| Sure, there are some things that Alan misses about the English way of living. But this Englishman is loving the time he’s spending in Buenos Aires, Argentina…especially since it’s where he met the woman he will be marrying next year! Learn more about Alan’s happy expat life in BA: his thoughts on the local lifestyle, tips on finding a place to live, learning to speak the language, and more. |
 Alan Patrick |
December 08 2006
-Where were you born?
Bournemouth, England
-In which country and city are you living now?
Buenos Aires, Argentina
-Are you living alone or with your family?
I’m currently living alone but plan on moving to a new apartment with my Argentine fiancé in the New Year.
-How long have you been living in Argentina?
Almost two years, although it feels more like two months.
-What is your age?
25
-When did you come up with the idea of living in Argentina?
I never really had the idea of living in Buenos Aires, it just kind of…happened, and I am very glad that it did because I love it here! I came to BA at the very start of 2005 with the idea of teaching English (as a foreign language) and learning a little bit of Spanish, and maybe staying for more or less 4 months. I took a month-long TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course here, then taught for a little while, and met some really nice people in the process – students and other teachers. However, one of the students was so nice that I asked her to marry me!
Don’t worry, I didn’t ask her in an English lesson. And I only ever taught her once. And yes, I am sure this was breaking some kind of unwritten rule behind the teacher-pupil relationship, but to hell with that, we are the same age and love is love. We dated for a year, and on our first anniversary I proposed to her in the Palermo café where we originally had our first date (without a blackboard or English dictionary in sight…). At some time around this point, I think I started having the idea of living in Argentina!
-Was it hard to get a visa or a working permit?
I don’t have a visa or work permit. I’m the type of illegal immigrant that would probably get a very hard time from most people back in the UK, but fortunately things are different here. It is possible to get a working visa, but a lot of hassle, and almost every single expat I know uses the automatic 3-month tourist visa and goes on the 3-hour slow boat to Colonia in Uruguay for a day trip every 3 months, to get it renewed.
I even know one guy from the States that stayed here for almost two years with no tourist visa renewal, and on his return to the USA he paid a small fine that was actually less than the cost of one day trip to Uruguay! I still like to keep my tourist visa renewed though, just in case.
-Was it difficult for you to get medical insurance before you went there or when you first arrived?
I don’t have medical insurance. I try to keep healthy! And the odd time I have been to doctors/dentists here they have been very cheap. Though if I had a major problem, I would probably return to the UK for a while to try my luck on the NHS.
-How do you make your living in Argentina? Do you have any type of income generated?
I started out as an English teacher, working for language institutes. That lasted about 6 months. I would not recommend it to anyone. The amount of money you can earn will only ever be enough money to scrape by on (15 pesos an hour is the going rate, but remember, good teachers will spend probably an extra hour out of class with preparation and admin, for every hour in class, and then more for travel – none of this extra time is paid!), and if you are working enough to achieve that, it will be extremely hard work, involve rushing around the city several times a day, and see you dealing with institute administrators that would not have been out of place in the Third Reich…don’t do it!
The only way to make enough money and live a decent life teaching English would be to give mainly private tuition, which you can charge a lot more for, but then it would involve a lot of your own time and initiative to set it all up – through advertising in newspapers like the English-language ‘Buenos Aires Herald’ and putting up flyers on lampposts round the city, and of course word of mouth.
After teaching English I started my own walking tours initiative with an American friend. You have to try your own business at least once in your life, I thought! The project was a mixed success – it took a long time to get off the ground, which was time without earnings, then started to do really well, earning more than enough to live comfortably, only to ground to a halt at the start of winter this year when basically all the business dried up. Definitely a seasonal endeavor! However, we did not have enough savings put by to make it through the winter, so my friend and business partner sadly moved back home to the States, and I (luckily) found my current job…
I have been working the last 5 months at a software company here in Buenos Aires, as the Director of Marketing. It sounds more impressive than it really is! We develop our product here in Argentina, where there is a wealth of programming talent, and sell it in the USA; well… we do if I am good at my job of marketing it there! It is a great job that pays excellently (by Argentine standards, not when changed back into Dollars, Pounds or Euros), and I was extremely lucky to find it. I happened across an advert for the job on the YESBA (Young Expat Society of Buenos Aires) email list, which you can sign up for at www.yesba.org. Keep checking it every Thursday when the email update comes out and you might just find the job or apartment you are looking for in BA – but act quickly – otherwise someone else will undoubtedly beat you to it. Also, keep checking Craigslist Buenos Aires for the same reason.
-Do you speak Spanish and do you think it's important to speak the local language?
Of course it is extremely important to speak the local language and respect the local customs wherever an expat lives. When I came to Buenos Aires my knowledge of Spanish was zero; I originally came maybe to pick up a little during a few months stay here. Well, my position changed, and now I am living here for good…and my Spanish is not what it should be for that.
I can understand almost everything that the locals say, and watch the TV/read the papers and take most of it in. However, I can only just about communicate back with people: not at a fluent level because I am always getting tongue-tied and my vocabulary is small. But I am working on it. I HATE people who say – “you have been here two years already, surely you should be fluent by now???”
