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Since alot of the threads here talk about all of the wonders of traveling and living abroad, I thought it time that we get to the more practical matter of the reality of living and working in a foreign country.
While I realise many of us have never had any issues or problems living and traveling in latin-america, I am also aware that many of us have. Having some practical, realistic and having a non "Rose-colored" "Utopian" BS attitude about living abroad is beneficial. There's plenty of the good but how about some of the "strange, weird, and downright bad and ugly" about what life is like and living here.
I've been plenty vocal about life in Argentina and Chile since I've been here many years. Some have expressed disdain at my experiences expressed, many of which I've shared that were my own fault, weird stuff and also alot of things that were quite negative. I also have had a few argentines here pm me and ask me to not talk about certain issues about what goes on here and maybe certain apsects that they'd like me to sweep under the rug. But I believe in giving folks the full picture...wisdom and experience are two of some of the best teachers we have!
The fact of the matter is that I've wised up and learned alot by living here. And if my experiences can help someone thinking of traveling here to live and work...or even just to visit, if they can avoid some of the traps and pitfalls: from the everyday annoyances and the mundane, to the serious and potentially life threatening situations, we all benefit.
So there's plenty of threads here that will fill your minds with a romantic BS vision of galloping away to latin-america to get away from it all, or to "hook-up" and find the love of your life or start over again.....I understand that...I've "been there" and I'm man enough to admit. But it's best that folks learn some basic wisdom and have a realistic, practical outlook and what may (but hopefully won't) happen here.
So this thread is for ex-pats or travelers to share their experiences of living here or traveling in latin-america. From the mundane, everyday annoyances....to the few I know here who've had very frightening experiences living here. Share you're experience here and what maybe you could've or maybe couldn't have done to avoid the experience. Let it all out....maybe it's an experience that's mundane, maybe it was fairly hillarious and maybe it was fairly serious. I think it's fair to give folks the full picture on what it's like. Their may not be that many of you, but whether you're a regular, or just passing through....please share so everyone can learn and benefit from it if you come across thsi thread.
Did you ever go through something uncomfortable, or strange, maybe you blew it and felt stupid or silly. Maybe it was something serious....this is your thread to sound off. Tell us the country, city, date and what happened and why you think it happened and if you learned from it, what you woulda/coulda/shoulda done differently?
Latin America in many ways is a beautiful place and a magical place. It has stuff to see and do that you'd never be able to see likewise again or anywhere else. But, you already know that.....so let's talk about the practicalities of experiences of living here....
Last edited by Ibginnie; 04-23-2015 at 07:58 PM..
Reason: Copyright violation
I lived in Brazil until I was about 12 and my parents always encouraged us to be as independent as possible.
Obviously, times were different back then but as a child I used to walk around the city I was born- a city of about 600000 people.
I remember how uncomfortable it was to walk around the city and always have this fear/paranoia that someone could potentially rob you. It is like being in a constant state of alert and always being on the lookout for "suspicious looking people", not to mention knowing when to cross the street to avoid certain people walking towards you.
I was robbed 3 times before my parents moved here and I would be absolutely paranoid walking around the city. A few months before I moved here, I was leaving a party and my grandmother lived a few blocks from the house I was in.
As I walked out, it was about 11 pm on a Saturday night, some guy in his 30's driving a very nice car pulled up to me and asked me if I wanted to go for a ride. I said NO and felt like totally embarrassed and violated.
I later found out that there are several successful, business people in the city who are known to drive around at night looking for young boys- I was 12 at the time! Everybody knows about it and they don't do anything!
I remember arriving at the JFK airport in NYC for the first time and knowing in my heart that I would NEVER go back to Brazil. I have been here in the USA for 25 years now, never looked back and never had any desire to go back.
I lived in Brazil until I was about 12 and my parents always encouraged us to be as independent as possible.
Obviously, times were different back then but as a child I used to walk around the city I was born- a city of about 600000 people.
I remember how uncomfortable it was to walk around the city and always have this fear/paranoia that someone could potentially rob you. It is like being in a constant state of alert and always being on the lookout for "suspicious looking people", not to mention knowing when to cross the street to avoid certain people walking towards you.
I was robbed 3 times before my parents moved here and I would be absolutely paranoid walking around the city. A few months before I moved here, I was leaving a party and my grandmother lived a few blocks from the house I was in.
As I walked out, it was about 11 pm on a Saturday night, some guy in his 30's driving a very nice car pulled up to me and asked me if I wanted to go for a ride. I said NO and felt like totally embarrassed and violated.
I later found out that there are several successful, business people in the city who are known to drive around at night looking for young boys- I was 12 at the time! Everybody knows about it and they don't do anything!
I remember arriving at the JFK airport in NYC for the first time and knowing in my heart that I would NEVER go back to Brazil. I have been here in the USA for 25 years now, never looked back and never had any desire to go back.
This is exactly how I would describe the atmosphere here in Argentina right now. With so much insecurity, roberries, assaults and muggings going on day and night around you all the time, one is always concerned with being "caught in the wrong place at the wrong time" to be quite honest.
One has to be extra vigilant. Also we've had alot of new construction projects in our neighborhood as well. When their is alot of construction remodeling going on in ones neighborhood, there is "always" an elevated risk, even more so than the norm of something happening.
