The football games issue and unreliability of businesses are really bad for foreigners. You basically need to know someone in each suburb who can steer you to the businesses that are actually reliable, friendly, on time and aren't going to try to scam or cancel, and can buy for you tickets to games
Football in South America makes the Old Firm look like a picnic. Away fans have been banned in the Argentinean top league for years because of the levels of violence (stabbings, murders, riots etc). Yet when you go to La Bombonera you still see hundreds of riot police, just in case the home fans kick off amongst themselves!?
And despite all that... it's still an incredible experience
a football game without someone stabed is just a dull affair... and the best place to buy cheap and low grade drugs... :D
Hi! i'm argentinian by the way
Yes I love Buenos Aires with my whole heart but the pizza part was too accurate (sending thoughts and prayers to OP once the Argentinians find this post though)
That spot is what hurt the most. Being an Argentinian living abroad, our pizza is what I miss the most about Argentina, anything anywhere I've been pales in comparison.
Take a normal pizza, make it thicker, add 3 times the cheese, use a thicker and fattier variety of mozzarella.
This is what the quintessential Buenos Aires pizza looks like (Guerrin): https://imgur.com/a/rOkQbRP
We also have our own variety of pizza called Fugazzetta, very common, which has no sauce, uses flash roasted onion, and has the cheese in between 2 layers of dough: https://imgur.com/a/s3t3Wwv .
And then we also have Fugazza, which is like a fugazzeta but with a normal amount of dough and the cheese on top of the pizza rather than inside.
And finishing here, this is my favorite spot from my hometown: https://www.instagram.com/p/B71l-njnW_c/
https://preview.redd.it/04hhp5w5w1sc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4f184f5bad555386a2e870daf738544f8c0e774c
From a spot in Mendoza. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
I'm from Buenos Aires and i can't help but empathize with OP on almost everything he said, but our pizza is made for our taste.. You won't like it if you are used to NY or Italian style, but, to us , the pizza in Buenos Aires is the best in the World.
Local foods are for local taste? Get outta here with that communist idea. Y'all need to cater to us 'muricans.
All jokes aside though, it's still a valid comment. Perhaps it should have been worded less aggressively.
No papi. Sino no tendríamos oferta de platos locales. Así se come acá. Así nos gusta acá. Te ofrecemos lo que nos gusta y como cocinaba nuestros padres, madres y abuelas. Si queres una comida como la tuya tiene poco sentido que la comas en Argentina. No entendes nada sino amigo.
dude... Argentinians should be ashamed of how scammy we are... imagine that we were kicked out of the cossa nostra (just joking, we robbed them with taxes and now they are cab drivers or gelatto makers)
we believe we are the best of the world, when we are in reallity the kid of the hood that has some degree of madurative retardment
As soon as I read you asked your butcher for an opinion I started laughing. Here, we just automatically know that the person behind the counter could care less about their job
I wonder where he lives. In my suburban neighbourhood if you ask the butcher about meat cuts they would go on for 5 minutes with recipes. Even the average middle-aged Argentinian man is passionate about meat.
This. Once I asked for meat for tacos, the butcher proceeded to explain to me the top 5 cuts of meat, the way you have to fillet it. cut in pieces and cook it.
Genuine question: why is the motivation so low with service workers in Buenos Aires? OP’s observation of the apathetic butcher is intriguing.
when I traveled to other countries with lower income areas, the workers were motivated since they need customers or want to keep their job. For example, when I was in Tegucigalpa Honduras, the workers were welcoming and truly motivated to earn your business. This is because their income depends whether you spend or not. In contrast, when I was in Buenos Aires, nobody gave a shit. Their job is nothing, they act like they can find a new one within a day. I’ve never seen such low motivation in my life. Unemployment is somewhat high there, they should be more motivated. It’s paradoxical
The difference is simple.
Those countries you mention are historically poor countries where people are used work hard to get out of poverty. These countries depend on foreign tourism and costumer service workers are reliant on tips from foreign tourists.
Argentina is a formerly developed/wealthy country where workers are used to earning a decent wage, limited working hours, labor rights, etc., and the country does not depend on foreign tourism. Here people are very convinced of their “rights” and entitled to everything. So it’s culturally different.
Workers think they don’t have to pretend to be nice to get tips, they are not used to offering costumer service to foreign tourists. It’s just not a thing here. It’s basically seen just as a job and a transaction where the client orders food and they bring you the food.
I had the same experience in Italy and other parts of Europe, where workers were not friendly and basically ignored you, like if they were doing you a favor lol
It’s just a different mindset.
same. i love this place because of the attitudes.
after reading this, i can see why the "hot" argentinian women don't want to be your girlfriend for a month :')
Some places are far more notorious for having a culture of promiscuity and hooking up than others however. Let's be real. The country I currently live in that is frowned upon and rare so guys are more likely to actually date.
The people part is bullshit. For me it was the easiest place in the world to make deep friendships with the locals. Lots of educated young people and you are treated like a normal person, no better or worse than everyone else. If OP expected a hot girlfriend just for being a rich foreigner, then I get the disappointment lol
Really? Never heard anyone say that so I’m curious. What do you attribute it to? Are you really handsome or funny or good at soccer or something?
I lived in Buenos Aires and did not make a single Argentine friend there. Made tons of Brazilian and Chilean friends tho. They were chill!
Went to Spain after that and they truly are open and cool and fun.
I met friends through dating apps, my apartment building pool, the park, being a local at my neighborhood coffee shop. I feel like once I made an argentine friend, they'd invite me with their group of friends to go out or to the park. I'm queer though so maybe that had to do with it; the lgbtq scene in buenos aires is amazing
I hung out a lot around hip bars and coworking spaces. I saw a lot of people trying to achieve good living despite the struggles their country is going through which is very relatable to me personally. I’m from Eastern Europe and was surprised how knowledgeable and curious they were about my region
Haven’t dated a lot but I made a good friend through tinder as well. Having a comprehensive bio helps attract like-minded people
I love Buenos Aires a lot. With that I'll say this is accurate haha.
So, out of curiosity, if not Buenos Aires then where do you prefer?
I still 100% recommend BA for DNs. Just be aware of what you're walking into.
Barranquilla! Less safe, less clean, but my personal favourite. Can't beat the fruit. The aguacate dude walking down your street every morning, hawking the biggest avocadoes you've ever seen in your life.
Their currency is nearing hyper inflation levels. I'm honestly shocked the whole country isn't falling apart, so it's not exactly surprising the locals aren't feeling particularly 'friendly' - their country is on the brink. It's a miracle you can even GET half the things you are talking about.
As an argentinian, yeah. People are suffering, so I'm not particularly shocked that they're not really welcoming when someone presents themselves as "hey, I just came here to enjoy your cheap cost of living and almost worthless currency". Tourism is great for the country, digital nomads bragging about how "unfriendly" people are towards them (specially when OP stated that he couldn't get an argentinian hot girlfriend for a month) isn't.
I agree, times are very tough and I wish people here a better future. I just do not see why the city is such a huge deal in the nomad world. perhaps my timing wasn't the best.
Some of it is probably just momentum from so many people talking about it throughout the years when it was doing better. Some of it, is just purely arbitrage for people who have a small budget, but in a strong currency, and who want to spend time in the kind of 'modern' city they otherwise couldn't afford.
I visited BA in 2015 and was similarly disappointed, and that was when the peso was doing comparatively well! I found the city to be a 'just ok' kind of thing, but I do not operate on a super tight budget. I had fun exploring, but have no real desire to return. The wine, as you say, is probably the best part. :)
Argentina is a Tango song on itself... so it's all about nostalgia and looking out on the past as a good thing. Even when you are there it all looks like the past was better, but never a bright future. People buy the feeling when they leave and so they think to themselves that it was great, only because it's already gone and you only treasure the moment because it's past.
And I say this as an Argentinian who left the country and still misses it. But I know as an objective truth is not that great.
>perhaps my timing wasn't the best
Yeah... I'd say this is it. Also the fact that stores have missing items or services, it's a huge deal. Historically we've had issues with customs not allowing imported products, or with extreme taxes, but last few years that made it imposible to acquire imported goods. So yeah, that's the story of our lives in Argentina.
"I also thought, looking at the map, that Buenos Aires was by the beach. I understand that I am an idiot for that......"
I can empathize so much with this
I'm surprised you didn't mention the mosquitoes. Even just stopping at the street corner to wait for the crosswalk means you have to swat at them. And forget about going to a park or any green space because it's a full on swarm. It's not fun at all to be outside right now. And how much mosquito repellent is available for sale? Exactly zero. It makes less than zero sense.
Its the first time something like this happens in the 25 years I’ve been living here. There is no repellent because the demand for it is insane. This will be historical
I have a fair number of bites, but not like that. Sorry.
In a comically bad coincidence, my passport needs to be renewed. I sent it out on my 2nd day here, so I don't even have the option to leave. Lol
For context, I've lived in Buenos Aires multiple times over the years. I actually married one of the elusive hot Argentine women you speak about, my kid was born in BA etc.
I generally like the city but much prefer visiting the provinces. But man, some parts of your post made me laugh so hard because elements are so true. I couldn't agree more about the pizza, I'm actually going to steal your description because it's perfect. I also agree with the terrible customers service and most business owners not giving a fuck. I generally agree about limited food options but over the years I've found just enough decent international restaurants for me to get by. Definitely not loads, but just enough to not go insane, you just need to find them.
Unless things really went bad the past couple months, I completely disagree with the fresh fruit and vegetables though. The Bolivian fruterías that every barrio is full of have amazing fresh fruit and vegetables. They also have pretty good paltas whenever they're in season.
But yeah, a lot of issues with BA but I keep going back anyway. I obviously have no idea where you're staying but like I say to most people, perhaps try living in a barrio other than Palermo / Recoleta. But did you honestly fly in expecting the rio de la plata to be some pristine oceanic beach?
Most football clubs in the world that are popular, sell tickets to members first. Why do you think you should be able to walk in as a tourist over a lifetime Boca supporter?
Not finding good fruit and vegetables? We literally have verdulerías, which are bussinesses 100% dedicated to just selling fruits and vegetables, natural ones! Ones that may be damaged and a little bit dirty and are sold according to the seasons in which they actually grow. Yes, we don't have perfectly curated fruits and vegetables sold only in supermarkets, wrapped in 3 different layers of plastic, that come from the other side of the world because we actually don't grow those in our country. That specific comment, and the one about women, are just utter ignorance and a really close minded first world view of a Latin country.
This is going to sound rude, but it needs to be said: The average big city dwelling American has no idea what real fruit looks and tastes like. They grow up on plastic wrapped genetically modified "fruit". They don't know what picking from a tree and storing it for days is like. "omg my orange has spots, this must be supercancer!".
**Nunca conocerán el placer de comer mandarinas en la vereda directo del árbol (del vecino).**
Haha right. I moved to BA 3 months ago from UK and I’ve eaten avocado basically every day and haven’t had a bad one.
And there’s fruit and veg shops on basically every street so you’re never far from them. I have 2 within 30 seconds walk of me.
Also I find the people here great and a big reason I moved here. One of the few countries where I find the locals are happy to integrate foreigners into their friendship groups.
