The Secrets to Thriving in Argentina.....

[Mira Vos!]

Congo.

Awesome. My girlfriend majored in International Relations with a focus on DRC

 

[Mira Vos!]

From an economic standpoint:
(1) Understand that costs always catch up with FX devaluation and inflation in the end - and all of this is driven by politics and linked to USD, hence the national pastime of political chatter and speculation. Sometimes Argentina will be "expensive" other times it will be "cheap" meaning it balances out over time. The trick is to know when to buy and stock up on things while FX allows you to buy more pesos and use said pesos before they are devalued or inflation is applied to prices. At the same time don't obsess about watching the FX rates to make a $2 gain but DO keep yourself informed.
(2) Lower your expectations - Argenquality is a thing more often than not. To minimise the frustration, think of it in relation to point 1 - ultimately you get what you pay for.
(3) Do your homework. Argentina can be an incredibly complicated and expensive tax trap depending on your situation. Rules change five times a week but with time only gets more expensive, complex and difficult to "exit" from once your time is up. Save your sanity and your hard earned wealth.

From a cultural standpoint:
(1) Make local friends and have a local circle - get out of the expat bubble to understand real Argentina and appreciate the simple pleasures in life.
(2) Make an effort to learn the local language and use it. Things suddenly start to make more sense.
(3) Leave the paranoia at home. For many new arrivals their first months are spent in fear. By all means keep your wits about you regarding the inherent risks but keep perspectives in check and your time will be much more enjoyable.

On your first point- is the easiest way to determine whether Argentina will be "expensive" or "cheap" is which way the blue dollar is headed? (For example, if the price continues to rise local prices get lower)

 

[Alby]

(2) Lower your expectations - Argenquality is a thing more often than not. To minimise the frustration, think of it in relation to point 1 - ultimately you get what you pay for.

I had a hair comb for about twenty years, when I had a fuller head of hair than I have now. I finally lost it a few months ago. I bought two plastic combs here. There is hardly anything left of them: the teeth just break off.

 

[antipodean]

On your first point- is the easiest way to determine whether Argentina will be "expensive" or "cheap" is which way the blue dollar is headed? (For example, if the price continues to rise local prices get lower)

It’s even easier ...
“Wow, my money buys lots of pesos today” + “Wow, my pesos buy a lot of things today” = That’s the moment to enjoy.

Base it on whatever FX rate you have access to.

Always remember that the situation today can change drastically by tomorrow. Literally one day to the next. There are a LOT of factors that lead to price changes and FX fluctuations almost all of them in policies, read the news and think to yourself how it could impact prices and when, follow announcements and political chatter - they will not always spell out the consequences for you. For example, truck drivers getting a pay rise? = Brace yourself for price hikes at the supermarket.

 

[EL_TIGRE_de_Tigre]

The secret to learning another language (or perhaps, the secret to getting from 6/10 to a higher level) is to learn about the things that are only performed in that language. Which are, more or less by definition, the things that only occur in the countries where that language is spoken. Learning a language is as much about learning to talk about the things that speakers of that language discuss, as it is about learning vocabulary and grammar (and, in fact, learning to talk about the things the speakers of the language discuss will, almost automatically, improve vocabulary and broaden one's control of grammar).

When in Argentina, for example, we have to learn to talk with Argentines about the things that Argentines are competent to discuss and are interested in discussing. So, switch off from home. The world is full of language students wasting their time doing a semester overseas, going to classes but hanging out with each other in their native language and communicating with people at home in their native language. So, my tip would be: no social media in English, and no following US or Floridian politics/sport/culture/economics/current affairs/or whatever else it may be that interests you at home. Instead invest in learning about their Argentine equivalents, so that you have something useful to say to Argentinians which they will be interested in and able to respond to, which will then lead to deeper conversations about how those things work in Argentina, which will in turn teach you more language, whilst at the same time making you more interested in those topics, which will in turn make you research more about those topics, which will in turn lead you into more conversations, and so it goes--a truly virtuous cycle.

Alby,

You more or less described and suggested an immersion program. I fully agree.

 

[Ries]

I had a hair comb for about twenty years, when I had a fuller head of hair than I have now. I finally lost it a few months ago. I bought two plastic combs here. There is hardly anything left of them: the teeth just break off.

