Deciding to move to Buenos Aires, Argentina to be with his girlfriend hasn't been a walk in the park for New Zealand expat Matt. Certain aspects of the lifestyle do not appeal to him, and the bureaucracy has been difficult for his business. However, Matt does make an effort to become more fluent in Argentine Spanish, and he finds he's always learning something new about the local culture.	Matt

August 07 2006

-Where were you born?
New Zealand

-In which country and city are you living now?
Buenos Aires, Argentina

-Are you living alone or with your family?
With my girlfriend

-How long have you been living there?
18 months

-What is your age?
29

-When did you come up with the idea of living in Argentina?
I first came to Argentina with the idea of spending six months to learn Spanish, and then another six months traveling around South America. I decided to live in Argentina to be with my girlfriend.

-Was it hard to get a visa or a working permit?
With the help of an immigration advisor it wasn't too hard. A few months of paperwork, lots of paperwork translated, translations certified etc. It probably cost me around US$700.

-How do you make your living in Argentina? Do you have any type of income generated?
At first I taught English in two of the many English institutes in BsAs. That job was easy to find, and the language institutes are almost always looking for native teachers. However, the pay of US$5 per hour was impossible for me to live off. Very few foreign English teachers would be able to live off that, no matter how hard they scrimp and save (and I sure scrimped).

In the last eight months I've been trying to start my own tourist transport business with a minibus, but I still haven't done a single trip. The bureaucracy here has got to be as bad as in India, and that has made life very difficult.

-Do you speak Spanish and do you think it's important to speak the local language?
I'd studied the basics of Spanish before I arrived and then took a few courses once I got here. The rest I picked up conversing with my girlfriend. Regarding learning the local language, it depends on what the person wants to do. Many expats learn only the basics of Spanish and spend their days here hanging out with other expats or with Argentines who speak English. That wasn't for me, so I distanced myself from that crowd and hung out with locals who didn't speak English.

Local customs are another thing altogether, and I'm still learning. Yesterday a local told me that I should ask permission before I sit in the available seat in front of someone's desk. That was a new one for me.

-Do you miss home and family sometimes?
Yes I do. My only method for combating homesickness is to keep in contact with my friends and family by e-mail or MSN Messenger.

-Do you have other plans for the future?
Hopefully my business will get going in the next month. But I've been saying that for the last six months, so who knows!

-What about housing, have you bought, or are you renting a home? How much do you pay for it?
We're renting so my finger's not on the housing market pulse, but I think it costs about US$80,000 to buy a two-bedroom apartment in a nice suburb of Buenos Aires. The expat influx of the last couple of years has pushed prices up in said suburbs quite a lot.

-What is the cost of living in Argentina?
It depends on your standards. I would say around US$1000 per month, to live as one would in his or her home country. If you want to live like a broke university student, you could scrape by on US$500.

-What do you think about the Argentine people?
They're neither welcoming nor negative towards foreigners. Mostly indifferent.

-What are the positive and negative aspects of living in Argentina?
Tobacco, alcohol and red meat are really cheap. If you're a night-owl, dinner is eaten really late here so you'll fit in. Football (soccer) is the national religion. These may be positive aspects for some.

Negatives... well the list is pretty long. Customer service is dire; companies will make you jump through hoops to be their customer. Bureaucracy is everywhere. There's a lot of crime. People let their dogs poo in the street when they walk them. Littering is common. People pride themselves on ripping each other off. Considering I don't smoke, I'm not a night-owl and I don't watch football, I don't know why I'm still here.

-Do you have any favorite Web sites or blogs about Argentina?
Suitcase on wheels is my blog on my life since I arrived in Argentina, in January 2005. Check out the Archives.

Bloggers in Argentina has links to all the known expat bloggers in Argentina.

Chematuco is a negatively written blog run by an expat who debunks many of the myths of BA. I like it.

Not a Blog is a funny blog written by an expat who lives in Salta, in the north of Argentina.