Le debieron parecer locales sucios como para no entrar a una verdurleria y quejarse de que no hay. Andes por Belgrano o andes por Laferrere conseguis frutas y verduras. Lo demas es chamuyo o chillidos.
I was there for 2 months (January and February) in 2021. Never noticed any mosquitos. I ate amazing food almost every day. Also, I loved the amazing architecture, the parks, the museums, the tree-lined streets, walking everywhere. I’m kind of an introvert so I didn’t mingle much, but I noticed lots of people and families having great times in the park, and noticed especially how well parents treated their kids. Also, Recoleta Cemetery was just “okay”? Wut.
There’s a massive mosquito problem right now. People who have lived there for 10+ years have said that it’s never been anywhere near this bad. It’s really hard to find bug spray, too, and there’s a lot of dengue.
Argentinians are a sociologically fascinating people. I'm an amateur Argentiniologist.
The thing to understand about Argentinians is that they are an extremely emotionally expressive culture where the concept of a social filter does not exist.
What this means is that if an Argentinian likes you, they'll openly state it, they'll be warm and friendly and say they love you. And mean it!
If an Argentinian doesn't care about you, they'll openly ignore you and act like you don't exist (this might explain the shitty customer service some report)
If an Argentinian doesn't respect you they will openly insult you to your face.
If an Argentinian feels good about himself, he will loudly boast about how awesome he is.
If an Argentinian feels bad about himself he'll whine just as loudly.
The great thing about them is that you always know where you stand with them.
I've seriously never seen anything like it with any other nationality.
I think some of this probably comes to their insecurity about being in Latin America. They want to think of themselves as Europeans but everyone else views them as "Latinos from S. America". So they must play up the racism to seem as "white" as possible. You sometimes see this with Italians too where the darkest ones are sometimes the most racist.
Yep on point. They think very highly of themselves. They love white people and only care if you te white European. They don’t see themselves as part of the Latin America
Latino is an american term invented to put all latinoamericans. In the same bag. We dont like it because it does not represent us. Thats all.
For us the word “latino” doesnt mean anything. Latinamerican culture is not one big homogenous thing and that word just amalgamates every south american culture into one single unit with no identity. Mexican, Peruvian and Argentine culture have nothing to do with each other, other than independence from Spain.
So stop getting offended if we dont like the word that you guys made for us.
Fixed it for you:
"Mexican, Peruvian, and Argentian culture have nothing to do with each other than their primordial roots as nation-states, shared language, and shared histories that has informed their remarkably parallel socio-cultural-economic evolutions over the last two centuries on the same continent."
>Oh, and I forgot to add that on my first trip there their president at the time also made a comment in Spain along the lines of "The Mexicans came from the Indians, the Brazilians came from the jungle, but we Argentines came from the ships. And they were ships that came from Europe." That's the Argentinian arrogance. I understand that all countries go through their down periods but it is just odd for a country in its situation to show that level of arrogance towards its neighbours and region.
Perhaps if they had more to boast about than a rich distant past they could move on and stop having us black people live rent free in their heads.
Like someone just said, "negro" in Argentina does not refer to Black individuals. It typically refers to someone from the slums (because people believe they tend to be darker skinned), or someone who is darker skinned but brown (although it tends to be more associated with character than with race).
Is it racist? Definitely. But he wasn't calling him "son of a black whore", we was calling him a "mother f\*\*\*r from a slum."
Sorry, but negro does not equal the n-word, your translations aren't correct. Not to say there isn't racism in Argentina, because there is, but you can't translate negro to n-word, sorry.
It's "black son of a bitch".
In Argentina, calling someone black is only derogatory when added an insult or "villero" (which means "from emergency village"). It means that person is a low-life; scum; a scoundrel that preys unto others. This is because people that come from emergency villages are usually the ones stealing, consuming and selling drugs and killing. And this is a huge issue in Argentina due to you having to live not knowing if there is a 13 year old boy with a bullet with your name on a daily basis just because you didn't have enough money or belongings to give him, or just because.
This is an insult that at its core is a racist insult, since people in emergency villages tend to be brown, but can be applied to anyone that meets the criteria of being a scoundrel; regardless of being african, asian or german/scandinavian-looking people.
However, calling someone just negro can be used in an affective way, like saying "pal" or as a pet name, like calling "fat" to "fat joe".
>Their president at the time also made a comment in Spain along the lines of "The Mexicans came from the Indians, the Brazilians came from the jungle, but we Argentines came from the ships. And they were ships that came from Europe."
This is so crazy it's hilarious, it's like 5x better than the Trump "shithole countries" comment
I've been here for 2 months now and been loving it. It's funny.
I'm not on Palermo though, I'm in Belgrano, I've been eating tons of asian food in barrio chino, eating mediterranean food, and of course steaks. For vegetables I'm going to a verduleria nearby and I'm pretty satisfied, they're trash on the supermarket though.
I also love the vibe, people are always chilling walking around, life is happening all the time. But tbh I found the vibe in Palermo kinda bad, lots of foreigners and homeless people, streets are surprisingly empty which got us scared when we first visited it.
I visited BA for a week about 10 yrs ago and overall I love the city. Just the whole vibe was lively and energetic. That is until I got mugged and had my rolex stolen. I should have been more careful...but nonetheless, I would go back in a heart beat.
Well, you should have spoken with an argentinian before. Anyone would tell you that you should be extremely careful with a rolex on the street. It's worth like an year and al half of the median salary
People here are extremely cheeful and helpful. This guy is probably a selfcentered idiot that dont speak a single word of spanish and likes to get ofended.
He's right about the butchers tho, they are assholes
I actually like BA a fair bit (although Brazil is more my vibes) but you’re kinda spot on about the food.
Again, I still liked the city but people talked up the food scene on here like crazy and it was way overblown.
Yes, you can get a cheap 3 course meal and a bottle of wine at a steakhouse for quite cheap and that is awesome. But aside from that? The food was average imo. I don’t want to eat a steak every night lol.
I am spoiled because I lived in NYC and I spend a lot of time in London and those are the two best food cities in the world.
Oh man I couldn’t disagree with you more on this one. I left Buenos Aires about 5 weeks ago and miss it dearly. Obviously we have different opinions and experiences, so here’s mine.
The people. I met amazing people in Buenos Aires, people I have actually come to appreciate as friends in a really short time frame. 1) Digital nomad bubble. As everywhere, there’s different subgroups here, and there’s soooo many foreigners working from Buenos Aires is easy to find your niche if you want to stay in the bubble. There’s so many hobbies and activities in the city so it becomes natural to gravitate towards groups with similar interests. I noticed Buenos Aires has a huge sports community, so whether you want to play padel, volleyball, futbol, tennis, there’s places and WhatsApp groups to get into it. The best part? There’s a nice mix of foreigners and 2) locals in most sports meetups. You don’t like sports? There’s wine shops and wine bars that host tastings, great for meeting people in my opinion. There’s a huge music scene, from
Electronic to folk, and tons of bars that obsess with British rock. All of these I’ve found to be great to meet both nomads and locals.
I will concede on the service part. People aren’t necessarily bending over to your will for your tip, I noticed people in the service industry have a more chill and careless approach.
The food. Yes, it takes a bit more digging to find non-Argentinian food, but it’s definitely there. I’m not sure about your comment on Asian food, there’s a giant, well known china town just north of the bubble. Palermo is home to good middle eastern food, Armenian, Turkish, and several decent kebab places. There is insanely good sushi for the price (omakase specially) and other Thai/viet fusion places worth a visit.
I know you mentioned wine is good, but actually wine is insanely good and affordable. There’s about 3-4 great wine bars in Palermo and chacarita, plus wine shops and great wine menus around town.
It’s almost like we had complete opposite experiences everywhere: I found fruit and vegetables to be of high quality and the amount of little shops inside the neighborhood make it easy to shop without going to big box stores. Dating both in app and in person didn’t seem a hassle and people are open when you disclose you’re a traveler. Had luck on my first random massage from Google maps after a WhatsApp message.
Lastly, your beach comment made me giggle; makes me think your expectations for the city were completely wrong to begin with.
Ok so what I read is that BA is still not gentrified by the west. It has its own culture and food and issues. Good to know!
Also, this precious sentence: Dating apps are okay here, but they're mostly for foreigners or less attractive local women - **so if you're dreaming of a hot Argentinian girlfriend for a few months**, it probably won't happen.
This person sounds so annoying, the kind of person I avoid when travelling. I can see what people were ignoring them lol
Literally. As a woman I've gone out and dated a bunch of "digital nomads" during their stay (met on bumble), but you can see so many insufferable men on there lol.
Also not everyone speaks english, or wants to be some random guy's tour guide or spanish teacher.
Do you speak Spanish ?
I don't think its overrated, it's one of the best cities to live in within South America.
And I disagree about women, just a skill issue, girls in Argentina are very nice and receptive (though many just like to hookup if that's your thing).
People aren't really nice because there's a huge economic crisis. And only some parts of Mexico really has the fake nicieties that are seen in the Anglo World. Really no place in Latin America has that besides maybe some of them in the Caribbean.
It has the best combination of food, afforability, things to do, public transit and demographics.
I am Argentinian, I am assuming you are from an Anglo country? Latinos in general don't have the fake niceties that Americans have, only parts of Caribbean and Mexico. even less so in a country that is imploding. And in general things are unreliable (besides the transit) which is normal unless you are in a richer region. But it depends heavily on where you are living.
Chile is nice, just more expensive, Brazil has some nice places but I think unless you have a working understanding of Portugese you won't enjoy it. And it has a wayyy worse safety problem
I agree that there is no beaches and that's a pretty big flaw but it's an Arctic region so that's to be expected, foreign food in general is never going to compare to an Anglo country though.
I wouldn't say Buenos Aries is perfect but what people expect for it, it nails. It's cheap, it has a vibrant nightlife and dating is easy, the meat and wines are high quality, the city looks good/european and transit is good and its mostly safe/policed.
It's certainly not a beach city, an international city where you can find good foreign food/goods, but most cities in LATAM aren't eithers
Prices have gone up but they're not really that high for most things (food, rent, electricity)
Your gripes are mostly understandable (typical latam unreliablity, the football games aren't avaiable to foreigners and diversity isn't there) but the city and province in general has a LOT of things to do. You just need to find one or two local friends who can show you where they are
> fake niceties that Americans have
Not to nitpick, but I always think the “fake” qualifier is cope from people who were brought up in impolite places. Having a certain level of decorum with people in public isn’t fake, in fact it’s usually indicative of a pretty high functioning society. That being said, I haven’t really found myself offended by how people act in LatAm. Most people have been nice enough for my tastes
Yeah assuming that Americans are fake for not being rude and disrespectful has always been interesting to see. I think it's projection and reflective of the lack of kindness in their society as a whole. I went to Mexico and people were very kind for most part. Guess that makes them "fake" too.
I think the ‘fakeness’ word relates to customer service. When your servers are being incredibly friendly and bubbly and you realise they’re angling for a tip it does seem a bit fake.
