My Visit To Buenos Aires

[NJ boss country]

Sorry for typos...I don't fix typos.....so here it goes
I have just returned from a month in buenos aires and would like to give my feelings on it
Before I went , I was concerned a bit about the situation there regarding crime, the people etc....
I found b.a. To be great......always on guard....I went to every nook and cranny of the city...almost
The people were great....food was great.. Bus system was great.....I found NYC to be less safer the b.a. So much talk on the net about negatives of Argentina and b.a. I came away with the idea, I would love to retire in b.a. Of course there were many undesirables , but there are about 6-7 million undesirables in NYC alone.....also went to Montevideo and punta del este and it was even better there....also spent a week in Peru, Lima mancora a few others. Been there before.....looking for retirement place .....going to look into Cuenca next. Yes, I did the tourist things in b.a. Too......liked pizza guerriin......don Julio was good...lots of tourists though ....stayed in recoleta.....liked el San Juan ino. This freakin iPad keeps typing wrongs words for me....dam. Go ahead people, lay it on...with comments ....I would say there is a solid low- middle class in b.a. I know there is a big gap in South America......and collapse may be imminent ...lit shouldn't be......got my pesos at a small store on Junin near the cementary ...Yeah maybe I could've gotten more.....I got 12.3 Whatever.....got a. Little sick at Freddo. Loved persicco.....went to Tigre....weird people on train ....but was cool.....took about 10 taxi rides when not using the bus.....all honest except maybe one......he took me a long way to abasto shopping I thought from recoleta. But it cost me maybe an extra buck a two.....it was pouring one day so I didn't want to argue with the guy for thinking he'd throw me out of taxi.....generally nice people in b.a. Going to decide within a year or so, where to retire....b.a. Is high on the list.....Somme great bakeries too.....one I remember was on las heras near Junin ....unfortunately like in the u.s. The people are mostly blind when it comes to politics there.....I'm a conservative and believe leftist world politics is destroying the world....go ahead people....argue that one with me....I can take it....my wife is from Peru, so my Spanish is just o.k. I could get by there I think. Wish I could speak better, I should. I'm 53 ....started learning Spanish 15 years ago.... But a little lazy in speaking conversationally...anyway...b.a. Is terrific....based on my typing this.....if I said I would like to teach English to make a little, I'd know I'd get killed....so I won't say it....jajajaja....for now I'm down to Lima or b.a. To retire....trip to Cuenca and panama later to come ...took a whole day and did river plate and boca stadiums using bus 29 for a few cents....that was good........met many locals and has great experience.....
Ok.....like feedback.....even the jaded folks here.....bring it on
Peace.

 

[johnw100]

"[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]Sorry for typos...I don't fix typos.....so here it goes"[/background]

lol, the Ipad is the new typewriter. Thanks for writing a nice story, but , heres a tip, that button that says "Return" on the keyboard. That will return to a new line below the one your writing on, not return you to Buenos Aires , trust me.

 

[NJ boss country]

Excellent, thanks.

 

[EricBluegrassFiddle]

Well...believe it or not, you were only here for a month...

I mean the fact of the matter is that, security has improved a little in Buenos Aires Autonoma, while at the same time the crime has increased ALOT here as well, especially the last few years or so.You were inside the central part, the heart of the city La Ciudad Autonoma of Buenos Aires "Recoletta" which is basically one of the wealthiest areas in all of Argentina. Putting things into perspective a little, people in other areas of Argentina could only imagine and wonder what life is like to live there where you stayed. The average working middle class argentine could never afford to live in Recoletta or Palermo, let alone Buenos Aires proper many of them ot be honest. Besides, talking about security, BA has the highest paid, trained police force in all of Argentina. It coordinates with the "gendermeria" of the argentine military and is half way decently funded. Now, outside of BA in the outlying areas, or other cities which are under the control of provincial police forces which are poorly funded, coordinated and trained....you'd find the security situation to be much much less desireable to be quite honest....like where I live. Here, it's getting bad, and the eroding security situation is a big issue...one that's causing my wife and I to rethink life here as of late. I think it's one of the BIG downsides to life here in my opinion. It's better in other areas, but most likely, my wife and I can't afford to live in those areas on both of our salaries here in Argentina.


Even so, if you keep a low profile for the most part, learn the local language ( very important, which too many expats frankly overlook ) and use some good common street smarts and plan and know your surroundings, most likely you'll be ok, as you found out. Look, I've been here for some years and it's steadily gotten worse in my opinion. Just yesterday at my wife and I's private hospital here their was an armed robbery inside the waiting area of the hospital when a delincuent entered, started showing a gun and taking jewelry/cell phones etc. Well a violent shootout ensued with police. Luckily no one was hurt during the volley but it could have been really bad. It happened just after 12 noon, mid day. On average, in my small city there is approx 8 - 10 car jackings a day, most violent, as well as the local statistics on breaking and entering which are virtually through the roof right now, it's literally rediculously out of control. We've experienced one break-in already and almost every house on my block has either experienced a burglary, or attempted burglary. We are thinking about installing an "alarma vecinal" <--- an alarm system where all the houses on the block are connected to a single, central alarm so if one house is burglarized, all of the alarms on the block go off ) You can't even have a home here right now where I live without iron security bars and a good alarm and you have to be very vigilant at all times. Not fearful, but cautious and vigilant. Argentina for the most part is safe if you know the lay of the land and take basic precautions and have street smarts ( which you do I guess being from NYC ).

