US Citizen Interested in moving to Buenos Aries

[EL_TIGRE_de_Tigre]

I'm not happy here in Texas for various reasons:

1. Cost of living. Get paid actually very little, roughly 40-50K per year, varies, and am constantly working while my money is not going a long way. Don't even have health insurance, since I'm more of a temp or contract employee. After the work from home experience for the first time, which I'm doing now, I realized how much better it is, so got interested in that and then thought maybe good to live somewhere else, especially where it's a similar time zone as US, better cost of living, good quality services, great culture, good weather, etc. Buenos Aries seems to have it better in a lot of ways than Dallas, depending on where you are living and how much money you have. Sure, if I had lots of money I'd live in NY, California, or better parts of Dallas, but I don't have that right now. Though I may have to change my line of work, my type of work is not normally work from home and also they may not allow me to work from far away.
2. Culture. Not happy here in the South of USA. The culture here, on average, is less friendly to people who are foreign born than say the culture of NY, or California. Visited both NY and California and noticed a major difference. Similar situation to what blacks are going through in some part of USA. Saw lots of walking street tours of Buenos Aries on YouTube and could tell a lot about the tone of the people. Seems very similar to NY in that. Some regions of Texas are very good in that regard, like Austin, Amarillo maybe, and parts of Dallas. But on average the South tends to have more of such issues that I mentioned.
3. Weather. As mentioned. Very bad weather here. Humid and super hot.

I recommend you take your trip during February to check out / evaluate the weather.

 

[sts7049]

Wow. I'm a bit disappointing that you think it's like Houston, because Houston weather in my opinion is worse than Dallas. But others have said the weather in Buenos Aries is good, like Ceviche on this thread and I heard it said on YouTube as well. But I also heard that it is very humid. I don't know, I'm hearing contradictory info regarding the weather. Maybe will come during the hot season to see for myself. Thanks.

to be clearer, i think the weather here is good. it's milder than texas as i said, just that in the summer you will find yourself sweating more. at least that's how i feel about it. i also don't own a car and you will find yourself traveling on foot much more than you do in texas, so that also makes you feel the weather a lot differently.

there are also no hurricanes here, so that's a positive over houston tornadoes happen sometimes in the other parts of the country but its not common from what i've seen. we are close (ish) to the andes and there are some active/dormant volcanoes, but nothing to worry about in BA. i think maybe last year there was a very minor tremblor somewhere in central AR that was felt on the outskirts of BA...but this is a rare event i think. nothing to worry about.

 

[Sequoia1321]

TSLA is coming to TX.

Yes, near Austin. Very good area. Went to College there.

 

[antipodean]

I'm not happy here in Texas for various reasons:

1. Cost of living. Get paid actually very little, roughly 40-50K per year, varies, and am constantly working while my money is not going a long way. Don't even have health insurance, since I'm more of a temp or contract employee. After the work from home experience for the first time, which I'm doing now, I realized how much better it is, so got interested in that and then thought maybe good to live somewhere else, especially where it's a similar time zone as US, better cost of living, good quality services, great culture, good weather, etc. Buenos Aries seems to have it better in a lot of ways than Dallas, depending on where you are living and how much money you have. Sure, if I had lots of money I'd live in NY, California, or better parts of Dallas, but I don't have that right now.
2. Culture. Not happy here in the South of USA. The culture here, on average, is less friendly to people who are foreign born than say the culture of NY, or California. Visited both NY and California and noticed a major difference. Similar situation to what blacks are going through in some part of USA. Saw lots of walking street tours of Buenos Aries on YouTube and could tell a lot about the tone of the people. Seems very similar to NY in that. Some regions of Texas are very good in that regard, like Austin, Amarillo maybe, and parts of Dallas. But on average the South tends to have more of such issues that I mentioned.
3. Weather. As mentioned. Very bad weather here. Humid and super hot.

Not being happy somewhere is not a reason to move to Argentina specifically. Would encourage you to "shop around" before being fixated on one place. Argentina might still work for you however, but do the exercise first.

Even if you had a "great" local job you would still likely earn at most half of what you do today, only with free or cheaper healthcare. And if it is free health care don't expect standards you are used to in the US.
Argentina is unfortunately extremely racist - the people, not the state per se (except it constitutionally prefers European immigrants over non-European immigrants and does not really separate church and state...) Expect people to comment about your looks and make bad jokes about where you are from, especially if you don't look European or have darker skin. That being said it is not violent, just annoyingly ignorant.

