Exactly, I spent 3 months one time (longest vacation of my life). It's incredible when you realise you take for granted on a daily basis back in the States. Don't get me wrong, I had a blast on the vacation and would do it again. It's easy to let some things go, especially when you know you're only on vacation and will be home eventually. But living indefinitely without some of those things is a VERY drastic change.

Don't worry about it, I already know there isn't :winkwink:

I hear ya Mr Blue :winkwink:

OK... Let's reverse rolls (and this happens to be actual fact in real life and on many occasions)... What minusonebit said is so typical of folks when they just get pissed off (usually in civilized countries) and not just the US.

Never counted... but got to be near 100 now over the last few years who came on the phone or chatted and their tone was very similar to what minusonebit was saying. Basically they have reached a point of "I've had enough" (and many sure have good reason). These folks ended up shipping out to enjoy, basically a better lifestyle in other countries - a good number ended up in the Caribbean or Latin America.

On many occasions they are from my home country and are trashing it to hell and back - but I don't tell them to piss off or adopt some "offended attitude" :winkwink: Often what they are saying I'd totally agree with and would sure totally support anyone who has an interest in getting out into the world and having a look around. (BTW.. That also has nothing to do with "hating" a country - everywhere has some good stuff going for it)

This thread is really based on... dunno.. a mix of the usual GFY diatribe and flippancy and a touch of patriotism stuff which is really unique to the US. Embedded in "patriotism" is a need to "defend" and a touch of malice can be used to do the defending - and that's really what is showing thru here. Least, that's my :2 cents: worth :)

PS... For amusement... here's a pile of quotes on patriotism :)
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Patriotism

When I shipped out and became an ex-pat potter - I thought exactly the same thing :winkwink:

On two occasions I even asked groups of expats how long they wanted to live "outside" and when were they thinking of going back to their home countries. On both times - the place went silent and got weird looks as tho I'd just gone insane :winkwink:

Apart from to visit family - nobody was dreaming of ever going back to their home countries on a permanent basis. They had no reason to and were living far better lifestyles than they ever thought possible.

Tho.. in fairness.. there is no "inconvenience factors" - ya want something? There is a store not far away - but the main element is in the total laid back lifestyle.

You're joking...
2 malls = 200 shops aprox. - I'm sure there are commercial streets with many more shops in Buenos Aires
15 restaurants - many many more in B.A., cheaper, too
25+ fast-food places - I hope there are 0. Fast-food is crap
10 car dealerships - There are more in B.A., but whatta hell do you buy 10 cars at once? If you need a certain car, you can drive even 100 miles to get it.
1 movie theaters - probably many more in B.A.
3 24/7 fitness centers - probably there aren't 24/7 centers, but for sure are many more fitness centers
2 gun stores - Thanks God if there aren't any
2 shooting ranges - idem
1 airport - at least 1 international airport in B.A.
5 grocery stores - not even worth to be mentioned
4 department stores, liquor stores, camera shops, billiards stores, auto stores, furniture stores, any kind of stores - idem
a ton of parks - probably 10 tons in B.A.
1 major highway - probably many in B.A.
hundreds of bus stops, churches, gas stations, whatever - what do you say, in a 13 million ppl megacity, could be more:1orglaugh
Add to that 1 ocean and 1 huge river (Rio de la Plata), with beaches and stuff

All these, at a life cost probably 1/2 than in your area.

I would never compare a 13 milion inhabitans metropolis with your 15 miles area, man.

The truth is that in cities like Buenos Aires, with 4-5k a month, you live like in US with 15k a month. Try it and you will see that I'm right.

"This country is such a rotten pile of steaming rat shit anymore its not even worth trying to exist in."


Not where I live.

The only real response to this is, fuck-you, get a better job.

Webby, you and I have argued before ... on a different level. Not about living in a shitty apartment. If the poster was living canal-front in Miami with a pool and boat, this would be a great country for him, he's not so it's shit?

By all means improve your lifestyle, just don't tell me I live in shit and am an idiot for not moving.

I grew-up in Kailua, Hawaii ... based on apartment prices Hawaii is a real pile of shit?

Costa Rica and it's Government is one thing but Argentina? LOL

Minor addition he-fox - over 50% of cars run on "flex fuel" - either oil based or ethanol - gas is cheaper :winkwink:

http://buenosaires.craigslist.org/apa/184249698.html

maid service 6 days a week? thats included in the rent? damn
and they change ur linens too?

i only get it twice a month and gotta pay for it myself.

