Moving to Bahia Blanca

[mulderfox]

Steve,

Thanks very much for the advice. We will have a car, at least after the first month, so Bahia Blanca will be an option for us. We will most likely try to find a house vice an apartment, but we will see. Is the "garantia" you mentioned a lease agreement, or a deposit, or something else?

My wife's biggest worry is socialization, especially since she is a beginning Spanish speaker who has never lived abroad before. What sorts of places and activities do local families frequent?

Again, thanks for the advice.

Josh

garantia is normally a property, belonging to you or a blood relative that works as colateral in case you cease rent payment or trash the place.

 

[steveinbsas]

garantia is normally a property, belonging to you or a blood relative that works as colateral in case you cease rent payment or trash the place.

For more information you can enter the word garantina in the search box and find threads like these>

http://baexpats.org/search.php?searchid=554870

 

[steveinbsas]

My wife's biggest worry is socialization, especially since she is a beginning Spanish speaker who has never lived abroad before. What sorts of places and activities do local families frequent?

The best chance for socialzation will be through the connection with your wife's cousin. Argentine's generally spend time with family and close freinds they have known for decades and most often at each other's homes. If they have children in school that leads to other activities, especially futbol matches. You may also get some social invitations from a few of your co-workers, but you will probably feel somewhat (if not very) isolated in Bahia Blanca, regardless of the neighborhood.

 

[cuore]

If you are a sailor you'll probably be provided a house on post. The base is actually super super nice. Kinda old as the buildings are from the 1890's and 1930's but the housing is in rather good condition. I actually visited the base last week, drove all around the officer's neighborhood and loved it. Nothing compared with a base in the US tho, but packed with history and great for kids to live in.

However, if you choose to live in Bahia Blanca it'll be better for you to live close to route 3 since it's the one that takes to Puerto Belgrano. My parents are living in a beautiful neighborhood called Palihue. It's packed with incredible, huge houses. It has a lot of trees, nice parks and wide streets. However, the rent prices could be somewhat expensive. From what I heard 5-7k or more for a 3/4 br. Remember that prices is Bahia are particularly inflated cause of all the petrochemical industry.

If you need further help my mother, who lives in Bahia, could help you and your wife around. She'll be happy to.

 

[JenyP]

Hi, my husband and 2 children are planning to move to Bahia Blanca, Argentina, too in August 2012. I have a 7 year-old daughter and a 5 year-old boy. They are both fully bilingual. However, once they start going to school there, I would like them to continue practicing their English skills with other expatriate kids besides me at home.

Kids are truly sponges and I'm sure your kids will pick the Spanish language in a heartbeat. Let me know. Perhaps we can have them exchange language skills. I can also help as I am fully bilingual. My husband is from Argentina.

Any plans about any bilingual schools there in Bahia? Something reasonable when it comes to price. I was looking into "Colegio Del Solar", but I think it might be a bit pricy. I've done research on the Internet and I can't seem to find any other options besides this school. Any input on that?

Thanks,

Jeny

 

[JenyP]

Tell your wife not too be so afraid of the change. She should embrace the chane. It is an exciting and challenging change, but I'm sure she'll be fine. Moving from the USA to another country may be very daunting, but it's exciting, not impossible. I can help her and your family transition with my bilingual skills and have the kids also socialize! Good luck on your new adventure, and of course, wish me luck too!

Jeny

 

[JenyP]

Hi Josh,

I was actually talking to my husband who is originally from Bahia Blanca, Argentina, and he was telling me that Punta Alta is not a good place for raising two American kids. Your best option is Bahia Blanca. It is 25 kilometers from Puerto Belgrano, and 25 kilometer for us living in the United States is equivalent to 15 minutes of commute. Besides the fact that there are no bilingual schools, it is basically a port city, where the environment is not ideal for kids (e.g. nocturne places for men, bars, go-go places, etc). So, your best option is actually Bahia Blanca, since it is a small familiy-oriented city.

Based on the research I've done for my kids education, like I mentioned before, Colegio del Sol is a bilingual school and according to my sister-in-law, there are also options for private schools and language institutes. That's my goal once I get there, to find a really good private school for my kids, preferrably bilingual.

If you or your family have other concerns regarding a car, transportation and/or relocating costs, please feel free to reach out to us. I'm not sure exactly what your situation is, but I can give you tips since my husband and I are also in the process of shipping some of our personal belongings there.

Hope my information helps.

Jeny

 

[JenyP]

Steve,

Mostly I would like to know good neighborhoods. Our elder son is 3 and a half, so we will be looking at schools for him.

I already speak Spanish, but the rest of my family do not (yet).

Also, how does Punta Alta compare to Bahia Blanca? I will be working at Puerto Belgrano.

Thanks for your help.

Hi! I will be looking for schools for my children also as soon as we get there in a month! I hope you were able to find something good. I'm hoping to find a really good bilingual school for them. If you have any tips, I will appreciate it if you can reach out to me. Thanks.

 

[bgibbons]

Hello All, my great grandfather, William Dougan from New Luce, Wigtownshire, Scotland, moved to Bahia Blanca in the late 1800's and never returned. I am trying to find out if he has any surviving family there. I have emailed the mayor's office, a radio station, and even a Mormon church (all in Spanish), as the latter are big on genealogy, but no one has replied to me. I have pretty much run out of options and travelling to Argentina is currently not possible due to the current pandemic. Any suggestions?

 

[mc kenna]

Hello All, my great grandfather, William Dougan from New Luce, Wigtownshire, Scotland, moved to Bahia Blanca in the late 1800's and never returned. I am trying to find out if he has any surviving family there. I have emailed the mayor's office, a radio station, and even a Mormon church (all in Spanish), as the latter are big on genealogy, but no one has replied to me. I have pretty much run out of options and travelling to Argentina is currently not possible due to the current pandemic. Any suggestions?

Have you tried any British clubs,or social entities around the area?also be on the look out for possible misspelling of the last name which was pretty common back then. Another option would be to search cemeteries in the area , unfortunately Argentina is not very good at keeping records as you might find in Great Britain. Or track down old families of the area that date as far back as when your relative lived there, perhaps well established farmers or ranchers families. good luck