Thought the same for a while. Sometimes I just get too busy or too worn down to fight it.

sometimes it takes a while for calls to be deducted from balance, also if they have some kind of giveaway like charge 30$ and get double or something like that, the extra 30$ will last for a week or so, regardless of your use. and yeah, feeling like getting screwed by cell phone companies it's a feeling you are sharing with every citizen, so you are probably right

Does anyone have any insight on the new situation with currency transactions?

The way I see it is that the government is trying to eliminate free trade for the purpose of controlling the market and artificially maintaining the current exchange rate in spite of the peso continuing to lose value in the future. And I assume they are doing this (as well as the other desperate things they are doing right now) because they are ****ed and need to keep printing up money to pay off their debts which are denominated in dollars.

Where is this leading? When does it all fall apart?

I imagine that the best way to protect myself from getting screwed over too badly is to bring tons of dollars with me and sell them on the black market so that I can get fair value from them rather than using ATMs that give the official rate. As time passes I imagine the true value and the official value will continue to diverge.

Any other thoughts? I feel like somehow this is going to end in some sort of crisis or hyperinflation but that's based more on a feeling that what's going on now seems really sketchy than me knowing a lot about economics in Argentina...

What do you guys think between the following two neighborhoods:

Santa Fe Plaza San Martin vs. Palmero Soho. If you were going to rent an apt, where would you rather live? What are the pros and cons of each area?

Also, is it uncomfortably hot in January or just warm? Is it very humid?

There are no pros to living by Plaza San Martin.

Fairly hot and very humid.

Thanks. As for Palmero Soho? Is that an area you'd strongly recommend to live? Do yo find the heat uncomfortable or just warm? Are most restaurants/stores etc. air conditioned? I am a bit sensitive to heat and after spending a summer in Washington DC where days were consistently 90+ with heavy humidity, I would prefer to avoid that. Low 80s and low 90s can be a pretty big difference, especially if it is humid and if public places like bars and restaurants don't have AC I would be a bit worried..

I lived both in Palermo Viejo and pretty much right on Plaza San Martin. I think Palermo is waaaay nicer than the area around Plaza San Martin, and I don't really see any point in living in microcentro unless you want to live very close to some special location. Calle Florida is filled with touts and tourists, the area between Plaza SM and Av. Corrientes gets really seedy at night with prostitutes and garbage collectors flowing in from Villa 31(the one behind Retiro, I think it's 31). There aren't that many places to go out for drinks, and for casual dining Palermo is better imo. I don't know about fine dining, but I didn't really see anything that upscale in microcentro - I could be wrong obv, since I didn't search for it.
So I would choose anywhere in Palermo over Retiro/microcentro/Plaza SM.

Re: the heat in January. I was there in Jan 2010 and I thought it was ridiculously hot and humid, to the point of unbearable, at least between 11 and 4 or something like that. On the hottest days of January it was like 100 degrees fahrenheit and very humid. Walking from my airconditioned apartment onto the balcony was like hitting a wall of heat and humidity. Unless that kind of heat actually makes you sick, you kinda just get used to it. Most places I went had a/c, so it wasn't that big of a deal, but strolling around in the middle of the day wasn't pleasant at all. I'm from a country where high 80's is OMG EXTREME HEAT WAVE! though, and I suppose that makes a difference.

Hey whatsup! Started a different thread in travel, didnt realize there was a catch all.

Anyways, just moved here a week or so ago from LA with a friend, we play HU, lived in Austin texas for 4 months earlier this year, then lived in montreal after black friday then decided to come someplace more interesting. Were living a tiny bit south of recoleta, were in our 20's, like to check out the city, go out drinking and get rowdy, generally ball out and have a good time etc. Spanish is so so, but learning dia a dia.

I hit up the ship it buenos aires FB group and messaged a few of the mods to say hi, orange said it was cool. But were def looking to meet other pros in the area, so shoot me a pm if u want to grab some cervezas this week. Ill ship more info (fb aim) in PM.

AW

Most poker players end up in Palermo Soho or nearby and there aren't any notable drawbacks to the area unless you're bothered that some of the stuff looks rather rundown on the outside (which describes at least 90% of the city).

Check the wiki pages for Buenos Aires and DC to see how the summer weather compares; from what I remember of being in DC in June I think they are probably very similar. Any decent apartment and any commercial building will have AC but some of the AC systems are a bit crappy. Most people complain about the heat but I used to live in Vegas so I think they are insane, but the humidity is enough to make it unpleasant. I mostly just dislike the fact that I can't go anywhere without becoming drenched in sweat by the time I get there.

Sup

I am looking for a personal assistant at least 5hours a week for 1-2months. craigslist?? any other websites where i can post?