Hell.. I'm not claiming *any* country is shit (tho some may be "problematic") - every country has good stuff tho wherever may be decried on GFY from time to time.

BTW... Who said Hawaii (or anywhere else) is a pile of shit?? Not me!! :winkwink:

Maid and maintenance stuff costs little rants - it's more the norm in Latin and South America. Hell.. they even construct with "maids quarters" to accomodate full-time service.

50.,....,.. :arcadefre

i got wojownd

You're right.:thumbsup

The only problem with these "2nd world countries" is that the average salary is way lower that in Western Europe and US. But if you make your money on the Internet...

Argentina is an awesome countrie and Buenos Aires is the Paris of South America, and without the inconvinience of having to speak french :winkwink:

A lot of beautifull women there too.

Only problem is the political situation there, you should take that into consideration too.

have fun

lol, I know where you're coming from and trust me if minusonebyte said it the way I would have started a thread he probably still would have gotten one of the patriots by the nose and gotten a response, but then I could have agreed 100% with what you posted :winkwink:

People tend to be self-absorbed and they think that their experience is the definitive experience for a topic, but it's not and people should try to open their eyes to that fact. Personally, if he presented this topic differently, I probably would have been asking more questions about Argentina instead of blah blah blahing like I am now :D

Ok, lets get down to business. Lets compare B.A. to a large U.S. city. Also to get really technical on my previous post, I just checked google maps, everything I mentioned was under 5 miles, and in my suburb town of Denver with a population of 40k. I was just guestimating on miles before.

Now, you say B.A. has 13 million for it's population. So you must be talking about the "Greater Buenos Aires", being the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires. Which does indeed have nearly 13 million for it's population and takes up about 1,500 square miles (The city of B.A. only has 2.7 million).

So with that in mind we can use Denver Metro's stats, as my town is part of the six county Denver Metro area. Denver metro has a population of roughly 2.4 million and takes up about 600 square miles.

Google says in Denver Metro there is
571 pizzerias
207 tanning salons
745 grocery stores
77 movie theaters
509 car dealerships
5,300 restaurants
323 fitness centers
etc etc etc

What's B.A.'s exact numbers?

1,560 secondary schools (middle/primary)
1,370 colleges/universities
61 Airports
1,080 hospitals
467 government post offices
8,780 parks
1081 department stores
1,300 banks
1,180 furniture stores
7,470 bars

Would be interesting to see how the 25th most populated city in the U.S. compares to the capitol of your country.

Good luck with everything in Argentina! Hope it all works out well for you.

lol, who the fuck knows, like it really does matter...
You crack me up with 207 tanning salons, this means what? 207 places where dumb ppl spend their money when they can get tanned for free outdoors?

Important is that with the same amount of money (I'm talking about regularl amounts of money), life is better in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Santiago, San Jose, whatever.

I don't need shit except one walmart, an internet connection, a mcdonalds, a liquor store, a gas station, and a fried chicken restaurant....I'd rather have a native cooking me home cooked food than have access to 15 restaurants.

Vacate the states to save $600 a month in rent? No thanks.

I think his stated reason is actually a political temper tantrum of sorts, and not a money issue.

But, of course, I haven't paid much attention, and could be off base.

Don't cry for me Argentina.... haha

Just do not convert your dollars into local currency, or invest much in Real Estate there.

Great post

Use whatever expression you want. I put my friggin' life on the line for the US and got nothing but shit on for it. Suddenly, one day, I meet a great Mexican woman. She talks me into giving Guadalajara a try. Have never regretted one moment of that decision. Been down here for 5 yers now. Takes a US passport and a Mexican FM-3 (at their counsulate). Living is cheap, life is good (different, but good!). I am on total disability yet bring in a good coin from the net, all in my wife's name, of course.

No, Mexico (the interior) is the greatest place to live. I'd rather be farther away from Geo & Co but this is where I ended up. Will I ever return? I seriously doubt it. Way too much change needs to take effect before this vet heads back to the "land of the free." That IS said tongue in cheek.

So, yes, I fought for the right to say every friggin' thing I said above. I'm not non-American. But I'm not one of "today's Americans," that's for sure. Borrowed this info from a friend (Pete, hope you don't mind). WHY WOULD I LEAVE THE US? Read on......

"15 States and the District of Columbia arrested for marijuana"

"It's estimated that over 17 million people have been arrested for marijuana since 1965.
That's more than the combined populations of Alaska, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming."