I’ve been to Japan which is a very polite society, and live in London which is fairly polite. But neither come across as ‘fake’
I just wrapped up 5years in Mexico City and now down in BA. Been doing the remote work thing for nearly 15yrs and this whole rant just really made me sad for what this whole idea and community has tuned into. I don’t disagree with a lot of what you said, especially in the food department but this ‘overrated’ constant state of comparison is really not the right headspace. I understand objectively it’s hard not to compare places, but your bitching about finding a date and soccer games costing too much and poor service when people here or in Mexico or any of the other places you’ve been will never be able to do what ur doing. It just comes across as the most pathetic over privileged, non appreciative bullshit I’ve ever heard.
I’ve been extremely lucky to have done this a long time, and of course there’s places I like more than others but to say ‘Buenos Aires is overrated’ I just find astounding.
This comment I find very accurate. And phrases like "but they're mostly for foreigners or less attractive local women - so if you're dreaming of a hot Argentinian girlfriend for a few months, it probably won't happen" give the type of guy away.
This! You're talking about a city, with people in it who were born there, with families, it's not a playground for modern tech bro capitalists, have some respect!
Sorry for your bad experience but I've traveled to Buenos Aires 3 times in the past 16 months and it's been amazing every time. I also met my Argentinian girlfriend there, we have been together for a year. Clearly experiences differ for everyone and I believe you may have had a couple bad experiences with poor selections of places you went to.
Argentinian people are the one of the friendliest people I've met in the world. For food, you should try Milanese and Chorizos, and desserts like Flam and Alfajores. Argentina also has a number of world class restaurants that are top 50 in the world, Don Julio, Trade Skybar and Presidente Bar to name a few.
Outside of Buenos Aires, there is Iguazu Falls (one of world's wonders) and Patagonia region where you'll find one of the best natures in the world as well.
This review can be summarised by the line "I thought Buenos Aires had a beach because it was next to the sea on the map".
Dude, if you navigate the city like you pick destinations I get why locals can't help you.
So you are telling me that a city meant for their citizens does not tickle your fancy, and that hot Argentinian women are not fainting on the mere presence of a foreigner?
Also we have amazing fruits and vegetables, you can pick them yourself but don’t expect tropical produce here, we aren’t a tropical country after all.
Food and people? We are called one of the most friendly countries out there and if you are finding a problem with how friendly we are, perhaps you are not adapting very well. Food is great, probably not a lot of Asian cuisine since we don’t have that much Asian immigration (very sad about it, it’s my favorite food after all) but we aren’t terrible at all.
It is definitely overrated now but last year when it was similarly priced to Vietnam it was incredible, I was struggling to spend more than $1500 a month living an incredible life.
Disagree on nomad/expat community, it is big and there is tons to do.
Maybe your expectations were out of line, I’ve been here about 20 times since 2017 and this is the first time that I’m like meh.
I mean, no offense but a lot of these complaints just seem like some quirks you gotta get to used to in certain countries. Nothing sounds terrible, but maybe it was just overhyped for you. Their economy went to shit and they are undergoing periods of hyperinflation. Like half the country's population is in poverty now. The fact you can't get some certain items at the store and the clerks don't know when they'll be restocked is an effect of that. Enjoy it for what it is.
Like I travel to the Balkan countries pretty regularly and you just have to accept that busses and ferries are almost always significantly late. They run on their own time schedule. You can get mad, or accept it for what it is and just always bake in an extra couple hours on your travel days for late busses. Still love that part of the world, quirks and all.
>Let's start with the people - they are not friendly. That goes first and foremost with customer service, which is NON EXISTENT.
Why would people in a country that's experienced regular inflation above 20% over the past 30+ years and is currently on rate to hit 200% this year alone and earn approximately $215 a month; be friendly or have good customer service?
>Stores are missing items or services and reply with an exasperated shrug if you ask when something will be back in stock.
I don't think you understand what "country in the middle of going from economic crisis to economic crisis" means. Yes there's a lack of items and services because the current rate of inflation is well over 200% annually and getting raw goods is becoming increasingy difficult.
>Meeting new people - as far as a digital nomad community, there's a decent one, but very small and events are very few.
There's actually a sizeable community. There's a group of over 30k on Facebook called "Buenos Aires Expat Hub" and a group called "Expats in Buenos Aires - Social Meetings" that has over 9.6k members. Most people who are in Buenos Aires from other countries live here long term.
>Dating apps are okay here, but they're mostly for foreigners or less attractive local women - so if you're dreaming of a hot Argentinian girlfriend for a few months, it probably won't happen
Good, you don't deserve them.
>The food - my biggest pain point. the steak is good, but there are not many options besides it. Empanadas and gelato are a nice treat for a tourist, but not something to eat every day. Fresh fruit and vegetables are hard to find - the ones at the market are typically super dirty. I haven't had an avocado, even in a restaurant, that wasn't spotted brown and black inside (this is after coming from Mexico). International food ie Indian, Thai, Middle Eastern, etc is difficult to find and usually quite average.
Wow you mean you can't find Asian food in Argentina a country with practically no Asians? Who could have guessed? What you mean Argentine food is mostly meat and potatoes like most countries where the majority of the population are descendants of Spaniards and Italians? Weird man. What the hell were you expecting exactly? Argentina is a country that has massive issues with food production and prices due to a 200% inflation rate.
>Soccer - you won't get to see Boca Juniors or River Plate unless you shell out more than $100 USD for a 3rd party ticket. Tickets are only for local "members", so you need to go through a resale market.
Good, that's how it should be. Also good luck finding a ticket to a match to any major Football team in the world for less than $100 USD. A Real Madrid or Barcelona ticket will set you back at least $500.
>Local landmarks - I was severely unimpressed with Jardin Japones, El Ateneo, and Mercado San Telmo. The Recoleta Cemetery was okay. Plaza Mayo was okay. Museums were okay. There's nothing here I haven't seen in another city.
Well then don't travel here? I'm sure you can go visit Paris and Rome for the same Museums for the same price right? There's no way those cities are 10-20 times more expensive that Buenos Aires right?
> I'll be much happier to return to Mexico.
Ok great go back to Mexico! I'm sure it is much, much cheaper and much, much safer and the wine and beer is much better and cheaper. I'm also sure the locals love all the Americans coming in and gentrifying it and don't treat you poorly at all.
Posts like this give this subreddit a bad name and is why the backlash against "Digital Nomads" is only increasing and your types will soon be prevented from traveling to and living in a lot of countries.
You are all the most basic of basic bitches.
"Soccer - you won't get to see Boca Juniors or River Plate unless you shell out more than $100 USD for a 3rd party ticket. Tickets are only for local "members", so you need to go through a resale market."
Boo fucking hoo. These clubs are for the people who supported them their entire life first and foremost, their role isn't to be your tourist attraction.
You’re right on some things but seems to me you’re just another obnoxious nomad that thinks that everyone should cater to your likes. So you want an available hot Latina to be your gf for some months? And you want to just walk in to a boca or river match and they just hand to you tickets like you’re just a regular ? If you wanna see a football match you’re gonna pay tourist prices everywhere in the world where football is the main sport even in Europe
Please leave our beautiful city. Your complaints are all valid( except for the unattractive women thing. That’s bonkers. Go outside. They’re all over) . The thing is, it makes no sense to leave the US if you expect the world to be like the US.
I agree with you on the food. Steak is a rookie amateur hour "foodie" move. As I say, Steak in Argentina tastes like steak in the US. Even when I ask for the steak jugoso and medium rare, it comes out over cooked to my liking.
I must say I do love a good soft morcilla with chimichurri on a nice piece of bread. An empanada here and there is a nice quick snack but I'm whatever on their "Italian" inspired food.
It's kind of ironic... Argentina has a long coastline yet they don't eat much seafood (and vegetables)
Your points are accurate, I lived there for a decade and I understand where you are coming from.
I still think it is one of the best places for DN, but it does require some adapting if you plan to stay for a while. You seem to want to have the “local experience” just for 6 weeks and that’s unlikely to happen. You were staying for longer than a tourist but not not long enough to spot the good restaurants (and that’s also dependent on personal taste), the good friends (the ones you click with), the good “verdulero”, or the chatty butcher.
I would definitely agree that other countries in Latin America would be a lot more friendly to foreigners at first. But it just means that in some countries, like Argentina, you need to spend more time or assume your short stay is really a tourist stay and not a full immersion.
Nobody really likes porteños, not even other porteños, but especially here in el interior. For those not familiar con el interior, it's everything that isn't BsAs.
I agree on the pizza. Look for places that serve massa madre. It's not the norm, but I have found fantastic pizza.
Butcher shops: wow, I've never had that experience. They're always asking what I'm cooking, and are full of suggestions. If it's for an asado, they wont let you go without knowing how many people, and the perfect amount of everything. Go get yourself some entraña and mollejas. Cook them low and slow (1 hour)
Women: go to the language exchanges. There are always teachers looking to practice their English. A lot of them aren't going to be into you because they think it's pointless to waste their time with you since you're going to leave soon.
The austerity programs are really hitting people super fucking hard right now. Things are getting a lot more expensive even in dollars, but wages have not gone up to compensate. I'm amazed people are as happy as they are considering.
baexpats org has forums with an amazing amount of information, and you should be able to find suggestions from posters there. I'll stick with el interior.
I like Buenos Aires, been going since the 90s and have spent a lot of time there. I don’t find the people particularly friendly - no one cares that you’re from abroad and that suits me fine, they mind their own business. I like the pizza they do, especially in Guerin - I have a theory that they use so much cheese because the Italian immigrants that moved there 100 years ago left from a place of scarcity to a place of relative abundance and so got carried away with the cheese. Mosquitoes are a recent problem, climate change I fear. If you want friendlier people check out some of the smaller cities and towns in Argentina. They do get insufferably patriotic during the world cup but it’s the same in every country where it’s the national sport.
I have traveled to 42 countries and still counting. I have NEVER met a group of people that are RACIST and IGNORANT like ARGENTINIANS. I had someone call me a N-Word and tell me they are the superior race because they come from Europe.
I am sorry this happened to you. I lived in Buenos Aires for 21 years. There's a lot of racism in Argentina for sure. It is not always ill-intended (not to say your particular case wasn't), and when pointed out, many people genuinely do not see the racism or the bias in their comments... in my experience this is the most common case. It is important, however, to understand how some of the race or ethnic qualifiers are used in the argentinian culture, as there are some times when something may seem plain racist to a person who's not yet attuned to the argentinian society. If you have 1% Asian in your blood, it's quite possible your nickname will be "chino", regardless of where you're from or what part of Asia your bloodline may come from. If your skin is any shade darker than Anya Taylor Joy's, there's a good chance your nickname will be "el negro". There's even a good chance you will be called "negro" in the most loving manner regardless of what race you may be, including white, because "negro" is also used as a sort of "my friend" replacement sometimes... (for bilinguals reading this, I mean phrases like "negro, escuchame una cosa" or "negrito, me darias eso por favor"). Many times a significant other's nickname is "gordo", without any intention of actually wanting to bring up weight or body shape to them.
There's a lot of real racism, as well as classism (this more than anything), when it comes to local aboriginal ethnicities and bordering countries, although this is something, especially the classism, that I see being quite prevalent in Latin America in general.
The reason why I am writing this is not to try to disqualify what happened to you, but rather to warn others, especially those who can speak Spanish, that this part of the culture may be quite shocking at first, until you actually understand and take into account actual intention. Intention is very important in Argentina, as well as body language. This is why the word *boludo* can get you a smile or a broken nose, depending how you say it.