You could also consider countries with a more international business landscape where there would be better job opportunities for foreigners like Chile or Brazil. Maybe also interesting options for corporate lawyers in Panama and Cayman Islands. Cost of living plus more pleasing weather Colombia, Turkey or South Africa could also be options. For creature comfort lifestyle similar to what you are used to perhaps better options in other parts of the US or even Canada. For expat jobs, money and lifestyle (but hot hot hot) UAE.

 

[Kula]

7. Language: is it going to be hard to learn Spanish?

Depends. I started speaking Spanish in 2-3 months, but I`m from Europe and I spoke multiple languages before arriving. Americans and Brits are slower (please don`t take it personally), some peers started speaking Spanish in 3 years. The more you steak to expats the worse is your Spanish situation. There are some guys who don`t speak Spanish at all while living here 10 years.

Don`t be afraid and start speaking, does not matter if you are making mistakes, everybody will understan that you are foreigner and they will appreciate your efforts, almost nobody speaks English, so even poor Spanish will help a lot. It will be easier if you do not look like Argentinian, so the people around wil figure faster that you are not retarded but a foreigner.

PS In your case, you better present yourself as iraniano not estadounidense, it will sound exotic and interesting for locals.

 

[Kula]

if I work online with US clients and get paid in USD, what are the complications?

From Argentinian side -None

 

[zombiehorn]

I feel you Sequoia. I am an attorney in San Antonio and have grown weary living here especially with the pandemic. A couple thoughts from my perspective. I've done two ten day trips to BA in the last 4 years and absolutely loved it. I stayed in Palermo both times and that's where I would live if I went down there for an extended amount of time. The neighborhood is amazing with the number of great restaurants and bars. Hopefully the pandemic hasn't killed too many off, though I suspect something cool will take over any closed places.

As the long term BA expats have opined, I'd avoid even thinking about buying a place until you've experienced living there a while. Rents are so cheap that your savings would last you a long time. I used AirBnB both times I visited and it was easy. As others have suggested, perhaps come down for a few months and rent a different AirBnB in different areas for a few weeks each. If you find one you like then you can extend it instead of doing a longer lease and being stuck with a crappy host. Plus, with AirBnB the host will want to keep you happyish to avoid a bad review.

I can't speak to employment as I work remotely for a local Texas law firm. I'd explore jobs in America that you could do remotely, even if the pay is low as the cost of living in BA is low. I don't know anything about Argentina taxes, but I don't see how they would find out about your American income and be able to tax it, so just keep it on the down low.

I took Spanish from third grade through college, so I can't say learning it quickly is very realistic. But I do think using a program like Rosetta Stone could get you to a functional level pretty quickly. I imagine there are U.S./Argentina friendly gatherings you could find to practice and make friends. I used Rosetta Stone for a few months before I moved to Paris for a semester abroad in college and I was able to communicate surprisingly well. Spanish is a pretty straightforward language to learn and I think using software as well as daily social interaction would get you pretty far after a few months there.

My view on life is that we're here on this planet for a blink of an eye and we should take any opportunity for adventure and unique experiences that we can. The culture shock may be challenging and uncomfortable at times. But anything worth doing is. I'd suggest coming down for a couple months and trying it out. If it isn't your cup of tea, you can always go back and hang up your shingle.

 

[wineguy999]

If you don't like the way "THE MAN" treats you, work for yourself!

Are you from/have you ever lived in TX, El Tigre?

 

[EL_TIGRE_de_Tigre]

"Expect people to comment about your looks and make bad jokes about where you are from, especially if you don't look European or have darker skin. That being said it is not violent, just annoyingly ignorant.'

I can't take credit for what follows as I read it here from another poster in the past, but I can attest to it being true:

If you are fat / overweight ... EXPECT to be addressed as "GORDO."

If you are thin / pencil thin ... EXPECT to be addressed as "FLACA / FLACO."

If you are dark skinned ... EXPECT to be addressed as "NEGRO."

And it goes on and on and on ...

 

[Alby]

I recommend you take your trip during February to check out / evaluate the weather.

February 2022 at the earliest.