Some facts about Argentina and Buenos Aires

About Argentina, it´s the least latin country in Latinamerica. Most of the population is of european descent, either spanish or italian, with some germans and english mixed inbetween, and they pride themselves of that heritage, so until you´re not sure about how a person thinks, it´s best to avoid implying that he/she is "latinamerican". Anyway, prepare yourself for a more european than latino experience!

Buenos Aires itself is a big city, just like any other big city you will have to take precautions. About clothing, almost everything goes here, just like the USA. Maybe you want to avoid extremely short skirts that will elicit catcalls, and also avoid wearing expensive jewelry. Other than that, you can wear whatever you like.

Culture here is more touchy-feely than in the USA. For you it might be a bit uncomfortable at the beginning. When you greet another person or are being introduced, it´s common to kiss ONCE on the cheek. You actually touch the cheeks (no air kiss), but you don´t have to kiss, just make the sound. Exception: when it´s something business related they will give you a handshake. Then, when people speak to you, they might touch your arm or hand to give more strenght to their words. This is acceptable if you have been introduced to the person. Also people might gesticulate more while speaking, don´t forget the italian descent! But people are generally warm and open, especially to foreigners, so you´ll find a lot of friends here. Most people in Buenos Aires speak english too, by the way.

As for conversatons with people, they will be curious about you, what you do, and they will probably ask you outright what you think of US government. If you don´t want to give an oppinion, that´s fine, just say you´re not interested in politics.

You will hear argentineans criticizing our government and our country incessantly. However, please refrain from criticizing Argentina yourself. It´s like an unwritten code, sorry, but only argentineans can criticize or make jokes about themselves, the country or the politics. If you do it, they´ll probably don´t say anything, but at the minimum they´ll hold a grudge.

Another topic that´s best to avoid until you know people really well is the Malvinas Islands and anything related to that. Same for the military governments and the "desaparecidos", people abducted by the government that never appeared again. You should know a little bit better a person before touching these subjects, there are still many opinions and open wounds.

If you plan to live here for some time, you might be interested also in temporary rentals. The best and safest areas downtown are: Recoleta, Microcentro and Plaza San Martin. I´d stay away from anything in San Telmo, it´s very touristy and interesting to explore at daytime, but at night it gets unsafe.

For classified ads, go to the website from the Buenos Aires Herald, www.buenosairesherald.com, and look under classifieds, temporary rentals.