U.S..Citizens - why did you move to Buenos Aires?

[Matty]

suejud, you are a neophyte on this site, as we can see and tell. There are alot of synergy going on here and there is really nothing personal in all this exhange of information, really. It may seem like it at times, but we get more information and exchange of ideas when there is "conflict" in perspective, it keep things lively.
No one is out to discredit your marvelous experience here in BsAs, we are all collectively happy that you are the exception to some of our negative experience. We love that, and that makes us think that there is potential and promise that the "some" of us who had been scammed, robbed, and screwed can see that light at the end of the tunnel in this city.
There are various reasons that each and everyone of us are here. We stay because - by golly- some of us are just in a rock or a hard place situation - of course if we had that choice - do you think we would not want YOUR experience, I would give my right and left arm for that - or even a right leg, but alas somehow no matter how open and kind we are to the experience we just darn it gets screwed in all possible ways. But I am hopeful and as I listen to your lilting voice as you think and experience these great things, I too hope to one day experience it in the CITY.
Argentina is great outside of the city - that I have figured out as much, but in the city with so many people going about and being new here yourself, you can have friends but your friends if they are portenos and argentinians would only consider you an acquaintance and never really a real friend - those they have already since they were in grammar school, and let us face it - we can never compete with all those years of history they and their friends have. So we accept what there is and it argentina they are used to saying - it is what it is.
Thank you for the positive vibes that you have brought to this thread, you are indeed so lucky to have these experiences. I am hopeful that in this city of several millions, there is one that is a foreigner and have been warmly accepted as one of their own. There is GOD. Cheers.

 

[steveinbsas]

Here's another thread that MrBart might find helpful in his quest for advance knowledge of life here. There are many, many more....

 

[MrBart]

Argentina is great outside of the city - that I have figured out as much, but in the city with so many people going about and being new here yourself, you can have friends but your friends if they are portenos and argentinians would only consider you an acquaintance and never really a real friend - those they have already since they were in grammar school, and let us face it - we can never compete with all those years of history they and their friends have. So we accept what there is and it argentina they are used to saying - it is what it is.

I disagree with this. I have met two of my closest friends in the past 18 months and we do not have a history of going to the same school etc.

 

[Grazie]

This is what is fun about Argentina, and Buenos Aires...
In Argentina (we are not speaking about any other place outside of Argentina, ONLY in ARGENTINA) there is no such thing as a new best friend, either you are only a new friend or an (tried and tested been-through-alot) old family friend. A friend here can only be a certified and with that stamp of approval real friend if the family of both sides know you, otherwise you are just a new friend/acquaintance.
When you get here case a joint like a bar, restaurant, cafe, even a family asado get together you will see little groups of people talking and you will see and know who are old friends with whom, and spot the latest wannabe addition to the group. And I think it is a sweet part of the culture. Solid friendships take years and especially the guys - they will do just about anything for their friends - they are family.

 

[criswkh]

We moved here because of my husband's job. According to my hubby to escape the collapse of the US. We purchase a house that if we were to buy it in Chicago(city) it would cost about $2mil. We find somethings expensive and some things cheap. I was lucky enough to find a science teaching job after two weeks of living here. My hubby and I plan on living her permanently. It is doubtful if we will live in the US again.

 

[citygirl]

I moved to Argentina because I fell in love with the culture, the hospitality and the people. I love the restaurants (although I miss good sushi), I love the wines, I love that spending time with friends is a fact of life, I love walking in the parks, I love going to the racetrack, I love the museums. Yes, without question, the exchange rate also played a big part in my decisions. Would I be as willing to put up with some of the things (the lower quality clothes, the outrageously expensive cars/electronics, the less-than speedy repair services, etc) if I were paying full price - maybe not.

I came to Buenos Aires from NYC so obviously the big city is appealing to me. I however love that 40 kilometers from downtown, I can be out at the farm, riding horses & in a completely tranquil environment.

I have been back in NYC for 2 months now for work & I am counting the days until I return to Buenos Aires.

 

[ronnyjob]

I spent nearly two years planning our move here. Reasons to move included great job opportunities, having friends already here, being financially secure and being interested in the culture and language.

It was a well planned move and we're dead happy. If we didn't have friends, financial security or interest in the country we would'nt have moved.

 

[MarcJ]

Good to see that there are a number of varied opinions represented here. In the end i agree that situations are very relative to what we've experienced in the past and what our point of comparison is. After 2 months here i am tremendously happy and although its not the super cheap destination that may have attracted many here a few years ago, there are still many things that are a tremendous value here compared to major east coast cities (mainly services and healthcare come to mind). That said, its really the drastic differences in people's motivations and society in general that are so appealing to me here. I once read that Argentines work to live while American often live to work and i think that really sums up what i'm after. I was tired of chasing the lifestyle that all my friends and peers where after. Tired of working my life away and always putting off seeing my friends because they were working or mowing the lawn on the weekends. Here, weekends are sacred time to spend over an asado with family and friends. That lifestyle combined with the dynamism and all that buenos aires (and argentina for that matter) has to offer is what has me trapped.

 

[suejud]

Thanks Matty, you are right, I am a neophyte on this site - but not in terms of conflict and constructive discussions. It's funny to me how insulting people can be in the pursuit of being heard and missing out on good dialogue in the process. But I suppose for some it is, as you say, one way of keeping things lively. I prefer other methods - pero ya esta - I guess that is life in this online forum.
I am just returning after a long stint. My computer was stolen shortly after my last post, which made it difficult to engage much online. And Johny, I'm still curious why you moved and continue to live in Bs As.
As for being in denial - crime exists in most big cities as far as I know. I haven't had all good experiences in Bs As - 97% yes, but I had my purse stolen on the stubte a few months after arriving, and 2 thefts from taxistas. It sucked and was pretty inconvenient - but it didn't taint my view of Bs As. Thefts can happen anywhere, especially in a big city. A few years back on a trip to Vancouver I stopped in SF for dinner and had my car broken into and alot of my camping gear and coats stolen and my car window broken. That really sucked. But I've always been of the thinking that hopefully whoever stole it needed it more than I did and hopefully they got some good use out of it. Shit happens. And please do not misunderstand me - I in no way mean to belittle other people's hardships - we all receive our situations differently and some are far more difficult to overcome than others certainly. I may whine a bit, but then I read the paper, turn on the news or look out my door and see just how good I have it and try to let it go and remember why I've made the choice I have - as well as try to see my part when things seem to go wrong. (ie: my own carelessness or ignoring my intuition..)
And now I am writing from the states. We returned just over a week ago - and it's lovely here - green, quiet and summer. But I miss the Argentine culture terribly. I am in a fabulous place here and with family and friends - but it still doesn't resonate for me as Argentina does. I am working toward returning before too long with a more solid foundation to make it our permanent home. We had a fabulous year and look forward to many more in the not so distant future.

 

[John.St]

Fishface: This does seem more reasonable to me. Then this is just a typical situation where the only people you here from are the ones who aren't happy. The rest are just going about their lives....

Exactly - how many not-burglared houses, not-stolen cars, not-killed people, etc. etc. do you read about in the papers or watch on TV-news?

This house (repeat 800,000,000 times) has not been burglared.
Mr. A1, A2, A3, ... ZZZ9999 has not been mugged.
Ms. A1, A2, A3, ... ZZZ9999 has not had her bag stolen.

"News" is about the bad things in life, never the extreme majority of good ones.