sightless,

Jesus Christ that guy took a crapload of pictures. At first I was going to say a lot of those seem to be around Plaza de Mayo, then I realized how many pictures there were. He got a lot of different areas of the city in there, but I still think most of what he got was downtown.



This building is actually pretty close to where I live in Recoleta. It is actually an old architecture school that was designed by some really famous architect that killed himself while designing/building the building. Interesting little fact.

But yes, there is a ton of awesome European architecture here that certainly rivals the best cities in Europe. What is really sad is how many beautiful buildings were destroyed in the creation of Avenida 9 de Julio. Argentina tore down a lot of incredible buildings in their insane quest for the widest street in the world. That one specific picture you linked appears to be taken from the Plaza de Mayo facing towards the direction of Florida... I think.

The rest of Argentina isn't like Buenos Aires at all. They are much more inspired by the natives, while BsAs is very much European-inspired. Also, there isn't another city in the country that comes even close to the population of BsAs, so the opportunity for huge buildings is limited.

The overwhelming majority of Argentina is white. At one point it was probably 97%... I'd say somewhere around 90% is accurate at this point in the city of Buenos Aires. The other 10% is mostly comprised of Bolivians and other South Americans who immigrated here. There is very little real diversity in this city.

You are correct that I didn't know anyone when I got here. I've met two other people from BsAs who post here which has been a pretty big help in meeting people. Also, I've met people through the school I am taking classes at as well as in bars/discos. At those places you just kind of introduce yourself when you hear people speaking English. Most people are more than happy to chat it up with you.

There are also some expatriate newcomers groups who get together a lot, though I suspect many of these are filled with older expats. I've never done something like this so I don't know for sure.

Other options include taking tango lessons, playing football, etc. Just talking to people on the street works well.

I've only been here a month and I'd say I probably know about 30 people decently well and see them once in a while and there are probably about 8-10 people I hang out with fairly regularly.

As far as the language barrier do you mean in daily life or in meeting people? Pretty much everyone but a couple of people I know speak English, even the Argentines. Until my Spanish is better, having in depth conversations with Spanish speakers isn't possible, so obviously making friends with them doesn't really work.

In my day-to-day life, my Spanish was pretty horrendous when I got here and it was a bit of a problem. I wouldn't do a lot of things by myself because I couldn't express myself clearly (eating at restaurants, going to the movies, taking cabs, etc). I've gotten over that now (and my Spanish has gotten a lot better) after realizing if you don't at least try, you are never going to get any better. At this point I can order from a restaurant and understand 90% of the menu, talk to a cab driver, call and order delivery, tell my maid what I need done, get my laundry done, go to the movies, and go shopping while being able to tell the person what I need. This is a vast improvement from a month ago when the extent of what I could do was tell the lady I wanted a number one at McDonald's. My biggest holdup is understanding people when they speak, but I'm sure that will come with time.

i want to be a part of BA, buenos aires, big apple.

Congratulations you've seen a movie/musical. How witty. At least you contributed something useful instead of just wasting space.

TheMetetron, I've had lomo and lomo gigante sandwiches there, and I don't remember the ingredients. Do you know what's in them?

The idea of spending some time in BA is very appealing to me. Would you say something like 10k is sufficient for a 6 month stay? Assuming 1k for plane tickets? 6 months rent at like $5-700 month (I don't need the nicest place in town)? Leaving about 5k for spending over 6 months. Would this be a good estimate? When you say 5-6k is cool for 6 months is that like going out all the time and entertaining women, or is that enough to get food/transportation/a bit of entertainment?

Steak + Bread = enjoy! If you are feeling frisky you can add a tomato.

Its plenty.

I'm sorta similar to you, once the ice is broken I'm cool enough.

I don't know any expats here, but have made friends via the people in my building. Get an apartment with a social area, like a pool or asado. Many Argies have a smattering of English plus I knew enough Spanish from day 1 to introduce myself, say where I'm from, what I do etc. Many Portenos are keen to improve their english so quite often they'll want to practice on you (bit of a double edged sword when you want to improve your spanish).

Argentines are a social bunch and I got invited to house parties fairly frequently.

Also, seems there's a growing 2+2 community here!

LOL. And if it's 'completa' it has a fried egg.

2+2 asado someday?

For sure. Met PM'd me his cell so I'll get in touch.

I'll volunteer my new place I move into in a few days. It has a rooftop pool/asado area pictured a page back. I alternatively volunteer Boquenese's place.

Yeah that's more than enough. I don't even think I spend 100 pesos a day unless maybe I'm going to eat at a nice place and going to a bar afterwards. It'd be hard to do though.

Hmmm... In San Juan (AR, not PR) it had steak and egg, and I think ham too. Mayo and cheese for sure. It had been pressed. Freaking awesome. Maybe there are regional differences though.