I use a brush, not a comb, and find that, in Argentina, I can buy a world quality handmade hairbrush for about a quarter of what it costs in the US or Europe. But only if I spend the time to find the right place to buy it- in this case, El Rey de Cepillo. If I go to Farmacity, I get the same cheap chinese plastic crap you are talking about.
My guess is there is a high quality Argentine comb, made in a family owned factory, but you have to go to a store run by a little old lady, who pulls it out of a 40 year old cardboard box on the top shelf behind the counter.

 

[Ries]

As for specific examples of how Argentina is different and difficult-
I have to pay the bienes taxes on my apartment every year.
If I pay in one lump sum, I save over 10%.
But the amount of the payment is more than the Rapi-Pago payment kiosks will take. For unknown reasons, I cannot transfer the large payment from my bank account, only pay the smaller monthly payments.
And my bank, Banco Nacion, the national bank, will not take the payments for the City.

so, once a year, I have to go to Banco Cuidad (I kid you not) and wait in line to pay, in cash, my taxes, to save the fifteen percent or whatever it is. I have found the bank with the shortest line, though...

This is normal. Many many things you do will have an idiosyncratic system of tramites, and they are all different.
When I wanted to buy real estate, to get my CDI (basically the Argentine equivalent of a TIN in the USA) I had to xerox copy EVERY PAGE of my passport, including all the blank ones, and hand it in with my filled out, one page application. After that, five minutes, and I was done.

 

[EL_TIGRE_de_Tigre]

As for specific examples of how Argentina is different and difficult-
I have to pay the bienes taxes on my apartment every year.
If I pay in one lump sum, I save over 10%.
But the amount of the payment is more than the Rapi-Pago payment kiosks will take. For unknown reasons, I cannot transfer the large payment from my bank account, only pay the smaller monthly payments.
And my bank, Banco Nacion, the national bank, will not take the payments for the City.

so, once a year, I have to go to Banco Cuidad (I kid you not) and wait in line to pay, in cash, my taxes, to save the fifteen percent or whatever it is. I have found the bank with the shortest line, though...

This is normal. Many many things you do will have an idiosyncratic system of tramites, and they are all different.
When I wanted to buy real estate, to get my CDI (basically the Argentine equivalent of a TIN in the USA) I had to xerox copy EVERY PAGE of my passport, including all the blank ones, and hand it in with my filled out, one page application. After that, five minutes, and I was done.

I know it may be less aggravation to pay up front, but with inflation as it is, would you not make out better in the long run by paying in smaller chunks over time?

 

[Iznogud]

I'm a local so my advise is completely based on my own personal experience after moving to another country with a different culture and language:

GO NATIVE! While in Rome....

Best, way to enjoy the experience in having both points of view.
Might not be pleasant at times and it has its share of frustration.
Being a «sapo de otro pozo» has ups and downs.

Big distances between a tourist, a world traveler, somebody trying to be one with the local culture.

Whatever you pick, make it enjoyable for all parties.

Iz

 

[Alby]

Alby,

You more or less described and suggested an immersion program. I fully agree.

Not so much a program. I am just saying, formal language learning only takes us so far. Unless we get to the point where we can apply the formal learning to the things (beyond universals like love, death, and taxes) that get discussed by people where the language is spoken, we can only communicate with people in our new language on the universals and never go beyond that.

So, for example, its not much good learning a language variety, like say River Plate Spanish--the topic of another thread--by only focussing on the oddities of pronunciation and vocabulary. Unless we know enough about the topics unique to this part of the world that we can converse with the locals, our "vos" and our "ll" won't get much of a work out and if they don't get much of a workout, we don't improve very quickly or very much.

But the trick is getting interested enough in those local topics to begin with. And that requires, I believe, disengaging somewhat from their equivalents in our own original language and geographic location. When talking to people at home these days, it amazes me how illiterate I have become in the current affairs of my own country. Intentionally or unintentionally, I checked out several years ago. Yet I am very literate in the current affairs of the countries I have since lived in: that new knowledge, and the new language that goes with that new knowledge, have been mutually reinforcing.