You have every nation in the world pissed at you. Is this the America you seem to be so proud of? The America I have pride in is the America I remember from the 50s. What a friggin' great country, even with it's ethnic flaws (a time thing). I got to go to the originia Woodstock. Great show but could never happen in bootstrap US again.

Most of you are so young, you don't see what you've missed or are having taken from you, in your interest, of course. You're "neophytes" to democracy..

You want change? Thre are only 3 people you have some control over. Your two Senators and your Congressperson. When was the last time you bombarded them with mail, email, phone calls, etc? You may think you have no pull but you really do. It's called "ACTION!" Sitting aroun, passing a dub and talking about it won't get it done.

I was recently in the priemer VA Hospital. Never again. From now on, the Mexican doctors can treat me. It was a pure horror story, from San Antonio, TX!

So, why do some of us expatriates live outside the US. For our health, mostly. Aside from that, life is crummy, prices are high, rains all the time, so don't come down here. ;)

I agree with alot of your post but this part I dont. They dont care what I or anyone else thinks. I have piles and piles of form letters thanking me for e-mailing/writing/calling/visiting on issues. And they go right ahead and vote the way they were gonna vote anyway, regardless of what thier consitutients want. I have watched it time and time again. They do this because they know that no one will hold them accountable in any meaningful way. They are at no risk for assasination and for the most part are immune from removal from office.

In the old days of this country, when people had sense and actually gave a shit about the good of country, an elected person who constantly overrode the conensus would be voted out and if he didnt leave he'd be drug out. No way would he be allowed to stay in term and term again because people were too lazy or busy with thier own little patheitc lives to do anything about it. Which is what we have now. Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer are too busy working 80 hours a week to pay for the house and three SUVs and the two kids they cant afford to take the time to stop, watch an election and make an educated choice.

With regard to the arguement over avaliability of ammenities: The number of shopping malls and stores per square mile might actually be important if I was a female running my hubby's credit cards through the roof. But I'm not, so as long as the stuff I need can be procured without a cross country trek, then I am cool with that. I have done enough research to satisfy myself that the goods I consume in daily life can be gotten without much hassle, so who cares if Denver has 3 more bowling alleys and 10 extra resturants.

BA has plenty of resturants and fun things to do, and when I have exhausted them all, guess what I'll do? I'll take a vacation and go somewhere else and go see more intresting and new stuff in other lands. People from the US take vacations all the time both within the country and abroad to see and do things not avaliable to them in thier backyard. So really all thats happened is my departure point will change, so what?

I dont really know how many places you can buy a hamburger in BA, or how many tanning salons there are. But when you think about it, does it really matter? I dont live my life for the next Big Mac, so if there are no McDonalds I am sure I'll be fine because I'll find something else to replace it that I do like.

This isnt about saving $600 a month in rent. Yeah, sure, that will be one a perk. Not to mention EVERYTHING is cheaper. This is about being done with this country until and when things get better. And I dont see them getting better for a long, long time. So while the country here is going to complete an d utter shit (you rich playboys here in the States so should be careful how you spend... you may have wealth now but the economy is trending downward and even the richest men lost thier foturnes in the depression... keep in mind those who fail to learn from the mistakes of the past will repeat them...) I'd like to enjoy my life and see some cool stuff.

BA didnt get its reputation as being the Paris of South America because it is a shit hole.

Or the fact that most people dont consider it going out of the country unless you cross an ocean. :2 cents: Didnt you have some odd idea about how many contenients there are? :upsidedow

Yes Im sure everyone misunderstood you calling our country a cesspool.... :uhoh Why even try to veil your hate? Just let it out sicko. :321GFY

Good luck to ya

All the best...

How's your Spanish?

Its getting better. I should have at least a fluent understanding of the language in a few months. I am going to do some classes.

So long. Why not renounce your citizenship here also?:banana :banana :banana

That's smart. I've had some good luck with language tapes -- might try those.

You will lose that money. :2 cents:

Funny, what you just listed is what I don't like about this country.

You also forgot to mention;

250,000 advertisements
20 military recruitment offices.
10 psychiatry offices
4 pharmacies

Except the parks and restaurants. It's nice to have the best park in the world and dozens of the best restaurants within walking distance.

The other bullshit I could do without. Thank God we're not plauged by big box stores like home depot around here yet. YET. They're making their move.

Mr Soul, I really dig your new sig.

:thumbsup


Scary but true. Amazing how prophetic some authors were. He said this before SSRI's (anti-depressants) were invented.