I live in a building with one apartment per floor), which I am not allowed to touch because it's the building's property and responsibility - it doesn't latch and I catch hell from other building occupants at times simply because while sitting there closed the handle moves into the downward position and the door opens (it's an old elevator). The superintendent of our building can't work on it either (not in his job description, apparently) and the guy they've sent out three times now to fix it "can't find anything wrong with it."

A normal question I get asked when an Argentino asks me where I'm from and how long I've lived here - "Why???"

There are some things I like here more than in the States, for sure. As Stargatefix said, I'm not trying to discourage you, but living here long term isn't for the faint of heart when it comes to dealing with everyday issues of money (which seems to be a much lesser issue, as of a couple of days ago), a long term place to live, and particularly finding work here. And especially the latter if you are not a resident and therefore not allowed to work legally - and even if you are a resident, salaries are pitiful for the most part and obviously much more dependent on the value of the peso, inflation, etc.

It isn't going to be like living in Dallas (although me being from Houston, I can see why you'd want to leave ;) :D ) but it can be rewarding. Just make sure you know what you're getting into before you make things relatively permanent. There are a lot of people I've known personally and a number of people on this forum, who have left because they didn't like the challenge. I know Argentinos (some of whom worked for me here) who did everything they could to leave.

And as I mentioned in another thread - if Cristina returns to power here as the president in 4 years (or 8, or whatever), I am outta here. I won't do another sentence under her administration.
 
And as I mentioned in another thread - if Cristina returns to power here as the president in 4 years (or 8, or whatever), I am outta here. I won't do another sentence under her administration.

A sentence that is good way of describing it. I looked at it more like being held hostage in an insane asylum with the likes of Bajo as the gate keepers. Thank God it is over with at least for the moment.
 
Welcome! Many great things here :) however, I'll tell you right now, if you're addicted to hummus, almond milk, or Kraft Mac n Cheese, you better learn to live without it...I'm still a bit bitter, as you can tell lol
 
Welcome! Many great things here :) however, I'll tell you right now, if you're addicted to hummus, almond milk, or Kraft Mac n Cheese, you better learn to live without it...I'm still a bit bitter, as you can tell lol

Veal, Chinese, Thai, good Mexican, Ruben sandwich or horse radish the list is long and we are just getting started.
 
Welcome! Many great things here :) however, I'll tell you right now, if you're addicted to hummus, almond milk, or Kraft Mac n Cheese, you better learn to live without it...I'm still a bit bitter, as you can tell lol
You can definitely get hummus (very good hummus) here at at least 3 Armenian stores in Palermo.
Nancy
 
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