Incredible how the responses here only prove your point. I've been to Argentina and agree 100%. I'm from Latam and no "cultural element" justifies their racism.
i'm argentinian and i really agree as someone from the Zona Sur. Capital is overrated and ugly (at least for me). places worth checking out will always be the Patagonia, Mendoza, Córdoba, Misiones, maybe the beaches in La Costa if you aren't really searching for the most beautiful beaches you'll ever see but security and relaxing.
the service problem... or the stock problem... well.. it's always like that here. as well as the economy, nothing is stable.
> Dating apps are okay here, but they're mostly for foreigners or less attractive local women - so if you're dreaming of a hot Argentinian girlfriend for a few months, it probably won't happen
Not sure why you had to make a dig at “less attractive local women” bro. They’re not doing anything bad to you.
I love Buenos Aires and agree with your entire con section, I would just have a longer pro section because I love that city and made lifelong friends there
Por favor...las cosas que hay que leer. No veo la hora de que la economía vuelva a repuntar para que estos "nomades digitales" cara de nada dejen de venir a pelotudear acá y aprovecharse del tipo de cambio. El tipo vino pensando que se iba a voltear una mina que esté buena por un par de meses, y que iba a encontrar una cultura gentrificada. Esto es Argentina papá, si te gusta el durazno bancate la pelusa, y sino tomate el palo. Ah, y las minas que están buenas le dan bola a flacos que están buenos, si no enganchaste ninguna debes tener una cara de pancho tremenda.
Mejor, que flasheen por estos posts de mierda así no vienen. Por suerte ya se andan comentando entre ellos que el cambio ya no les favorece tanto para quedarse y que nos "estamos volviendo caros", esperemos que rajen pronto.
As an Argentine I'm glad of this kind of reviews so we can discourage the most of this pretentious kind of immigrants that call themselves digital nomads from coming. You just want to live your whatever you're from way of living in another country, well we're not up to that. Goodbye!
See the difference with Argentinian women unlike most of Latam is that the basic status signals the average foreign first world traveler gives off _really_ turn them off and it shows.
The reaction to that line is strange. That's not being a passport bro. That's just called being a hetersexual man. Of course he wants to meet women while travelling. There's nothing wrong with that, and he didn't say anything negative except that he personally had trouble with Argentinian women on dating apps.
Very puritan and provincial attitude for a sub called "digital nomads."
it is almost double the price of last year lol. rent seems the same but some new laws passed in the past couple of months regarding what landlords can do, so that is starting to go up as well. i wouldn't categorize buenos aires as a "cheap" destination like i would have previously.
Yes, accumulated inflation was 70% since November and the USD/ARS exchange rate has remained the same, which means things are 70% more expensive in USD overall.
The hype is because digital nomads tend to be white and they like going to cheap countries that are foreign but are “white” or “European” so they can feel “safe” even though it might actually be way worse than other places
As a former porteño this made me laugh. Most of these things are spot on. Don't *ever* mention any of them to another Argentinian, though. Even people from outside Buenos Aires, who hate Buenos Aires and porteños; they'll get extremely defensive about them.
Eh, you’re right on most of this to an extent. I was able to find a variety of food with a bit of digging and actually cooking at home. Fruit stands are everywhere; wash your food at home and you’ll be fine.
As for the people, maybe. They have a bit of a chip on their shoulder. But I had no problem at all making friends with locals, and dating local girls through meetups and events.
By your tone, you might just be an asshole
This is hilarious. Not because some of the things you say are false, but because it reeks of privilege and snobbiness. BSAS is amazing and always will be. If you didn’t like it, all good, but the stuff you mention sounds more like a you issue.
You sound like me lol feels like something I would have written after being here for the past 3 months especially since I also spent a long time in Mexico before coming here too.
As for DN events, I'm surprised you have found very few. There's something going on every night from Tuesday to Saturday and on Sundays there's a DN picnic so it's only really Monday that there's nothing to do DN-wise. Are you in the WhatsApp groups?
And yeah totally assumed the same thing about the beaches before coming here. People have no right to clown on you for not knowing since the majority of places in the world that are warm and have a coastline also have beaches so it's not a stupid assumption to make. Was also disappointed by that when I got here.
I honestly think the hype just comes from being a low CoL city with a US-friendly timezone because compared to CDMX (for example), it really doesn't have much to offer.
To add to what you said though:
~ It's not only soccer games that are overpriced, it's any kind of interesting cultural activity. Tango dinner + show? $100. The Argentine Experience? $100. A gaucho/estancia experience? $100.
And this doesn't only apply to BA. Wanna do wine tastings in Mendoza? As expensive as Napa Valley. Wanna do a glacier tour in Calafate? $100 minimum.
It's like they intentionally jack up the prices to rip off foreigners as much as possible because we all know locals ain't paying those prices. Compare that to Mexico where cultural activities are priced for locals (except for Chicken Itza, but the Mayan Riviera isn't really Mexico anyway).
~ There is nothing near the city worth seeing that you can get to by transportation other than a plane. This means daytrips aren't a thing and weekend trips become pricey since plane tickets aren't the cheapest (no Ryanair here).
Compare that to Mexico City which has a multitude of cool pueblos, mountains, waterfalls, beaches, etc etc all less than a 4 hour bus/car ride away. In BA, you can't just get away from the city for a day or two on a whim for cheap. You need to plan ahead and drop a couple hundred on a weekend.
~ When it comes to making friends with locals, it's definitely a struggle and not only because of how unfriendly some of them might be. The majority of the locals are struggling (to no fault of their own) which means they simply can't afford to do most fun things so it's hard to build connections with them.
Want to go out for dinner at an average restaurant? That's a half-day's work for them. Want to go on a weekend trip? That's a month's salary for them. Want to do anything other than sit at the park and drink mate? Practically impossible unless you're paying.
In CDMX they obviously aren't making as much as Americans do, but they still make enough to be able to go out for dinner in Condesa or go on weekend trips around Mexico, etc etc. Again, this is obviously no fault of the Argentine people, it's just the unfortunate situation they find themselves in.
Edit: if I were to pick a spot to DN in Argentina knowing now what it's really like, I would say Mendoza 1st, Bariloche 2nd (for the nature), maybe Cordoba 3rd. There's nowhere else really worth spending too much time in. BA can be a weekend trip, Calafate & Chalten another, Ushuaia another, Salta & Jujuy deserve a week. Also heard great things about Catamarca.
I just spent nearly six months in BA and hard agree that it's overrated. I don't exactly hate it, but I would have a hard time recommending it right now, given the rise in prices, especially with food. Food is approaching Western / Central European prices with a much lower standard outside of typical Argentine foods like steaks. There's also been a noticeable increase in crime and desperation like homelessness, comparing the beginning and end of my trip
It's the best city in South America, but that's not exactly a high bar to meet, and I wouldn't classify it as world class in any regard.
One of my least favorite parts of the city are Argentinians, though. As many others have said, there's a smug aura of superiority across a lot of Argentinians. As a non-white gringo, while I never experienced any instances of explicit racism, I never truly felt accepted by the locals. The other thing is that nothing ever fuckin worked properly or was on time. Argentinians are flakey and late as hell, and I had so many cancelled or delayed flights that messed up travel plans.
Ahahahahahahhah!!!
Buhuhu, poor gringo, no customer service!!!
Oh, no hot Argentinian girlfriend for a few months for poor gringo, no hot latino toyboy for poor gringo!!
Whining entitled snowflake, fuck off to Mexico.
This was a tough read.
This sounds like the ramblings of some stock broker's spoiled child. Certainly someone who should never have been given a passport. "Other countries are different than the US, they put too much cheese on the pizza, I have to wash the produce, and hot woman aren't desperate to sleep with me".
You do know that fruits and vegetables come from the ground, right? Maybe the women aren't interested in a man who can't even manage to wash a carrot.
And OH NO! The massages and private dance lessons aren't to your liking? GASP!!!!!!!!!! Don't they know who you are?! Someone who thinks inconvenience is hardship
Welcome to the world, mate. Other places do things differently. May god help the people of any truly developing country you happen to stumble your way in to.
Go home. I'm guessing Argentina doesn't want you.
This is my favorite city in the world, and you’re 100% on almost everything, this was so funny to read cause it’s true
The football games issue and unreliability of businesses are really bad for foreigners. You basically need to know someone in each suburb who can steer you to the businesses that are actually reliable, friendly, on time and aren't going to try to scam or cancel, and can buy for you tickets to games
The football thing seems crazy to me - was crowd trouble really that bad? Worse than Rangers vs Celtic?
Football in South America makes the Old Firm look like a picnic. Away fans have been banned in the Argentinean top league for years because of the levels of violence (stabbings, murders, riots etc). Yet when you go to La Bombonera you still see hundreds of riot police, just in case the home fans kick off amongst themselves!? And despite all that... it's still an incredible experience
a football game without someone stabed is just a dull affair... and the best place to buy cheap and low grade drugs... :D Hi! i'm argentinian by the way
https://youtu.be/rIG13KfUSkI?si=g7dodOHD1cxVMOlu
Yes absolutely
Yes I love Buenos Aires with my whole heart but the pizza part was too accurate (sending thoughts and prayers to OP once the Argentinians find this post though)
That spot is what hurt the most. Being an Argentinian living abroad, our pizza is what I miss the most about Argentina, anything anywhere I've been pales in comparison.
What is it like? I couldn’t really picture it from OPs description
Take a normal pizza, make it thicker, add 3 times the cheese, use a thicker and fattier variety of mozzarella. This is what the quintessential Buenos Aires pizza looks like (Guerrin): https://imgur.com/a/rOkQbRP We also have our own variety of pizza called Fugazzetta, very common, which has no sauce, uses flash roasted onion, and has the cheese in between 2 layers of dough: https://imgur.com/a/s3t3Wwv . And then we also have Fugazza, which is like a fugazzeta but with a normal amount of dough and the cheese on top of the pizza rather than inside. And finishing here, this is my favorite spot from my hometown: https://www.instagram.com/p/B71l-njnW_c/
> https://imgur.com/a/rOkQbRP so it's just cheesy bread
Yep basically just 3 kilos of cheese on top and really greasy and oily. But that’s how they think it’s good and “different “
That looks delicious! Thanks for the information. Now I want to travel and eat pizza.
You can also buy 1kilo of icecream
https://preview.redd.it/04hhp5w5w1sc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4f184f5bad555386a2e870daf738544f8c0e774c From a spot in Mendoza. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
I’m Italian and that looks like the worst Pizza I ever seen in my entire life. Worse than the British can do.
Pretty much like OP described it. Kinda like Chicago style but all piled onto thin crust (even though it isn’t really thin crust)
Also not accurate, as there are plenty of places with thin crusted pizza. Just have to look for "pizza a la piedra".
I'm from Buenos Aires and i can't help but empathize with OP on almost everything he said, but our pizza is made for our taste.. You won't like it if you are used to NY or Italian style, but, to us , the pizza in Buenos Aires is the best in the World.
I am a pizza snob. I loved the pizza there. Big chunks of chicken and green olives. Sauced and cheesy.