To give you an idea...this is kinda what it looks like to walk down my street sidewalk nowadays in many parts of the neighborhoods here and around where I live. As you can tell...it's not Recoletta or Alto Palermo LOL

Look, it's best not to get into a political discussion here. Argentines, they don't think like we do, neither do we really understand their approach and the way they think either.....it's complicated and it's best to just let it lie in my opinion.

You need to see more of Argentina. If you like the big city draw then Buenos Aires might be for you. But honestly, Argentina is a huge country with so many different regions and cultures...you might find yourself liking Mendoza, for example, or maybe even Salta in the north west....who knows. But, I don't want you to think that life here is a walk in the park. I mean, I don't know, you and your wife may be well set economically and not have to make a living here. Maybe you'll be able to afford a house in a gated community or big highrise apartment building in central Buenos Aires with hired security...I don't know. If so, good for you, but it's not the experience that the average Argentine lives or is living....just to put things in perspective a little....

 

[nkotb]

I like the bar bump in the picture. Very clever.

 

[johnw100]

That car photo is what I like about living here. Everyday I see something that makes me chuckle. one of my poor elderly neighbours who lives on his own decided he`d block out the light coming through one of his side windows, Instead of buying curtains like most people. He just stuck a load of pages from an old porn magazine to the glass.
Doesnt matter what it looks like, it works ,so fuck it.

 

[EricBluegrassFiddle]

I like the bar bump in the picture. Very clever.

You just can't give them a space anywhere to get in. Also you have to install the "rejas" or iron bars "inside" the frames of the doors or the windows. If not the thieves will use car jacks and iron planks or crowbars ( called palancas ) to literally jack them ( the barred frames ) up and "pop" them off of your door or the side of your house. My brother in laws brothers house was burglarized this way...it did untold damage to the side of his house..thousands of pesos in repairs....and believe me they are quick.

Some folks here are using rolled barbed wire and even electric fencing along their rooftops and walls. It's because the thieves will "trepar" or basically climb up on the rooftops at night and go across from rooftop to rooftop until they find a little window somewhere they can get in. This happened twice at our old apartment but not here now where I live. Our new place has high verticle walls which is better. Even so, I still got nailed....was only gone for 20 minutes. Came back and they pried open my front gate, busted the weak front bars I had originally, went inside my house and it was like a pack of gorillas had entered and ransacked my place.....they destroyed everything and left holes in my walls and bedroom doors. Talk about fear and a feeling of hoplessness and depression. My wife was super tramautized. They stole everything they could ( we got some stuff back 4 months later....on Mercado Libre LOL )


After that we invested close to $10,000 pesos in a better alarm ( which didn't even go off ) and iron bars...since then we haven't had any problems ( thank God ) but my neighbors sure have....almost always "during the day" also. These guys are good how they get in and rob you blind in the daytime and nobody sees anything LOL.

Anwyays that's my sob story...at least we weren't home....that would've been really bad.

 

[NJ boss country]

Wow, thanks for the reply Eric.....if it's that's bad, why stay.....I doubt I could afford recoleta, and I'm sad to hear how badly different it is in other parts of Argentina......your pic is much like homes in Peru....nice construction though....I'm a political junkie, so I had to throw the two cents in there......I understand there are differences....I just like to nudge a bit......I don't take political opinions of others to seriously.......this world if fucked either way...pardon the .........
I found our stay to be enjoyable, an experience and loved the city......kept telling the misses to put the big I phone plus away....lol.....one place ....the rodi bar....was awful. Had good reviews, but we hated....filled with tourists too thinking they were getting a good meal.....I would've enjoyed McDonald's better

 

[mmoon]

Agreed. If you love Argentina and think you might want to retire there, you should look outside of BA.
Buenos Aires is for the young...the energy, the drama, the intensity. Like NYC, such a great place to move to in your 20s when you want to run around and take it all in. Do it when you don't have much to lose (your retirement savings, for example; your fragile sanity). Not that I'm saying that all retirees want to play golf and lounge in front of the TV, but aren't you ready to chill and relax a little? BA is not the place to do that. You're always on your toes...

 

[EricBluegrassFiddle]

Agreed. If you love Argentina and think you might want to retire there, you should look outside of BA.
Buenos Aires is for the young...the energy, the drama, the intensity. Like NYC, such a great place to move to in your 20s when you want to run around and take it all in. Do it when you don't have much to lose (your retirement savings, for example; your fragile sanity). Not that I'm saying that all retirees want to play golf and lounge in front of the TV, but aren't you ready to chill and relax a little? BA is not the place to do that. You're always on your toes...

This is good advice right here....I agree wholeheartedly..

BA for me and my wife is too much....we like to visit but that's about it.