Young Expat Or Fool?

[Roxana]

I suggest you to get in touch with your colleagues in Argentina, there are few associations which organize workshops and events often. Through networking with your peers probably you will be able to get a freelance job or start your own consultacy firm and increase your savings account.

If you can live at a cheaper barrio, with roomates, without a pool, will be a plus for your personal finances. And offer an exchange to your personal trainer: your professional services could be useful to him.

 

[RichardP]

I'm more comfortable, thanks guys.

You sound like an awesome young man yourself. I'm sure things will turn out fine no matter what you decide to do.

 

[ryanlee]

The advice you are receiving here is very - if not varied - sound. On the cultural side, it's not easy. It's actually much harder than it sounds. I come from an Anglo-Argentine family and was raised in the states. My boyfriend is Argentine and we spend a lot of time here. Even with all the background I have, it's not easy. In the states we are taught to strive, to compete, to work hard, to work harder, buy a lot of things, and to "succeed". These things are important but they'll destroy you if you let them rule your life in Argentina. Here's it's a lot more about being present and enjoying the small pleasures (they're small because there's not a lot of money but it doesn't matter). It's hard to break into new social circles but you have a major step up by speaking the language already. Take advantage of that amazing asset and the more that you are willing to convert to the Argentine castellano the better.

The best advice I can offer, completely unrelated to your career because it doesn't matter that much right this very second and you have tons of time and you'll figure it out and money is just money after all, is that you get the hell out of Palermo sometimes. It's a great part of the city but you aren't going to integrate by staying there. After a really challenging stint studying in BA back in the day I spent 6 months camping and hitchhiking, from south to north and that's how I made friends and fell in love with Argentina. This country is filled with fun-loving people with enormous hearts. Go do what the locals are doing. Get out of the city when you can (the buses are easy!), take in the scenery (Argentina is amazing and beautiful), sit around, drink mate, make fires, cook food, play the guitar, play with your friends' babies, fall in love with the girls, and chill out. If you don't have time to travel take advantage of the fact that you can cheaply take classes in just about anything in BsAs. Work on your personal growth and meet people that way. If you can't relax here, you'll self-destruct. If you aren't into these lifestyle things, then go to NYC and bust your ass and have a successful career and spend all the extra money that you earn paying your rent and trying to buy experiences. You are in Argentina for the experiences, not the money. When this is all said and done, you'll remember the experiences, not the money. And the best experiences here will probably be free. HAVE FUN!

I so needed to read this. I'm the sort that lives to do what I do for a living, to me 70 hours of work/study each week is the norm.

There's is just so much to do and experience that the friction between how you probably view maximizing time vs checking out and having a good time becomes quite evident, quick.

I'm from Minnesota so I'm grateful straight out of the gate that I don't have to deal with winter anymore and get to go back for the nice weather before escaping again for the winter. The biggest regret I always find myself with towards the end is that I wish I had more time to love being here, there's just so much to experience like she said.

My advise would be to make an effort to block out time so you're not somewhat thinking about work when you're suppose to be out enjoying yourself. Justify it to yourself as a work thing because you need to have fun time to remain productive.

I learned the hard way, you need to have fun to remain effective.

 

[johnw100]

Go North.. Corrientes etc. Bag one of the super model looking great northern Argentinian babes and bail. Just my 2 cents.

Yes get outside of Palermo Soho , see some of Argentina, get out to the campo, get yourself a honda moto and stick a wife and a couple of kids on the back everytime you need to go out somewhere. Do that in 40c temperatures a few times a day for a month and then go back to your normal everyday life and you`ll be the happiest man alive.
Even if you do decide to go back to the U.S spend some time out of that BA bubble and you`ll appreciate things you have for the rest of your life , you can do that whilst your still young and single.
Time is on your side.

 

[LIVE54]

20/20 hindsight is always perfect... my advice based on reading all of your posts is to go back to your boss and try to negotiate a way for the company to pay off your USD loans.

In hindsight you should have sat down and did a comparative cost analysis of living/earning in Orlando vs. BA... If you are making ~$25K ARS/month, that's about $2,800 USD per month @ official or $1,900 USD @ Blue... I would assume had you accepted the position in Orlando rather than BA, that your annual salary would have been higher than $22K - $30K a year... so in essence your employer is benefitting from a cost perspective by paying you locally in Pesos.

The biggest problem you will have here earning Pesos is the inability to save money or pay off debts in USD. Your salary is above average for a local role and there is a very small chance of finding significantly higher pay, and almost no chance of finding a company to pay you in USD. Fact is that you are collecting your Revenue in Pesos, and have expenses in USD. Unless you can pay off your USD loans in Pesos @ the official rate, you will face mounting financial hardships outside of the already high inflation and other local issues.