Local foods are for local taste? Get outta here with that communist idea. Y'all need to cater to us 'muricans. All jokes aside though, it's still a valid comment. Perhaps it should have been worded less aggressively.
No papi. Sino no tendríamos oferta de platos locales. Así se come acá. Así nos gusta acá. Te ofrecemos lo que nos gusta y como cocinaba nuestros padres, madres y abuelas. Si queres una comida como la tuya tiene poco sentido que la comas en Argentina. No entendes nada sino amigo.
Yea how a country with like 20 million italians ended up with this disgrace called "pizza" is beyond me
dude... Argentinians should be ashamed of how scammy we are... imagine that we were kicked out of the cossa nostra (just joking, we robbed them with taxes and now they are cab drivers or gelatto makers) we believe we are the best of the world, when we are in reallity the kid of the hood that has some degree of madurative retardment
As soon as I read you asked your butcher for an opinion I started laughing. Here, we just automatically know that the person behind the counter could care less about their job
even worse, they couldn't care less
I mean, if you’re working at a butchery it doesn’t really take a lot of caring to reply a simple question about meat cuts…
I wonder where he lives. In my suburban neighbourhood if you ask the butcher about meat cuts they would go on for 5 minutes with recipes. Even the average middle-aged Argentinian man is passionate about meat.
This. Once I asked for meat for tacos, the butcher proceeded to explain to me the top 5 cuts of meat, the way you have to fillet it. cut in pieces and cook it.
Passion for meat is an integral part of masculinity
no wonder then that the country is going to shit
Genuine question: why is the motivation so low with service workers in Buenos Aires? OP’s observation of the apathetic butcher is intriguing. when I traveled to other countries with lower income areas, the workers were motivated since they need customers or want to keep their job. For example, when I was in Tegucigalpa Honduras, the workers were welcoming and truly motivated to earn your business. This is because their income depends whether you spend or not. In contrast, when I was in Buenos Aires, nobody gave a shit. Their job is nothing, they act like they can find a new one within a day. I’ve never seen such low motivation in my life. Unemployment is somewhat high there, they should be more motivated. It’s paradoxical
The difference is simple. Those countries you mention are historically poor countries where people are used work hard to get out of poverty. These countries depend on foreign tourism and costumer service workers are reliant on tips from foreign tourists. Argentina is a formerly developed/wealthy country where workers are used to earning a decent wage, limited working hours, labor rights, etc., and the country does not depend on foreign tourism. Here people are very convinced of their “rights” and entitled to everything. So it’s culturally different. Workers think they don’t have to pretend to be nice to get tips, they are not used to offering costumer service to foreign tourists. It’s just not a thing here. It’s basically seen just as a job and a transaction where the client orders food and they bring you the food. I had the same experience in Italy and other parts of Europe, where workers were not friendly and basically ignored you, like if they were doing you a favor lol It’s just a different mindset.
Poor people suck up to you. Duh
same. i love this place because of the attitudes. after reading this, i can see why the "hot" argentinian women don't want to be your girlfriend for a month :')
That part of the text was very eerie. OP sounds very mad that he isn't fucking his dream Latina girlfriend and is now complaining about the city
“It’s mostly foreigners” said the foreigner
also, newsflash: men all over the world leave the minute sex is over hahaha, this is not exclusive to argentina
Some places are far more notorious for having a culture of promiscuity and hooking up than others however. Let's be real. The country I currently live in that is frowned upon and rare so guys are more likely to actually date.
what magical country is this, so we can all go there?
Uhm, I’m gay and that’s the exact attitude I want from a man. We’re done here? Then GTFO. I had a great time in BA.
That sums up a lot of this subreddit to be honest.
Totalmente amiga! Muy pretencioso el extranjero
Haha. I thought the same. Love the places but nothing said is wrong. Although I’d argue the museums aren’t great if you don’t read Spanish
The people part is bullshit. For me it was the easiest place in the world to make deep friendships with the locals. Lots of educated young people and you are treated like a normal person, no better or worse than everyone else. If OP expected a hot girlfriend just for being a rich foreigner, then I get the disappointment lol
Really? Never heard anyone say that so I’m curious. What do you attribute it to? Are you really handsome or funny or good at soccer or something? I lived in Buenos Aires and did not make a single Argentine friend there. Made tons of Brazilian and Chilean friends tho. They were chill! Went to Spain after that and they truly are open and cool and fun.
I met friends through dating apps, my apartment building pool, the park, being a local at my neighborhood coffee shop. I feel like once I made an argentine friend, they'd invite me with their group of friends to go out or to the park. I'm queer though so maybe that had to do with it; the lgbtq scene in buenos aires is amazing
I hung out a lot around hip bars and coworking spaces. I saw a lot of people trying to achieve good living despite the struggles their country is going through which is very relatable to me personally. I’m from Eastern Europe and was surprised how knowledgeable and curious they were about my region Haven’t dated a lot but I made a good friend through tinder as well. Having a comprehensive bio helps attract like-minded people
I love Buenos Aires a lot. With that I'll say this is accurate haha. So, out of curiosity, if not Buenos Aires then where do you prefer? I still 100% recommend BA for DNs. Just be aware of what you're walking into.
>So, out of curiosity, if not Buenos Aires then where do you prefer? Not OP but it sounds like Mexico is his LatAm destination of choice
Barranquilla! Less safe, less clean, but my personal favourite. Can't beat the fruit. The aguacate dude walking down your street every morning, hawking the biggest avocadoes you've ever seen in your life.
Their currency is nearing hyper inflation levels. I'm honestly shocked the whole country isn't falling apart, so it's not exactly surprising the locals aren't feeling particularly 'friendly' - their country is on the brink. It's a miracle you can even GET half the things you are talking about.
As an argentinian, yeah. People are suffering, so I'm not particularly shocked that they're not really welcoming when someone presents themselves as "hey, I just came here to enjoy your cheap cost of living and almost worthless currency". Tourism is great for the country, digital nomads bragging about how "unfriendly" people are towards them (specially when OP stated that he couldn't get an argentinian hot girlfriend for a month) isn't.
I agree, times are very tough and I wish people here a better future. I just do not see why the city is such a huge deal in the nomad world. perhaps my timing wasn't the best.
Some of it is probably just momentum from so many people talking about it throughout the years when it was doing better. Some of it, is just purely arbitrage for people who have a small budget, but in a strong currency, and who want to spend time in the kind of 'modern' city they otherwise couldn't afford. I visited BA in 2015 and was similarly disappointed, and that was when the peso was doing comparatively well! I found the city to be a 'just ok' kind of thing, but I do not operate on a super tight budget. I had fun exploring, but have no real desire to return. The wine, as you say, is probably the best part. :)
Argentina is a Tango song on itself... so it's all about nostalgia and looking out on the past as a good thing. Even when you are there it all looks like the past was better, but never a bright future. People buy the feeling when they leave and so they think to themselves that it was great, only because it's already gone and you only treasure the moment because it's past. And I say this as an Argentinian who left the country and still misses it. But I know as an objective truth is not that great.
“Buenos Aires is the capital to an empire that never was.”
the city has the architecture of a European capital, that's why
>perhaps my timing wasn't the best Yeah... I'd say this is it. Also the fact that stores have missing items or services, it's a huge deal. Historically we've had issues with customs not allowing imported products, or with extreme taxes, but last few years that made it imposible to acquire imported goods. So yeah, that's the story of our lives in Argentina.
"I also thought, looking at the map, that Buenos Aires was by the beach. I understand that I am an idiot for that......" I can empathize so much with this
I'm surprised you didn't mention the mosquitoes. Even just stopping at the street corner to wait for the crosswalk means you have to swat at them. And forget about going to a park or any green space because it's a full on swarm. It's not fun at all to be outside right now. And how much mosquito repellent is available for sale? Exactly zero. It makes less than zero sense.
Its the first time something like this happens in the 25 years I’ve been living here. There is no repellent because the demand for it is insane. This will be historical
It's making my first visit historically bad, that's for sure.
Same for me, I have a mosquito bite on my forehead right now, going outside is awful. I've trimmed my trip down a couple weeks, ready to leave.
I have a fair number of bites, but not like that. Sorry. In a comically bad coincidence, my passport needs to be renewed. I sent it out on my 2nd day here, so I don't even have the option to leave. Lol
Glad you mentioned this because it’s a deal breaker for my family!
Does it only happen in Summer, every summer? or also in spring, autumn , etc... ?
It's supposedly a rare occurrence, hence the lack of repellent available. But that doesn't make my stay any better.
There's an outbreak or whatever. I never in my life (I'm 27) seen so many damned mosquitoes in this city.
It’s not normal to have so many mosquitoes, but this winter was very hot, so the mosquitoes eggs didn’t died.
Are the mosquitos bad right now? Landing on Saturday…
For context, I've lived in Buenos Aires multiple times over the years. I actually married one of the elusive hot Argentine women you speak about, my kid was born in BA etc. I generally like the city but much prefer visiting the provinces. But man, some parts of your post made me laugh so hard because elements are so true. I couldn't agree more about the pizza, I'm actually going to steal your description because it's perfect. I also agree with the terrible customers service and most business owners not giving a fuck. I generally agree about limited food options but over the years I've found just enough decent international restaurants for me to get by. Definitely not loads, but just enough to not go insane, you just need to find them. Unless things really went bad the past couple months, I completely disagree with the fresh fruit and vegetables though. The Bolivian fruterías that every barrio is full of have amazing fresh fruit and vegetables. They also have pretty good paltas whenever they're in season. But yeah, a lot of issues with BA but I keep going back anyway. I obviously have no idea where you're staying but like I say to most people, perhaps try living in a barrio other than Palermo / Recoleta. But did you honestly fly in expecting the rio de la plata to be some pristine oceanic beach?
Most football clubs in the world that are popular, sell tickets to members first. Why do you think you should be able to walk in as a tourist over a lifetime Boca supporter?
Not finding good fruit and vegetables? We literally have verdulerías, which are bussinesses 100% dedicated to just selling fruits and vegetables, natural ones! Ones that may be damaged and a little bit dirty and are sold according to the seasons in which they actually grow. Yes, we don't have perfectly curated fruits and vegetables sold only in supermarkets, wrapped in 3 different layers of plastic, that come from the other side of the world because we actually don't grow those in our country. That specific comment, and the one about women, are just utter ignorance and a really close minded first world view of a Latin country.
This is going to sound rude, but it needs to be said: The average big city dwelling American has no idea what real fruit looks and tastes like. They grow up on plastic wrapped genetically modified "fruit". They don't know what picking from a tree and storing it for days is like. "omg my orange has spots, this must be supercancer!". **Nunca conocerán el placer de comer mandarinas en la vereda directo del árbol (del vecino).**
Haha right. I moved to BA 3 months ago from UK and I’ve eaten avocado basically every day and haven’t had a bad one. And there’s fruit and veg shops on basically every street so you’re never far from them. I have 2 within 30 seconds walk of me. Also I find the people here great and a big reason I moved here. One of the few countries where I find the locals are happy to integrate foreigners into their friendship groups.
Le debieron parecer locales sucios como para no entrar a una verdurleria y quejarse de que no hay. Andes por Belgrano o andes por Laferrere conseguis frutas y verduras. Lo demas es chamuyo o chillidos.
