Questions for Argentina fans about Argentina

[daslicer]

A close friend of mine who works in banking technology is mulling over a job offer that would have him relocate to Bueno Aires. He currently lives in Dallas, Texas. He's been a lurker on this site for years and has some general questions about Bueno Aires and figured the Manu Argentina fans would be able to answer his questions on here. The first question is he is an atheist and would like to know if culturally Bueno Aires is religious or not? The second question is he only speaks English and is there a decent size of English speakers he could interact with outside of work? The third question is politically is Bueno Aires conservative or liberal? The fourth question is how are Americans viewed and treated in Bueno Aires? The fifth question is what is the dating scene like in Bueno Aires? Any feedback would be helpful.

[ElNono]

Haven't lived there in ~20 years, but he should stay in Dallas, tbh... the economy there is in the shitter, so it's a bad time.

That said:
1) As long as you accept Diego Maradona as your saint and savior, you'll be fine. (in other words, he'll be fine)
2) A good sized amount of people do speak english, but it's obviously not universal, and some knowledge of spanish is always good.
3) There's a bit of everything. the capital per-se would be more 'conservative', but in term of US politics type of conservative, he'll probably feel that conservative there means center/center-left here in the US.
4) Generally fine. There's a lot of foreigners that go work, travel or study there. That said, there are certain areas of town even the locals avoid, and so he should have somebody local to guide him through that.
5) I can only say Argentina has very fine women. You'll see a whole lot less of the land-whales that inhabit states like Texas, tbh.

[Sugus]

Hey there, Argie and Buenos Aires resident (for the time being, I'm moving to the Old World in the span of this year, but that's a different matter).

Firstly, and maybe most importantly: does your friend's job offer maintain his salary in dollars even when coming here, or will they have to transform it to pesos (aka "pessify" it)? That's maybe the most important barometer as for whether it'll be worth it. As Nono pointed out, Argentina's economy is struggling, and so is the national currency; but that also means that people here who live in pesos but earn in dollars (mostly IT people, I have a couple friends that are literally paid in cryptos or something like that) live above-average or even top-class lifestyles. It's a real make-or-breaker, tbh.

As for your other questions;

Buenos Aires is as atheist a city as they come in South America. The Christian "base" over which the city was built is still there, and there's certainly large followings of every religion if you look close enough (except for Muslims, you don't see many of those around, mostly Christian and Jewish people), but it's absolutely not a part of your everyday life if you don't go out of your way for it. He shouldn't fear anything in this regard.

BA is also the city in the country where the most English-speaking residents live... But that's not saying much, tbqh. Yes, most people can understand or speak a degree of English, especially if your friend locates himself in a "wealthier" place like Palermo, Belgrano, Recoleta, etc, but there's close to no "happily bilingual" people here. Most will find it initially amusing, but then very taxing, to accommodate a second language, to the point that I'd doubt whether he could make long-lasting friendships here. It's a huge hill to climb; I'd tell your friend to come, if he does, with an absolute mindset of learning Spanish sooner than later if he wants to stay here mid-to-long term. It's not a difficult language, especially if he's good with idioms.

As for political idiosyncrasy, Argentina as a whole is more left-leaning than most Americans are used to. Free healthcare and education for everyone is a given here, not a "socialist craze" like you'd say in USA. BA is even more "leftist" than the northern, more conservative side of the country, but TBH, if your friend has only ever been in the US, he'll have a very warped idea of what "leftism" is. American politics are very up-their-own-asses on both spectrums, and tend to be very dissociated from the actual problems the rest of the world struggles with and fights against. Again, an open mind is advised.

I'll tackle both your last questions in one - Americans are viewed nicely in BA, in the good and bad ways. It's (maybe stereotypically but often very true) assumed you're loaded, which both makes dating extremely easy (unless your friend is looking for a "soulmate" and not just random hooking up, in which case, he'll have to try a fair bit until he finds someone that's both genuinely interested and doesn't care for his money nor visa), and also makes him "juicy meat" to anyone with nefarious intentions... Him speaking in an outright American accent is already very noticeable and will shoot up eyes towards him, in every way. He's gotta be prepared for that. Here in Argentina we have a saying, which he better applies; "you have to walk with one hand covering you forward, and one backwards" (jesus, that's an awful translation).


Lastly, I agree with Nono regarding the women, I can proudly say they're very fine and I'm lucky to be able to take one with myself to the Old World. But they're every bit smart as they're beautiful... In the good and bad sense. Tell him I say, above all, good luck. It's a beautiful country and experience, if he does go through with it.

[cd98]

Yes, I've lived in S.A. and traveled to Argentina twice. I don't know the politics, etc., but I can say that here in the US, we accommodate Spanish speakers to some degree. Many of the products, signs, etc. include a Spanish version. In S.A., there is no help with English and most of the people only know the swear words, except for the wealthy, many of whom have studied in the US and speak ok to good English. But if you are going to live in South America for any length of time, you will be miserable if you do not learn and become efficient in Spanish. I know b/c I learned Spanish there and I can compare the two worlds, and I was much happier after I learned Spanish enough to communicate and have conversations.

As for women, let's be fair. There are beautiful women in every country. I've been to the poorest of poor countries in S.A. and they still have women there that are attractive. And Texas does too. They aren't a bunch of whales. Definitely, there are better places than San Antonio, but to classify our women as ugly or only fat is not really true and unfair to the women. There is a mix of both, which is the same in S.A. and everywhere, except in areas of poverty where food is not as available.

[daslicer]

Thanks for your responses Sugus and ElNono.

[Canyonero]

The first question is he is an atheist and would like to know if culturally Bueno Aires is religious or not?

It's like any big city in the world. Mostly atheist but you still have religious groups that could provide some interesting cultural events. Jews are mostly in the center of the city, muslims/arabs in the south, Asians in the west + a small Chinatown in the north. They are all very friendly, zero religious animosity.


The second question is he only speaks English and is there a decent size of English speakers he could interact with outside of work?

Yes, a lot of people speak English here. Also BA is a hotspot for digital nomads so lots of foreigners he can interact with. Like the guys already said, learning Spanish would be a huge plus.


The third question is politically is Bueno Aires conservative or liberal?

I would say more liberal than conservative but there's a little bit of everything. He should get ready for the traffic jams due to social protests tbh.


The fourth question is how are Americans viewed and treated in Bueno Aires?

Argentinians are very friendly and tend to show their affection very openly so that can be kinda shocking for hit at first but he will get used to it. Only thing he should avoid is displaying some Murica attitudes.


The fifth question is what is the dating scene like in Bueno Aires?

Pretty good, you can find all sort of women (and men) here.


OT: this is a big country and there are many better places to live than BA if he's not into the big city scene