This is because alot of these construction workers and guys who are handymen and do work like this, not all, but many they work with thieves, monitoring the movements of folks in the neighborhood, checking which houses have alarms, rejas, which don't etc.. I know for a fact that the thieves often buy this information from these guys. So one has to be extra vigilant. My wife a few weeks ago was told by one of the local store owners to be on the alert that their had been several instances of attempted and successful robberies in the neighborhood, as well as suspicious looking characters walking around not the from our nieghborhood. So, living here, one learns to live this way and be vigilant.
So this is some advice regarding argentina NEVER accept a handymen into your home or someone to fix something unless they have been recommended by a close friend or relative.....this is REALLY important. Also when you enter into your house, especially if you live on a street corner where their are blind spots, as you unlock your doors, always look behind you and over your left and right shoulder. The times of highest vulnerability are:
1.) Entering or leaving your home
2.) Parking your car
3.) parking your car in your garage( must be especially careful - if you have a small garage or carport, they'll slip up behind you while you pull in. )
In our local newspaper last year in an article they said the highest times during the day of the most elevated risk are from about 7 oclock in the evening until about 10:00/11:00 with the majority happening from 8 - 9....this is when people are coming home from work, arriving after having mate with family friends. They walk the streets in pairs of about 2 - 4 and try to catch people that are just arriving to their homes tired and distracted.....
Also be careful of people coming by your house asking for clothes or food, old bread etc.. Unfortunately nowadays you have to be careful with this, sad but true. My wife and I used to do this a few times. As soon as we did, 2 - 3 times a day we'd have people constantly harassing us for stuff and my father-in-law scolded me and said to be very careful with this. Alot of times, unfortunately these folks also work for local thieves and their trying to get an idea of who lives where, how many are in your house, did you disengage an alarm, how long it takes you to open your door etc.... The crooks here are very agile and very efficient, they do alot of their homework beforehand, staking out places, people they want to rob etc. Of course many are just "robberies of advantage" but don't under estimate their ability to plan, never take ANYWHERE you are going to advantage, always be alert for any eventuality anywhere and use common sense. Assimilate and keep a low profile...
Check out this joker in Buenos Aires. Go to the video and fast forward to about 44:20 minutes. Watch the guy walking, he approaches the car, breaks in and then.....pushes it, nor drives it but "pushes it" down the street and steals it...middle of the day, and less than 4 blocks from a police station. Not to mention..... the neighbors say there are alot of car jackings on this corner street.
They have literally no fear of consequences or of getting caught... LOL. I'm regularly impressed with how brazen alot of the criminals are here. You HAVE to use an alarm or the "club" device on your car here. Even so, they still steal cars left and right here everyday. The best place is to park your car in a local parking garage.
I lived in Brazil until I was about 12 and my parents always encouraged us to be as independent as possible.
Obviously, times were different back then but as a child I used to walk around the city I was born- a city of about 600000 people.
I remember how uncomfortable it was to walk around the city and always have this fear/paranoia that someone could potentially rob you. It is like being in a constant state of alert and always being on the lookout for "suspicious looking people", not to mention knowing when to cross the street to avoid certain people walking towards you.
I was robbed 3 times before my parents moved here and I would be absolutely paranoid walking around the city. A few months before I moved here, I was leaving a party and my grandmother lived a few blocks from the house I was in.
As I walked out, it was about 11 pm on a Saturday night, some guy in his 30's driving a very nice car pulled up to me and asked me if I wanted to go for a ride. I said NO and felt like totally embarrassed and violated.
I later found out that there are several successful, business people in the city who are known to drive around at night looking for young boys- I was 12 at the time! Everybody knows about it and they don't do anything!
I remember arriving at the JFK airport in NYC for the first time and knowing in my heart that I would NEVER go back to Brazil. I have been here in the USA for 25 years now, never looked back and never had any desire to go back.
I remember when I first met my husband I thought he was so ultra-paranoid about everything.
When we went to Brazil he wouldn't let me do ANYTHING alone.
However, now I understand that he is tense because of all of the bad experiences he and his family have had there. He is suspicious of everyone and everything and just can't let go of that period in his life.
This is a very serious issue in Brazil. It gets brought up SO MUCH by every Brazilian I meet. It saddens them, frustrates them, and they are tired of it.
I remember when I first met my husband I thought he was so ultra-paranoid about everything.
When we went to Brazil he wouldn't let me do ANYTHING alone.
However, now I understand that he is tense because of all of the bad experiences he and his family have had there. He is suspicious of everyone and everything and just can't let go of that period in his life.
This is a very serious issue in Brazil. It gets brought up SO MUCH by every Brazilian I meet. It saddens them, frustrates them, and they are tired of it.
It's exactly the same here....
When you live with this all the time and its constantly and continuously around you, it affects you, changes you, your routines and your life.
Just this morning: "man shot killed during a car jacking, and just an hour later, same neighborhood, violent robbery, 75 year old women has a heart attack during a robbery, her 36 year old son shot in the chest and then 12 year old grand daughter shot in the leg......disgusting..
Lanus is not a good area of Buenos Aires anyways..
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