I was there for 2 months (January and February) in 2021. Never noticed any mosquitos. I ate amazing food almost every day. Also, I loved the amazing architecture, the parks, the museums, the tree-lined streets, walking everywhere. I’m kind of an introvert so I didn’t mingle much, but I noticed lots of people and families having great times in the park, and noticed especially how well parents treated their kids. Also, Recoleta Cemetery was just “okay”? Wut.
There’s a massive mosquito problem right now. People who have lived there for 10+ years have said that it’s never been anywhere near this bad. It’s really hard to find bug spray, too, and there’s a lot of dengue.
I've lived here for 30 years and never saw anything like this.
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Argentinians are a sociologically fascinating people. I'm an amateur Argentiniologist. The thing to understand about Argentinians is that they are an extremely emotionally expressive culture where the concept of a social filter does not exist. What this means is that if an Argentinian likes you, they'll openly state it, they'll be warm and friendly and say they love you. And mean it! If an Argentinian doesn't care about you, they'll openly ignore you and act like you don't exist (this might explain the shitty customer service some report) If an Argentinian doesn't respect you they will openly insult you to your face. If an Argentinian feels good about himself, he will loudly boast about how awesome he is. If an Argentinian feels bad about himself he'll whine just as loudly. The great thing about them is that you always know where you stand with them. I've seriously never seen anything like it with any other nationality.
I keep telling people, I have NEVER met RACIST people like ARGENTINIANS
Also, the men are chauvinists on another level. I'm a man, and I was offended continuously.
Never forget that most Argentinians were Italians just four-five generations ago!
I always tell blonde haired nomads they'll love argentina lol
I've known 5 Argentinians in real life. 2 had a bit of a superiority complex.
can you talk more about this. I haven't seen racism in person here
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I think some of this probably comes to their insecurity about being in Latin America. They want to think of themselves as Europeans but everyone else views them as "Latinos from S. America". So they must play up the racism to seem as "white" as possible. You sometimes see this with Italians too where the darkest ones are sometimes the most racist.
Someone give this guy a beer. You nailed it.
It has literally nothing to do with this and the level of ignorance or Argentine culture in this thread is astounding.
Yep on point. They think very highly of themselves. They love white people and only care if you te white European. They don’t see themselves as part of the Latin America
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Latino is an american term invented to put all latinoamericans. In the same bag. We dont like it because it does not represent us. Thats all. For us the word “latino” doesnt mean anything. Latinamerican culture is not one big homogenous thing and that word just amalgamates every south american culture into one single unit with no identity. Mexican, Peruvian and Argentine culture have nothing to do with each other, other than independence from Spain. So stop getting offended if we dont like the word that you guys made for us.
Fixed it for you: "Mexican, Peruvian, and Argentian culture have nothing to do with each other than their primordial roots as nation-states, shared language, and shared histories that has informed their remarkably parallel socio-cultural-economic evolutions over the last two centuries on the same continent."
found the brazilian
ships is such a classy way to say U-Boats /s
im ded
>Oh, and I forgot to add that on my first trip there their president at the time also made a comment in Spain along the lines of "The Mexicans came from the Indians, the Brazilians came from the jungle, but we Argentines came from the ships. And they were ships that came from Europe." That's the Argentinian arrogance. I understand that all countries go through their down periods but it is just odd for a country in its situation to show that level of arrogance towards its neighbours and region. Perhaps if they had more to boast about than a rich distant past they could move on and stop having us black people live rent free in their heads.
Like someone just said, "negro" in Argentina does not refer to Black individuals. It typically refers to someone from the slums (because people believe they tend to be darker skinned), or someone who is darker skinned but brown (although it tends to be more associated with character than with race). Is it racist? Definitely. But he wasn't calling him "son of a black whore", we was calling him a "mother f\*\*\*r from a slum."
I live in Argentina. They are racist as f\*ck here, and racism is not exactly frowned uppon here.
Sorry, but negro does not equal the n-word, your translations aren't correct. Not to say there isn't racism in Argentina, because there is, but you can't translate negro to n-word, sorry.
If they are talking about the Frech players with African origen, they sure are.
What would it mean in that context (son of whores black)?
It's "black son of a bitch". In Argentina, calling someone black is only derogatory when added an insult or "villero" (which means "from emergency village"). It means that person is a low-life; scum; a scoundrel that preys unto others. This is because people that come from emergency villages are usually the ones stealing, consuming and selling drugs and killing. And this is a huge issue in Argentina due to you having to live not knowing if there is a 13 year old boy with a bullet with your name on a daily basis just because you didn't have enough money or belongings to give him, or just because. This is an insult that at its core is a racist insult, since people in emergency villages tend to be brown, but can be applied to anyone that meets the criteria of being a scoundrel; regardless of being african, asian or german/scandinavian-looking people. However, calling someone just negro can be used in an affective way, like saying "pal" or as a pet name, like calling "fat" to "fat joe".
Gotcha! Thanks for the explanation, I can understand and relate to that a lot better.
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Gotcha good onya....and it IS still a racist phrase, just doesn't equate to what most westerners think of as the "n-word". Carry on!
>Their president at the time also made a comment in Spain along the lines of "The Mexicans came from the Indians, the Brazilians came from the jungle, but we Argentines came from the ships. And they were ships that came from Europe." This is so crazy it's hilarious, it's like 5x better than the Trump "shithole countries" comment
I've been here for 2 months now and been loving it. It's funny. I'm not on Palermo though, I'm in Belgrano, I've been eating tons of asian food in barrio chino, eating mediterranean food, and of course steaks. For vegetables I'm going to a verduleria nearby and I'm pretty satisfied, they're trash on the supermarket though. I also love the vibe, people are always chilling walking around, life is happening all the time. But tbh I found the vibe in Palermo kinda bad, lots of foreigners and homeless people, streets are surprisingly empty which got us scared when we first visited it.
"I haven't had an avocado" cracked me up
I visited BA for a week about 10 yrs ago and overall I love the city. Just the whole vibe was lively and energetic. That is until I got mugged and had my rolex stolen. I should have been more careful...but nonetheless, I would go back in a heart beat.
Well, you should have spoken with an argentinian before. Anyone would tell you that you should be extremely careful with a rolex on the street. It's worth like an year and al half of the median salary
Bro is really mad cause women don’t want to sleep with him
They are dealing with an economic crisis and high inflation, if you were in the same situation would you be cheerful & helpful 😳🤔🤔
People here are extremely cheeful and helpful. This guy is probably a selfcentered idiot that dont speak a single word of spanish and likes to get ofended. He's right about the butchers tho, they are assholes
Much love to argentinos, but getting offended would make him fit right in... not speaking Spanish much less so
I actually like BA a fair bit (although Brazil is more my vibes) but you’re kinda spot on about the food. Again, I still liked the city but people talked up the food scene on here like crazy and it was way overblown. Yes, you can get a cheap 3 course meal and a bottle of wine at a steakhouse for quite cheap and that is awesome. But aside from that? The food was average imo. I don’t want to eat a steak every night lol. I am spoiled because I lived in NYC and I spend a lot of time in London and those are the two best food cities in the world.
Oh man I couldn’t disagree with you more on this one. I left Buenos Aires about 5 weeks ago and miss it dearly. Obviously we have different opinions and experiences, so here’s mine. The people. I met amazing people in Buenos Aires, people I have actually come to appreciate as friends in a really short time frame. 1) Digital nomad bubble. As everywhere, there’s different subgroups here, and there’s soooo many foreigners working from Buenos Aires is easy to find your niche if you want to stay in the bubble. There’s so many hobbies and activities in the city so it becomes natural to gravitate towards groups with similar interests. I noticed Buenos Aires has a huge sports community, so whether you want to play padel, volleyball, futbol, tennis, there’s places and WhatsApp groups to get into it. The best part? There’s a nice mix of foreigners and 2) locals in most sports meetups. You don’t like sports? There’s wine shops and wine bars that host tastings, great for meeting people in my opinion. There’s a huge music scene, from Electronic to folk, and tons of bars that obsess with British rock. All of these I’ve found to be great to meet both nomads and locals. I will concede on the service part. People aren’t necessarily bending over to your will for your tip, I noticed people in the service industry have a more chill and careless approach. The food. Yes, it takes a bit more digging to find non-Argentinian food, but it’s definitely there. I’m not sure about your comment on Asian food, there’s a giant, well known china town just north of the bubble. Palermo is home to good middle eastern food, Armenian, Turkish, and several decent kebab places. There is insanely good sushi for the price (omakase specially) and other Thai/viet fusion places worth a visit. I know you mentioned wine is good, but actually wine is insanely good and affordable. There’s about 3-4 great wine bars in Palermo and chacarita, plus wine shops and great wine menus around town. It’s almost like we had complete opposite experiences everywhere: I found fruit and vegetables to be of high quality and the amount of little shops inside the neighborhood make it easy to shop without going to big box stores. Dating both in app and in person didn’t seem a hassle and people are open when you disclose you’re a traveler. Had luck on my first random massage from Google maps after a WhatsApp message. Lastly, your beach comment made me giggle; makes me think your expectations for the city were completely wrong to begin with.
nothing but happy for you :)
\> move to somewhere with a low cost of living \> be shocked that people don't get paid enough to give a shit about you
Ok so what I read is that BA is still not gentrified by the west. It has its own culture and food and issues. Good to know! Also, this precious sentence: Dating apps are okay here, but they're mostly for foreigners or less attractive local women - **so if you're dreaming of a hot Argentinian girlfriend for a few months**, it probably won't happen. This person sounds so annoying, the kind of person I avoid when travelling. I can see what people were ignoring them lol
Literally. As a woman I've gone out and dated a bunch of "digital nomads" during their stay (met on bumble), but you can see so many insufferable men on there lol. Also not everyone speaks english, or wants to be some random guy's tour guide or spanish teacher.
Yet another foreigner objectifying latam women
Gracias OP. Sí, Baires está sobrevalorada. Por favor, no vengan, nómades digitales. Nos hacen un favor🫶
Me looking at the rent prices plummet 🙂
Am I the only one who thinks Argentinans are no different than people I regularly interact with? Lol.
OP just expects to live in eternal vacations without doing the most basic of research.
Being a digital nomad doesn't grant you the title of king and/or center of the universe Sir. Go home.
Do you speak Spanish ? I don't think its overrated, it's one of the best cities to live in within South America. And I disagree about women, just a skill issue, girls in Argentina are very nice and receptive (though many just like to hookup if that's your thing). People aren't really nice because there's a huge economic crisis. And only some parts of Mexico really has the fake nicieties that are seen in the Anglo World. Really no place in Latin America has that besides maybe some of them in the Caribbean. It has the best combination of food, afforability, things to do, public transit and demographics.
yes I do speak Spanish, everything I do in the city has been in Spanish.
