November 2016 In Bahia Blanca

[jamivk]

Hello! I'm planning to spend the month of November in Bahia Blanca, and I'm looking for several things: friends, classes, a furnished apartment, and things to do.

Long story short, I'm female, 38, and I live in Denver, Colorado. In May, I met a guy from Punta Alta, Argentina while I was in Buenos Aires. I went home; he went home. We met up again in Colombia during July vacations. Now I'm going to see what "real life" is like in Bahia Blanca, where he works. Admittedly, the whole thing is crazy and impractical, but why not.

While he is working, I need to get out and about. I'm interested in getting to know Bahia Blanca and meeting friends (Spanish or English speaking). My Spanish needs significant improvement, but I can get by. I'm interested in small group Spanish classes for extranjeros, if available.

My ideal situation would also be to play a round a golf a few times a week. I emailed the golf course to find out if that is possible, but no response yet. I don't know if it operates like a public course in the US or if it is more like a private course with initiation fees and annual membership fees.

I found some apartment options on airbnb.com, but nothing I'm super excited about. There is a place very close to downtown at a rate of about $1700 US per month, and that seemed doable, but more expensive than I had anticipated. There are cheaper options, but nothing ideal. If you have any other resources for furnished apartments, I would be interested to hear.

Thanks in advance for any help and advice.

 

[RichardP]

Here is an old thread on the subject of Bahia Blanca. Some posters haven't the greatest impression of the place.

http://baexpats.org/topic/30138-moving-to-bahia-blanca/page__hl__%2Bbahia+%2Bblanca

 

[Ceviche]

Its the most boring place on earth!

Why would someone ask 1700 us$ for a apartment in Bahia Blanca??

 

[lamarque]

Hello! I'm planning to spend the month of November in Bahia Blanca, and I'm looking for several things: friends, classes, a furnished apartment, and things to do.

Long story short, I'm female, 38, and I live in Denver, Colorado. In May, I met a guy from Punta Alta, Argentina while I was in Buenos Aires. I went home; he went home. We met up again in Colombia during July vacations. Now I'm going to see what "real life" is like in Bahia Blanca, where he works. Admittedly, the whole thing is crazy and impractical, but why not.

While he is working, I need to get out and about. I'm interested in getting to know Bahia Blanca and meeting friends (Spanish or English speaking). My Spanish needs significant improvement, but I can get by. I'm interested in small group Spanish classes for extranjeros, if available.

My ideal situation would also be to play a round a golf a few times a week. I emailed the golf course to find out if that is possible, but no response yet. I don't know if it operates like a public course in the US or if it is more like a private course with initiation fees and annual membership fees.

I found some apartment options on airbnb.com, but nothing I'm super excited about. There is a place very close to downtown at a rate of about $1700 US per month, and that seemed doable, but more expensive than I had anticipated. There are cheaper options, but nothing ideal. If you have any other resources for furnished apartments, I would be interested to hear.

Thanks in advance for any help and advice.

I lived in Bahia Blanca for 1 year in my time as a student, a couple of facts about Bahia Blanca:
1- Is one of the city's with the highest unemployment rate in argentina
2- Is quite boring city unless you are a student and you live around the university campus, that area is quite fun but only for university students
3- 1700 usd for a month in Bahia Blanca is to much, That is probably because there isn't a lot of people offering apartment in Airbnb, Try to negotiate down the price, i would say between 300-700 usd per month maximum for a place (well depending what kind of place are you looking for, but still 1700 usd is to much unless you are renting a whole house in palihue that is one of the areas where the afluent and hight middle class live). Btw the center is not necessarily the best part of the city to live, still is ok.

I don't have much else to comment about the city, hope this help

 

[Alicia karr]

One of our longest standing members lives there I believe and might be very helpful to you. But can't remember his handle! Steve, where are you?

 

[steveinbsas]

One of our longest standing members lives there I believe and might be very helpful to you. But can't remember his handle! Steve, where are you?

Actually, I don't live in Bahia Blanca. I live in a different municipalidad, but I go to Bahia Blanca once a month to withdraw cash from an ATM and make a CC payment and do whatever shopping I can't do closer to home. I've never spent the night there and I've only been there once after dark (and then only to the bus station which is near the outskirts of the city). I've only eaten in restaurants there twice and only at lunchtime.

Two days in Bahia Blanca would be more than enough time to see all of the "attractions" and visit all of the "antique" shops.

Finding the attractions might be a challenge, especially if you rely on "guides" like Lonely Planet.

Here's what Lonely Planet has to say about Bahia Blanca:

"Grandiose buildings, an attractive plaza and boulevards lined with shade trees lend oft-overlooked Bahía Blanca the feel of a cosmopolitan city in miniature. It is useful as a resting point during overland trips from Buenos Aires to Patagonia, but it’s not entirely without interest.

The hordes of sailors who dock here, at what is now South America’s largest naval base, attest to Bahía Blanca’s militaristic beginnings. In an early effort to establish military control on the periphery of the pampas, Colonel Ramón Estomba situated the pompously named Fortaleza Protectora Argentina at the natural harbor of Bahía Blanca in 1828."

http://www.lonelypla...ca/introduction

Whoever wrote this is either ignorant, stupid, lazy, or a combination of the three.

The naval base is NOT in Bahia Blanca. As a result there are almost NO sailors to be seen in Bahia Blanca.

There is a port in Bahia Blanca and it's almost impossible to know when you are looking at a seaman.

The Naval base is in Punta Alta and is about 25 KM from the center of Bahia Blanca. There are never "hoards of sailors" who "dock" there. Most of the personnel at the base are actually stationed there full time.

I wonder if this was written by a former member of this forum. His resume includes working for Lonely Planet and his condescending attitude was similar to that of the "travel writer" who made the quoted contribution to LP.

To actually see what might be of interest in Bahia Blanca it's "advisable" to go to Trip Advisor and check out the list of things to do:

https://www.tripadvi..._Argentina.html

It will only take a couple minutes (if that long) to realize that many of the "things to do" entail looking at old buildings.

Compared to the city of Buenos Aires, there's hardly anything to to in Bahia Blanca, and there's even less to do in Punta Alta.

My personal opinion as a man who has has enjoyed several long distance relationships with women who lived in San Francisco, Denver, and Paris:

One week in Bahia Blanca would feel like a month.

A month in Bahia Blanca would be a relationship killer.

 

[camberiu]

The naval base is NOT in Bahia Blanca. As a result there are almost NO sailors to be seen in Bahia Blanca.

There is a port in Bahia Blanca and it's almost impossible to know when you are looking at a seaman.

The Naval base is in Punta Alta and is about 25 KM from the center of Bahia Blanca.

Yep, and the name of the base is Puerto Belgrano, and it is not even close to being the "South America's largest naval base", as claimed by Lonely Planet. The Arsenal de Marinha do Rio de Janeiro has held that title since Wolrd War II. Considering the current sorry state of the Armada Argentina, I also very much doubt there are "hordes of sailors" docking in Punta Alta or anywhere near there.

 

[UK Man]

Well that's Bahia Blanca scrubbed off my list of places to see.

Here's hoping the golf club get back to you....

 

[Lulu-Kyoko]

This thread kills me! Seriously, LOL. Thank you everyone!! You have made my morning =)

 

[steveinbsas]

This thread kills me! Seriously, LOL. Thank you everyone!! You have made my morning =)

Hopefully, you're laughing because you've just had the best month of your life...in Bahia Blanca!