Yes, two years is a lot of time, but most of it has seen me working from dawn to dusk in completely English speaking environments to earn enough money to get by, and spending free time with my Argentine girlfriend, and we have a talk mainly in English, because her English is almost perfect, whereas my Spanish would not be conducive to a good, lasting, communicative relationship! I have also never had time for Spanish lessons due to all of that work, so I think I am doing pretty well…getting there, by osmosis. The people that usually ask that question are the people that come here with a ton of cash and are not working here to get by!
-Do you miss home and family sometimes?
I miss my family a lot, definitely. I am about to visit them for the first time in two years, which I am really looking forward to. Apart from that, there are only two other things I miss about England. Firstly the food – I miss real ENGLISH cheddar cheese and the great English fried breakfast with proper bacon, sausages, and baked beans – none of these things are available in Buenos Aires.
Secondly, I miss following my beloved football (soccer for all you Americans out there) team back in the UK – Southampton. As we have dropped out of the top league since I came to Argentina, it has been a little more difficult to keep up with their progress – I certainly won’t be seeing any of their games on TV over here.
In general though, I don’t miss England as a country – I am very happy here in Argentina.
-Do you have other plans for the future?
At some point I would like to live in another country with my fiancé, maybe the USA, or maybe another European country like Spain or Italy. I love to travel, and I am certainly not done with it just yet!
-What about housing, have you bought, or are you renting a home? How much do you pay for it?
I am currently renting an apartment long term, in the same way a local in Buenos Aires would. Most expats are unable to do this, because usually you need to find a ‘garantia’ to do so, which is someone who owns property in Buenos Aires and acts as a guarantee for the landlord that you will not trash the place and disappear! However, if you keep looking you can be lucky and find a nice landlord that is willing to negotiate – by paying 6 months rent up front I was able to get my small studio apartment in a decent area of the city for 600 pesos a month (about US$200) and around another 100 pesos of bills per month. Most expats either end up with short-term apartment rentals, which are generally a lot more expensive, or sharing an apartment. However, if you grab a copy of the local newspaper, Clarin, and search for apartments every day, there is a chance you will find and negotiate a cheap long-term apartment without needing a ‘garantia,’ as I was lucky enough to do.
-What is the cost of living in Argentina?
Including rent and bills as above, I spend a total of about 2000 pesos (US$670) a month, though it would definitely be possible for me to get by on 1500 (US$500) pesos a month. However, without finding a cheap apartment, this would be very difficult, and that is by no means an easy task. The cost of living is much lower than in Europe, but then so are salaries too if you are earning in pesos, so I would say they generally cancel each other out.
-What do you think about the Argentine people?
The porteños (people of the port of Buenos Aires) have almost always been really friendly, warm and welcoming to me. Which is quite surprising, when you consider that my country was at war with Argentina less than 30 years ago. As long as I don’t mention the Falklands, I’m sure everything will be fine…I just don’t want to test it out!
-What are the positive and negative aspects of living in Argentina?
One positive thing is that everybody is so laid back, the pace of the work life is a little slower, and it is normal to take your time and relax over things like dinner, a coffee in a café, or a walk around your local park.
One negative thing…is that everybody is so laid back! This means that things take a long time to get done here. Workers take mate (the argentine national drink, like a green tea) breaks it seems every few minutes, deadlines are not treated with much respect and people seem to turn up to work whenever they get out of bed. Good for worker stress levels, bad for business!
-Do you have any tips for our readers about living in Argentina?
Get used to eating late – most people in Argentina usually don’t have evening dinner until around 11pm, maybe 10pm at the earliest. If you are going for a night out, things also start very late – people might go to a bar at midnight, then on to a club for a dance at 3am, and finish up when the sun rises, or a long time after, usually with breakfast of coffee and medialunas (Argentine croissants) in a café with friends. Now you might see why people don’t always get to work on time!
Although they like literally a whole night on the tiles, Argentines are not big drinkers, and binge drinking is a social taboo, so you may also have to change your habits on that front if you like one too many drinks and don’t want people to think you are a drunken buffoon.
-Do you have any favorite Web sites or blogs about Argentina?
It’s plug time! I have my own blog called, Buenos Aires Travel Guide, which does exactly what it says on the tin! I aim to use the knowledge I gained back when I was a tour guide of the city to help visitors make the most out of their time in Buenos Aires. It is a fairly new blog, so I am still adding content to make it a better resource.
Other Buenos Aires blogs are also great references for those coming to Buenos Aires, a couple of my favorites being Good Airs and Buenos Aires, City of Faded Elegance
Finally, to get some general background information and history, I would suggest you check out all the pages on Wikipedia relating to Buenos Aires and Argentina, starting with their main Buenos Aires entry and clicking through to other related links from there. Wikipedia is an amazing source of information about almost anything and everything, and the best thing is that you can chip in and help in your areas of expertise.