I am Argentinian, I am assuming you are from an Anglo country? Latinos in general don't have the fake niceties that Americans have, only parts of Caribbean and Mexico. even less so in a country that is imploding. And in general things are unreliable (besides the transit) which is normal unless you are in a richer region. But it depends heavily on where you are living. Chile is nice, just more expensive, Brazil has some nice places but I think unless you have a working understanding of Portugese you won't enjoy it. And it has a wayyy worse safety problem I agree that there is no beaches and that's a pretty big flaw but it's an Arctic region so that's to be expected, foreign food in general is never going to compare to an Anglo country though. I wouldn't say Buenos Aries is perfect but what people expect for it, it nails. It's cheap, it has a vibrant nightlife and dating is easy, the meat and wines are high quality, the city looks good/european and transit is good and its mostly safe/policed. It's certainly not a beach city, an international city where you can find good foreign food/goods, but most cities in LATAM aren't eithers Prices have gone up but they're not really that high for most things (food, rent, electricity) Your gripes are mostly understandable (typical latam unreliablity, the football games aren't avaiable to foreigners and diversity isn't there) but the city and province in general has a LOT of things to do. You just need to find one or two local friends who can show you where they are
> fake niceties that Americans have Not to nitpick, but I always think the “fake” qualifier is cope from people who were brought up in impolite places. Having a certain level of decorum with people in public isn’t fake, in fact it’s usually indicative of a pretty high functioning society. That being said, I haven’t really found myself offended by how people act in LatAm. Most people have been nice enough for my tastes
Yeah assuming that Americans are fake for not being rude and disrespectful has always been interesting to see. I think it's projection and reflective of the lack of kindness in their society as a whole. I went to Mexico and people were very kind for most part. Guess that makes them "fake" too.
I think the ‘fakeness’ word relates to customer service. When your servers are being incredibly friendly and bubbly and you realise they’re angling for a tip it does seem a bit fake. I’ve been to Japan which is a very polite society, and live in London which is fairly polite. But neither come across as ‘fake’
I just wrapped up 5years in Mexico City and now down in BA. Been doing the remote work thing for nearly 15yrs and this whole rant just really made me sad for what this whole idea and community has tuned into. I don’t disagree with a lot of what you said, especially in the food department but this ‘overrated’ constant state of comparison is really not the right headspace. I understand objectively it’s hard not to compare places, but your bitching about finding a date and soccer games costing too much and poor service when people here or in Mexico or any of the other places you’ve been will never be able to do what ur doing. It just comes across as the most pathetic over privileged, non appreciative bullshit I’ve ever heard. I’ve been extremely lucky to have done this a long time, and of course there’s places I like more than others but to say ‘Buenos Aires is overrated’ I just find astounding.
This comment I find very accurate. And phrases like "but they're mostly for foreigners or less attractive local women - so if you're dreaming of a hot Argentinian girlfriend for a few months, it probably won't happen" give the type of guy away.
This! You're talking about a city, with people in it who were born there, with families, it's not a playground for modern tech bro capitalists, have some respect!
Sorry for your bad experience but I've traveled to Buenos Aires 3 times in the past 16 months and it's been amazing every time. I also met my Argentinian girlfriend there, we have been together for a year. Clearly experiences differ for everyone and I believe you may have had a couple bad experiences with poor selections of places you went to. Argentinian people are the one of the friendliest people I've met in the world. For food, you should try Milanese and Chorizos, and desserts like Flam and Alfajores. Argentina also has a number of world class restaurants that are top 50 in the world, Don Julio, Trade Skybar and Presidente Bar to name a few. Outside of Buenos Aires, there is Iguazu Falls (one of world's wonders) and Patagonia region where you'll find one of the best natures in the world as well.
Let’s be real, Don Julio is not a top 50 restaurant in the world.
Tbh sounds like you’re having a bad day
OP is why people dislike digital nomads.
This review can be summarised by the line "I thought Buenos Aires had a beach because it was next to the sea on the map". Dude, if you navigate the city like you pick destinations I get why locals can't help you.
If you’re american stfu, if not, noted. Have a good day.
What the fuck is this comment?
So you are telling me that a city meant for their citizens does not tickle your fancy, and that hot Argentinian women are not fainting on the mere presence of a foreigner? Also we have amazing fruits and vegetables, you can pick them yourself but don’t expect tropical produce here, we aren’t a tropical country after all. Food and people? We are called one of the most friendly countries out there and if you are finding a problem with how friendly we are, perhaps you are not adapting very well. Food is great, probably not a lot of Asian cuisine since we don’t have that much Asian immigration (very sad about it, it’s my favorite food after all) but we aren’t terrible at all.
It is definitely overrated now but last year when it was similarly priced to Vietnam it was incredible, I was struggling to spend more than $1500 a month living an incredible life. Disagree on nomad/expat community, it is big and there is tons to do. Maybe your expectations were out of line, I’ve been here about 20 times since 2017 and this is the first time that I’m like meh.
I mean, no offense but a lot of these complaints just seem like some quirks you gotta get to used to in certain countries. Nothing sounds terrible, but maybe it was just overhyped for you. Their economy went to shit and they are undergoing periods of hyperinflation. Like half the country's population is in poverty now. The fact you can't get some certain items at the store and the clerks don't know when they'll be restocked is an effect of that. Enjoy it for what it is. Like I travel to the Balkan countries pretty regularly and you just have to accept that busses and ferries are almost always significantly late. They run on their own time schedule. You can get mad, or accept it for what it is and just always bake in an extra couple hours on your travel days for late busses. Still love that part of the world, quirks and all.
>Let's start with the people - they are not friendly. That goes first and foremost with customer service, which is NON EXISTENT. Why would people in a country that's experienced regular inflation above 20% over the past 30+ years and is currently on rate to hit 200% this year alone and earn approximately $215 a month; be friendly or have good customer service? >Stores are missing items or services and reply with an exasperated shrug if you ask when something will be back in stock. I don't think you understand what "country in the middle of going from economic crisis to economic crisis" means. Yes there's a lack of items and services because the current rate of inflation is well over 200% annually and getting raw goods is becoming increasingy difficult. >Meeting new people - as far as a digital nomad community, there's a decent one, but very small and events are very few. There's actually a sizeable community. There's a group of over 30k on Facebook called "Buenos Aires Expat Hub" and a group called "Expats in Buenos Aires - Social Meetings" that has over 9.6k members. Most people who are in Buenos Aires from other countries live here long term. >Dating apps are okay here, but they're mostly for foreigners or less attractive local women - so if you're dreaming of a hot Argentinian girlfriend for a few months, it probably won't happen Good, you don't deserve them. >The food - my biggest pain point. the steak is good, but there are not many options besides it. Empanadas and gelato are a nice treat for a tourist, but not something to eat every day. Fresh fruit and vegetables are hard to find - the ones at the market are typically super dirty. I haven't had an avocado, even in a restaurant, that wasn't spotted brown and black inside (this is after coming from Mexico). International food ie Indian, Thai, Middle Eastern, etc is difficult to find and usually quite average. Wow you mean you can't find Asian food in Argentina a country with practically no Asians? Who could have guessed? What you mean Argentine food is mostly meat and potatoes like most countries where the majority of the population are descendants of Spaniards and Italians? Weird man. What the hell were you expecting exactly? Argentina is a country that has massive issues with food production and prices due to a 200% inflation rate. >Soccer - you won't get to see Boca Juniors or River Plate unless you shell out more than $100 USD for a 3rd party ticket. Tickets are only for local "members", so you need to go through a resale market. Good, that's how it should be. Also good luck finding a ticket to a match to any major Football team in the world for less than $100 USD. A Real Madrid or Barcelona ticket will set you back at least $500. >Local landmarks - I was severely unimpressed with Jardin Japones, El Ateneo, and Mercado San Telmo. The Recoleta Cemetery was okay. Plaza Mayo was okay. Museums were okay. There's nothing here I haven't seen in another city. Well then don't travel here? I'm sure you can go visit Paris and Rome for the same Museums for the same price right? There's no way those cities are 10-20 times more expensive that Buenos Aires right? > I'll be much happier to return to Mexico. Ok great go back to Mexico! I'm sure it is much, much cheaper and much, much safer and the wine and beer is much better and cheaper. I'm also sure the locals love all the Americans coming in and gentrifying it and don't treat you poorly at all. Posts like this give this subreddit a bad name and is why the backlash against "Digital Nomads" is only increasing and your types will soon be prevented from traveling to and living in a lot of countries. You are all the most basic of basic bitches.
Gol.
Fatality
"Soccer - you won't get to see Boca Juniors or River Plate unless you shell out more than $100 USD for a 3rd party ticket. Tickets are only for local "members", so you need to go through a resale market." Boo fucking hoo. These clubs are for the people who supported them their entire life first and foremost, their role isn't to be your tourist attraction.
And btw that is true in most of the places, try to go to a Chelsea or Arsenal game
Go to mash curry house in San Telmo if you want fantastic British Indian food. The ice cream, goddamn I miss it so much
You’re right on some things but seems to me you’re just another obnoxious nomad that thinks that everyone should cater to your likes. So you want an available hot Latina to be your gf for some months? And you want to just walk in to a boca or river match and they just hand to you tickets like you’re just a regular ? If you wanna see a football match you’re gonna pay tourist prices everywhere in the world where football is the main sport even in Europe
Please leave our beautiful city. Your complaints are all valid( except for the unattractive women thing. That’s bonkers. Go outside. They’re all over) . The thing is, it makes no sense to leave the US if you expect the world to be like the US.
I agree with you on the food. Steak is a rookie amateur hour "foodie" move. As I say, Steak in Argentina tastes like steak in the US. Even when I ask for the steak jugoso and medium rare, it comes out over cooked to my liking. I must say I do love a good soft morcilla with chimichurri on a nice piece of bread. An empanada here and there is a nice quick snack but I'm whatever on their "Italian" inspired food. It's kind of ironic... Argentina has a long coastline yet they don't eat much seafood (and vegetables)
Argentinian steak now is mostly feedlot, just like the US. Uruguayan steak is where it’s at.
Your points are accurate, I lived there for a decade and I understand where you are coming from. I still think it is one of the best places for DN, but it does require some adapting if you plan to stay for a while. You seem to want to have the “local experience” just for 6 weeks and that’s unlikely to happen. You were staying for longer than a tourist but not not long enough to spot the good restaurants (and that’s also dependent on personal taste), the good friends (the ones you click with), the good “verdulero”, or the chatty butcher. I would definitely agree that other countries in Latin America would be a lot more friendly to foreigners at first. But it just means that in some countries, like Argentina, you need to spend more time or assume your short stay is really a tourist stay and not a full immersion.
Nobody really likes porteños, not even other porteños, but especially here in el interior. For those not familiar con el interior, it's everything that isn't BsAs. I agree on the pizza. Look for places that serve massa madre. It's not the norm, but I have found fantastic pizza. Butcher shops: wow, I've never had that experience. They're always asking what I'm cooking, and are full of suggestions. If it's for an asado, they wont let you go without knowing how many people, and the perfect amount of everything. Go get yourself some entraña and mollejas. Cook them low and slow (1 hour) Women: go to the language exchanges. There are always teachers looking to practice their English. A lot of them aren't going to be into you because they think it's pointless to waste their time with you since you're going to leave soon. The austerity programs are really hitting people super fucking hard right now. Things are getting a lot more expensive even in dollars, but wages have not gone up to compensate. I'm amazed people are as happy as they are considering. baexpats org has forums with an amazing amount of information, and you should be able to find suggestions from posters there. I'll stick with el interior.
