Potential new expat needs advice

[steveinbsas]

I have been spending a month or two a year here for 15 years and have lived here for the last two. My two weeks in London last month was a miserable experience and I couldn't wait to get back, not least because you can't get a decent meal after 10.30 pm there, which in my view is the earliest time one should contemplate dinner.

I think this is the most important point of this post.

If you like to eat late, BA will not disappoint you.

 

[xtrasback]

point is not valid IMO, diners are open 24/7.

 

[steveinbsas]

point is not valid IMO, diners are open 24/7.

Well, perhaps it's the second most important point.

If YOU ARE IN LOVE you will like BA much more than if you aren't. __________________

 

[Lucas]

Steve - also, just to clarify, I'm not asking for strangers' opinions on my relationship. I'm asking for the opinions of expats on what it is like to live in Buenos Aires. As I mentioned, all I seem to hear on this message board is people complaining about long lines and other things. But you all live in Argentina, and I assume you live there for a reason. Why? There must be something you like about it...? And I want to make sure that I understand what I'm getting into before I make this leap. If the major problems are long lines and empty ATMs, I can get over that. If it's more than that, I'd like to hear it.

All them have one thing in common, they are masochist...

 

[steveinbsas]

all them have one thing in common, they are masochist...

I had one Argentine girlfriend in the past five years. She told me Argentine men don't believe in love and just use women.


The way Argentine men treat women (IN GENERAL) is far worse than all of the other difficulties the OP will face here.

I HOPE HER BOYFRIEND IS AN EXCEPTION.

 

[Mano Negra]

point is not valid IMO, diners are open 24/7.

Never managed to order a volcan of chocolate and a nice glass of sweet wine at a diner at 3.00 am, but maybe they have improved....managed it a few nights ago here though.....Fuck, am I the only person who came here because they genuinely think that BA is the best city in the world....maybe I should get a job with the Ministry of Tourism

 

[mhenna11]

BA and NY are different. I never had enough money in NY to take all the classes I am taking here, for so cheap. The tempo is different here, it's slower, the teacher shows up late, or just don't show up, but at the same time, you can have mate with your teachers and be friends with them, forgive them for being human and sleeping in late. I feel I can do more here than in NY because I feel things are still new here. I don't experience the long super market lines, because I don't shop in them, I like the small shops, and yes the empty ATM is true. NY is my home, so I will always love NY, always. But I am not going back, it's a city for the rich now. Here in BA I can do my art, I can do my small projects and I can take martial arts class. It's a different rhythm, you will never be able to compare this city to NY, NY is a modern city, it's walkable city, and you are surrounded by water so you can breath, these are things that you will miss, you will miss the bridges. But you will discover other things about this city that you may like, it's not a visual place, it's something else, it's like Brooklyn before the rich moved in, things don't work, there are none of those esoteric foods, it's meat and coke. Today I was passing by the guy who sells magazine and he was listening to tango on an old radio, and it's like that, it was a beautiful day, with the colectivos zooming by you, dismantled streets,everyone dressed without color, just going to work. There is a song you should listen to, by Patricio Rey y Los Redondos, called Todo un Palo, this is the Argentina I know, and like. I came here for love, too.

 

[xtrasback]

Never managed to order a volcan of chocolate and a nice glass of sweet wine at a diner at 3.00 am, but maybe they have improved....managed it a few nights ago here though.....Fuck, am I the only person who came here because they genuinely think that BA is the best city in the world....maybe I should get a job with the Ministry of Tourism

If you truly believe BA is the best city in the world, there is only one thing we can do. Agree to disagree on this one.

 

[sergio]

If you have a great job in what might be the greatest city in the world, FORGET MOVING TO BA !!!!!. You don't know a city, until you live there; not visit there for a few weeks. I made 7 trips to Barcelona before I moved there. Boy was I fooled !! No, I fooled myself. I only looked at the good things. (there are 24 hours in a day; imagine spending 45 minutes on a BA supermarket line? Imagine a city where almost all the ATM machines are empty? It happens. Have you passed the Argentine BAR exam? Do they even have a BAR exam? What if (my slogan) you hate your BA job ?. Then what? I read about the number of N.Y. lawyers, who can't gat a job with a law firm. Unbelievable.

There is NO bar exam. TONS of lawyers, many incompetent.

 

[sergio]

You're coming for emotional reasons so it is hard to give advice that you will listen to objectively, WHAT is your salary? Is it good by local standards? What guarantee do you have that the law firm will not dismiss you? Are you confident that your colleagues will treat you fairly or will there be a touch of anti-Americanism and resentment? Are you aware too that law is not as high status a profession as it is in the US? There are too many lawyers, lower standards and lower pay. Most lawyers struggle to get by. You will be on the top end, though. The other comments here about life in BA are true so you will get used to it if you want to stay. All the little or big things you take for granted in New York do not necessarily exist in BA so just be prepared for that. Let's be honest, if your emotions were not the main factor you would never give up a good job in the world's most important city to work in Argentina. That's why I say that it may be hard for you to be objective. If you have several live chats with expats and most of the feedback is negative, what are you going to do, tell your bf the deal's off?