Thanks a lot guys. It sounds like Palmero is a good spot and I have a nice place lined up there. I am getting pretty damn stressed about the heat though. The idea of going to a new and cool city and not being able to casually walk around during the day without dripping in sweat (obviously not every day is like this) is a pretty big bummer for me. I have been really excited for everything else about this trip but the heat thing is stressing me out.

I guess the only other question I have is regarding playing tourist during this time of year. I understand this is their vacation time. Does this mean trips to resorts in Uruguay or cool spots in Patagonia or Mendoza are going to be difficult to arrange on the fly? Should I expect to run into a ton of fully booked hotels, flights, etc? Finally, do you think I am making too much of the heat or for those that are sensitive, did it ruin your time there?

Having lived in BA and hotter places, the heat is not that big of a deal. BA is most definitely best seen on foot, just adopt a siesta mindset. Stay inside during the midday hours. Have long lunches.

Beaches in Uruguay will be super expensive; Argentina to a lesser extent, Patagonia not so much. Not sure if the wine region experiences much of a price bump in the summer.

Could anyone break down in simple terms what the sudden problem is with the Argentine economy/dollar regulations and why this may lead to something catastrophic like hyper-inflation? Consider your audience someone who worked very hard to get a B- in economics 101 in college, so the simpler the better.

No one keeps their money in the banks or pays taxes. They turn any pesos they receive into USD at the banks. The banks are running out of USD. The govt sent out 4400 tax/money launder inspectors this month. Utilities subsidies that have been in affect will drop Jan 1 increasing utilties 300pct.

As a side note, I am leaving Mid Dec and have for sale:

30 inch Dell 3007 WFP_HC bought in Nov 09 and no major flaws/scrathes.

27 inch apple cinema display bought Aug of this year with no flaws/scratches and an adapter than will work with any non apple laptop.

PM me with offers.

A group of mother****ing financists (anonymous, of course, nobody knows who and how many they are) are trying to make a profit out of monetary exchange.

They buy lots and lots of dollars in a short term, so it raises weirdly. Then, supported by the media willing to **** this government and the groups favoured by the raise, they start a rumour: "the dollar is going to skyrocket, a crisis is coming".

People get scared and well, you know the rest. That's why regulations started.

Spike is 100% wrong. It's the opposite of what he said.

Where are you moving to and why are you leaving?

I am going back to the states. My goal when I got here in August was get to SNE. I'll be done in about 2 weeks, so I'm leaving. Had fun here, but definitely miss usa/friends/family.

Going to spend a week in BA in Jan, where's the best area to stay? Looking for good nightlife/restaurants and some cultural stuff to do as well.


What's Recoleta like?

Palermo Soho + Hollywood has good restauratns & bars. Recoleta as well but less. Other good resto's u'll find in Cañitas, Barrio Norte, Puerto Madero.

guiaoleo.com.ar is your guide.

For clubs etc, they are all dispersed in the city and all different.


Don't be lazy and read back a page or 2. I posted some of the top resto's of the year not too long ago.

is this a level?

That's pretty much it, I hope it doesn't end so badly but it is not looking good. What really sucks is that the economic situation is good, but the govt screws it up spending money like crazy, financed with the printing presses, on a diversity of really stupid programs and such, and they are not going to change that. ALSO utility bills are about to skyrocket (200% to 300% increases), because they ran out of money to subsidise them. They can get away with it implementing crazy measures like sending 4500 cops to the banks to scare people away, not selling dollars like they are doing now, and making it mandatory to insurance companies to keep their funds here, and moves like when they stole 100% of the money in private pension funds to subsidise free soccer on TV, but it is getting quite ugly.

Mostly agree with RiverPlay. the terms of trade have been at an alltime high for Argentina over the past few years, through absolutely no merit of the Kirchneristas. They've spent way too much on a severely flawed model of economic growth and then subsequently bought their way to re-election (successfully) through bread and circuses with the help of Nestor's passing.

Now they've got debt denominated in foreign currencies. El corralito might be coming back. I'm pretty pessimistic about Argentina's economic future over the next few years. There's a reason a smart guy like Macri told American journalists that he wasn't going to run because he was going to let Cristina reap what she has so wastefully sowed.

Hi , i have 6 month in BA, i play on Stars(Microstakes) and would like to go out for dinner with the 2+2ers that are living on BA ?

So let me know when there is any meeting /dinning.

Thanks

How is the public transport/taxi situation in town? Do you have areas that should be avoided after the sun goes down that you could easily stumble into if you didn't know any better or are the neighborhoods you'd likely ever be hanging out at night relatively safe?

How is it going to and from the airport and making short vacations to other places in South America?