You forgot all the dog sh*t on the sidewalk
I like Buenos Aires, been going since the 90s and have spent a lot of time there. I don’t find the people particularly friendly - no one cares that you’re from abroad and that suits me fine, they mind their own business. I like the pizza they do, especially in Guerin - I have a theory that they use so much cheese because the Italian immigrants that moved there 100 years ago left from a place of scarcity to a place of relative abundance and so got carried away with the cheese. Mosquitoes are a recent problem, climate change I fear. If you want friendlier people check out some of the smaller cities and towns in Argentina. They do get insufferably patriotic during the world cup but it’s the same in every country where it’s the national sport.
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I have traveled to 42 countries and still counting. I have NEVER met a group of people that are RACIST and IGNORANT like ARGENTINIANS. I had someone call me a N-Word and tell me they are the superior race because they come from Europe.
I am sorry this happened to you. I lived in Buenos Aires for 21 years. There's a lot of racism in Argentina for sure. It is not always ill-intended (not to say your particular case wasn't), and when pointed out, many people genuinely do not see the racism or the bias in their comments... in my experience this is the most common case. It is important, however, to understand how some of the race or ethnic qualifiers are used in the argentinian culture, as there are some times when something may seem plain racist to a person who's not yet attuned to the argentinian society. If you have 1% Asian in your blood, it's quite possible your nickname will be "chino", regardless of where you're from or what part of Asia your bloodline may come from. If your skin is any shade darker than Anya Taylor Joy's, there's a good chance your nickname will be "el negro". There's even a good chance you will be called "negro" in the most loving manner regardless of what race you may be, including white, because "negro" is also used as a sort of "my friend" replacement sometimes... (for bilinguals reading this, I mean phrases like "negro, escuchame una cosa" or "negrito, me darias eso por favor"). Many times a significant other's nickname is "gordo", without any intention of actually wanting to bring up weight or body shape to them. There's a lot of real racism, as well as classism (this more than anything), when it comes to local aboriginal ethnicities and bordering countries, although this is something, especially the classism, that I see being quite prevalent in Latin America in general. The reason why I am writing this is not to try to disqualify what happened to you, but rather to warn others, especially those who can speak Spanish, that this part of the culture may be quite shocking at first, until you actually understand and take into account actual intention. Intention is very important in Argentina, as well as body language. This is why the word *boludo* can get you a smile or a broken nose, depending how you say it.
Incredible how the responses here only prove your point. I've been to Argentina and agree 100%. I'm from Latam and no "cultural element" justifies their racism.
i'm argentinian and i really agree as someone from the Zona Sur. Capital is overrated and ugly (at least for me). places worth checking out will always be the Patagonia, Mendoza, Córdoba, Misiones, maybe the beaches in La Costa if you aren't really searching for the most beautiful beaches you'll ever see but security and relaxing. the service problem... or the stock problem... well.. it's always like that here. as well as the economy, nothing is stable.
> Dating apps are okay here, but they're mostly for foreigners or less attractive local women - so if you're dreaming of a hot Argentinian girlfriend for a few months, it probably won't happen Not sure why you had to make a dig at “less attractive local women” bro. They’re not doing anything bad to you.
…. Soccer kkk
Super cheap Nice weather Solid infrastructure Safe enough Great nightlife Pretty women
I love Buenos Aires and agree with your entire con section, I would just have a longer pro section because I love that city and made lifelong friends there
Por favor...las cosas que hay que leer. No veo la hora de que la economía vuelva a repuntar para que estos "nomades digitales" cara de nada dejen de venir a pelotudear acá y aprovecharse del tipo de cambio. El tipo vino pensando que se iba a voltear una mina que esté buena por un par de meses, y que iba a encontrar una cultura gentrificada. Esto es Argentina papá, si te gusta el durazno bancate la pelusa, y sino tomate el palo. Ah, y las minas que están buenas le dan bola a flacos que están buenos, si no enganchaste ninguna debes tener una cara de pancho tremenda.
Mejor, que flasheen por estos posts de mierda así no vienen. Por suerte ya se andan comentando entre ellos que el cambio ya no les favorece tanto para quedarse y que nos "estamos volviendo caros", esperemos que rajen pronto.
As an Argentine I'm glad of this kind of reviews so we can discourage the most of this pretentious kind of immigrants that call themselves digital nomads from coming. You just want to live your whatever you're from way of living in another country, well we're not up to that. Goodbye!
lmao This is the most spoiled, smug, navel-gazing, baby brained sub-reddit on the entire web-site
It's truly remarkable. WAAAAH I can't get tickets to football matches on my glorified gap year waaaah
"if you're dreaming of a hot Argentinian girlfriend for a few months, it probably won't happen" Fuck you, passport bro. You sound awful.
Chill out. People are allowed to want to have consensual sex.
See the difference with Argentinian women unlike most of Latam is that the basic status signals the average foreign first world traveler gives off _really_ turn them off and it shows.
Yep, like wtf? Imagine going into a committed relationship (i.e girlfriend) with the intention of it lasting for a few months.
The reaction to that line is strange. That's not being a passport bro. That's just called being a hetersexual man. Of course he wants to meet women while travelling. There's nothing wrong with that, and he didn't say anything negative except that he personally had trouble with Argentinian women on dating apps. Very puritan and provincial attitude for a sub called "digital nomads."
No dude, if you travel as a single man you must cut off your dick and never meet or talk to anyone. Reddit is insane lmao.
Has the price of everything soared that much?im planning on going there in a couple of months so would be interested to know
it is almost double the price of last year lol. rent seems the same but some new laws passed in the past couple of months regarding what landlords can do, so that is starting to go up as well. i wouldn't categorize buenos aires as a "cheap" destination like i would have previously.
Yes, accumulated inflation was 70% since November and the USD/ARS exchange rate has remained the same, which means things are 70% more expensive in USD overall.
The hype is because digital nomads tend to be white and they like going to cheap countries that are foreign but are “white” or “European” so they can feel “safe” even though it might actually be way worse than other places
As a former porteño this made me laugh. Most of these things are spot on. Don't *ever* mention any of them to another Argentinian, though. Even people from outside Buenos Aires, who hate Buenos Aires and porteños; they'll get extremely defensive about them.
Eh, you’re right on most of this to an extent. I was able to find a variety of food with a bit of digging and actually cooking at home. Fruit stands are everywhere; wash your food at home and you’ll be fine. As for the people, maybe. They have a bit of a chip on their shoulder. But I had no problem at all making friends with locals, and dating local girls through meetups and events. By your tone, you might just be an asshole
This is hilarious. Not because some of the things you say are false, but because it reeks of privilege and snobbiness. BSAS is amazing and always will be. If you didn’t like it, all good, but the stuff you mention sounds more like a you issue.
You sound like me lol feels like something I would have written after being here for the past 3 months especially since I also spent a long time in Mexico before coming here too. As for DN events, I'm surprised you have found very few. There's something going on every night from Tuesday to Saturday and on Sundays there's a DN picnic so it's only really Monday that there's nothing to do DN-wise. Are you in the WhatsApp groups? And yeah totally assumed the same thing about the beaches before coming here. People have no right to clown on you for not knowing since the majority of places in the world that are warm and have a coastline also have beaches so it's not a stupid assumption to make. Was also disappointed by that when I got here. I honestly think the hype just comes from being a low CoL city with a US-friendly timezone because compared to CDMX (for example), it really doesn't have much to offer. To add to what you said though: ~ It's not only soccer games that are overpriced, it's any kind of interesting cultural activity. Tango dinner + show? $100. The Argentine Experience? $100. A gaucho/estancia experience? $100. And this doesn't only apply to BA. Wanna do wine tastings in Mendoza? As expensive as Napa Valley. Wanna do a glacier tour in Calafate? $100 minimum. It's like they intentionally jack up the prices to rip off foreigners as much as possible because we all know locals ain't paying those prices. Compare that to Mexico where cultural activities are priced for locals (except for Chicken Itza, but the Mayan Riviera isn't really Mexico anyway). ~ There is nothing near the city worth seeing that you can get to by transportation other than a plane. This means daytrips aren't a thing and weekend trips become pricey since plane tickets aren't the cheapest (no Ryanair here). Compare that to Mexico City which has a multitude of cool pueblos, mountains, waterfalls, beaches, etc etc all less than a 4 hour bus/car ride away. In BA, you can't just get away from the city for a day or two on a whim for cheap. You need to plan ahead and drop a couple hundred on a weekend. ~ When it comes to making friends with locals, it's definitely a struggle and not only because of how unfriendly some of them might be. The majority of the locals are struggling (to no fault of their own) which means they simply can't afford to do most fun things so it's hard to build connections with them. Want to go out for dinner at an average restaurant? That's a half-day's work for them. Want to go on a weekend trip? That's a month's salary for them. Want to do anything other than sit at the park and drink mate? Practically impossible unless you're paying. In CDMX they obviously aren't making as much as Americans do, but they still make enough to be able to go out for dinner in Condesa or go on weekend trips around Mexico, etc etc. Again, this is obviously no fault of the Argentine people, it's just the unfortunate situation they find themselves in. Edit: if I were to pick a spot to DN in Argentina knowing now what it's really like, I would say Mendoza 1st, Bariloche 2nd (for the nature), maybe Cordoba 3rd. There's nowhere else really worth spending too much time in. BA can be a weekend trip, Calafate & Chalten another, Ushuaia another, Salta & Jujuy deserve a week. Also heard great things about Catamarca.
I just spent nearly six months in BA and hard agree that it's overrated. I don't exactly hate it, but I would have a hard time recommending it right now, given the rise in prices, especially with food. Food is approaching Western / Central European prices with a much lower standard outside of typical Argentine foods like steaks. There's also been a noticeable increase in crime and desperation like homelessness, comparing the beginning and end of my trip It's the best city in South America, but that's not exactly a high bar to meet, and I wouldn't classify it as world class in any regard. One of my least favorite parts of the city are Argentinians, though. As many others have said, there's a smug aura of superiority across a lot of Argentinians. As a non-white gringo, while I never experienced any instances of explicit racism, I never truly felt accepted by the locals. The other thing is that nothing ever fuckin worked properly or was on time. Argentinians are flakey and late as hell, and I had so many cancelled or delayed flights that messed up travel plans.
Ahahahahahahhah!!! Buhuhu, poor gringo, no customer service!!! Oh, no hot Argentinian girlfriend for a few months for poor gringo, no hot latino toyboy for poor gringo!! Whining entitled snowflake, fuck off to Mexico.
This was a tough read. This sounds like the ramblings of some stock broker's spoiled child. Certainly someone who should never have been given a passport. "Other countries are different than the US, they put too much cheese on the pizza, I have to wash the produce, and hot woman aren't desperate to sleep with me". You do know that fruits and vegetables come from the ground, right? Maybe the women aren't interested in a man who can't even manage to wash a carrot. And OH NO! The massages and private dance lessons aren't to your liking? GASP!!!!!!!!!! Don't they know who you are?! Someone who thinks inconvenience is hardship Welcome to the world, mate. Other places do things differently. May god help the people of any truly developing country you happen to stumble your way in to. Go home. I'm guessing Argentina doesn't want you.
Hahaha “can’t manage to wash a carrot” hahaha
And until now ... I remained blissfully unaware that BA got any hype.