The ideal time to negotiate these things is BEFORE you accept the job or relocation... its very difficult to renegotiate these things now, but better late than never. If your boss is Argentine he will understand this concept and why you are different than the other employees who don't have USD denominated debts. Talk to him, explain your situation, explain why its good for him and that you would prefer not to have to move back to Orlando and get paid in USD to just to pay off your loan... that might create enough leverage for you boss to help you out. In the end he was the one who knew how Argentina works, he should have guided you through the process rather than put you in a tough spot. He's paying you well, but he is also reaping some good business benefits by having you here... If you are a top performer and he thinks just because of the money issue with the loans that you will leave or want to move back to the US he might just cave and pay up to cover the loans.

Otherwise, I agree with most of the other posts. Life is an adventure. You are young and can totally screw things up a few times and still have enough time to change course and right the ship... use this experience as a learning lesson to negotiate what you need before you pack up and ship off.

 

[fifs2]

This has been a great thread with lots of people trying to stress the essence of discovering a new way of life that Argentina can offer. I can only concur. Your story resonated with me…although a few years separate us!. I arrived in 2003 as an anally retentive corporate type, wearing only black, white and grey to the office and wondering "what on earth is wrong with these people" with my team, that seemed to socialize constantly but couldn't work together as a team. I was a gym rat who prided myself on being 102 pounds soaking wet. I valued self-discipline in myself and results in my work. I was lucky to never wear the golden handcuffs of those who work for money but my own “high” was results and achievement. I could not tolerate inefficiency.

Needless to say I found Bsas challenging both in work and in the casualness of things as simple as a BBQ that in Europe would last 3-5 hours and in Bsas meant practically a 12 hour commitment. I simply couldn’t get my head around this place…but then slowly over time I started to adapt: to enjoy the down times and spontaneity of personal living. I witnessed the professionalism and incredible commitment that is as inherent to employees here as anywhere. I learnt that a rampant throw away capitalist culture is embarrassing where a burnt out iron in Bsas has value and that time and kindness matter a great deal more than any earthy possession. And somewhere along the road…about 6 years in, I finally appreciated the value of the Argentinean way of living with deep family bonds and friendship and a great work life balance. I decided to have my 2[sup]nd[/sup] child in Bsas and loved every second being embraced in the bosom of this great country.

Seeking a calmer more secure environment for my kids I chose to live in Spain and I thank Argentina for teaching me to how to live in a more enriched way, I have more friends here than I could ever imagine. I see optimism in everything. That would never have happened had I continued to cleave to the old ideals of success that I had before living in Argentina. So to the OP I’d just say stay, chill…be prepared to learn the value of life from a new perspective. Stop worrying about how much you earn or could earn here or there and do something that makes you happy every day. I count my family and my friends as my great successes in life…work is still highly demanding but firmly in 3[sup]rd[/sup] place in terms of priority even if that means working even crazier hours so I do fit in my personal time first. I suggest copying your original post and saving it on your desktop with a date. Stay in Argentina 2 years…and reread it and see how you feel reading $000 as your driving factor. Maybe you won’t change your opinion – that’s your absolute right – but at least give Argentina a chance to slowly and surreptitiously delight and change you as it does to so many.

 

[khairyexpat]

Great topic great discussion even though so far it seems that I´m the only one on the other side of the coin.
But hey ... I´ve been known to be always different from the overwhelming majority with colourful language and provocative opinion.

 

[citygirl]

Congrats on your success! Given you just recently graduated from college and presumably this is one of your first jobs, I would say that there is very little chance of finding another position here that pays more than what you are making, given your lack of experience. And esp in advertising which is a notoriously low-paying industry at the entry levels.

I'd concur with everyone else - network, network, network. Assuming you wouldn't violate a non-compete or others, start trying to do projects on the side that better fit what you think you want to do. Build up a portfolio and connections. Work nights/weekends on your own consulting projects. Then if/when you decide you want to seriously switch fields, you already have experience and connections. Best of luck!

 

[nkotb]

"Young expat or fool" - why do you have to choose?

 

[pitipur]

So nice to see a thread with no negativity in it!

I just want to add that the best change for me has been to take myself out of the "success" based American life that someone else mentioned, where we are always going for that next promotion, more responsibility (aka more stress) and just to enjoy the moment. A friend of mine was visiting last week, and was telling me how there was a 50-email chain between her and 3 friends, just to try to meet up for drinks THREE WEEKS from now. This would NEVER happen in argentina, and it's really nice that you can often make plans at the last minute, and people don't purposely fill their lives up with so many activities that they never have time to enjoy other people. A 3 hour dinner at a restaurant just doesnt happen in the US, and it's pretty much the norm here. You can't even pay the bill when you want to sometimes, whereas in the US its all about turnover. I buy a lot less "stuff" here because it's not as available to me and have saved a lot of money that way.

Just throwing out some examples of how the lifestyle is so different here than in the US, and how much more I appreciate people over things now. I'd definitely say you should ride it out and enjoy it for a while, of course as long as you're able to deal with your college debt, another thing lots of argentines don't have to start their careers with!

PS. As someone who worked in an ad agency for several years for a huge automotive account, I don't recommend it Sounds like you're learning a lot more and getting much more valuable experience where you're at now, especially at such a young age.