Job Discussion Forums

[houston23texastech]

hi everyone,

i have spent about a year in sevilla,spain studying and doing a internship in a I.T. firm, i was headed back there, but i had a change of heart and now im headed down buenos aires on august 14th!!..i already have my apartament in barrio recoleta, it seems like this is the best neighborhood there right?? i hope to stay in buenos aires teaching or doing any other type of professional job be it part/full time. i dont know a soul in buenos aires, but im the adventrous type and very outgoing. any sugguestions anyone? i hope to hear from everyone and hope to contribute to this board in the future! thanks

[eo-nomine]

There is no "best" neighbourhood in Buenos Aires, mate. Everyone has his or her own preference, but there's something cool in pretty much every barrio. In my eyes, Recoleta certainly isn't the best neighbourhood, but it's nice, green, safe and close to pretty much everything. On the other hand, it's expensive (the bars in Recoleta are quite overpriced), crowded, and, in my experience, the people who live there aren't the friendliest bunch.

August isn't the best time to come down here job hunting, but it shouldn't be too hard finding a couple hours teaching English.

[houston23texastech]

yeah i will stay there for a month, to get my feet wet in b.a....anyone know how much cell phones run? will cellphones from europe work in b.a.? thanks

[amy1982]

if you have a SIM card in your cell phone, you can have it changed to an argentine one (which will give you an argentine phone number). it costs 20 pesos for a new SIM card. you have to go to the central offices to get a sim card, but most of the companies have one on florida which is easy to get to from recoleta.

if you want to buy a phone, the cheaper but still nice ones are 150 pesos and that includes 50 pesos of talktime. (the sim card switching doesn't include any talktime).

either way, i'm pretty sure you have to do "pay as you go", buying new phone cards when one runs out.

as far as the barrio, recoleta has a lot to offer and it is close to lots of transportation, making the rest of the city pretty accessible. but it is more expensive and if you're really interested in meeting young argentines, i don't recommend it. but it is a good place to start. once you get here, you'll be able to see which part(s) of the city you like best and take it from there.

[snielz]

If you don�t have a plan right now for finding permanent work, but this is your goal, teaching private english lessons could be a good start... With privates you will obviously be teaching professionals who can pay you, so you will get to know them and if they like you, they will probably be willing to help you as far as finding a job. But it will take some time...

[srp]

To continue with the cell phone theme, how does international calling work, and how much does it cost?

[amy1982]

i haven't made international calls from the cell phone yet. it's pretty expensive to make (local) outgoing calls from a cell, so it's always best if people can call you.

as far as from a phone booth/locutorio/landline, it's pretty easy. you can buy a prepaid phone card from a kiosk (they're everywhere, cards are usually 5 or 10 pesos) and follow the directions on the back. the rates vary depending on the time of day. i usually call my family in the US around 10pm buenos aires time and get more than an hour of talking time with them. i got about the same amount of time on a saturday afternoon, but less during the day on a weekday.

[snielz]

For calling international, you usually buy phone cards. As I understand it, the idea is the same whether it be cell phones or land phones. Basically, you buy a card at a kiosk and use it just like you would in the US (or I�m guessing other western countries). The price and time you get for your money varies based on how good a deal you find but I think a base amount is $5 pesos for 30 mins. to the US. I did just find a 50 min. card for $5 pesos (oh, happy day!!). The price you will pay also varies country to country and also what company you use as well as whether or not it is a cell phone or lanline phone...how�s that for vague??

[amy1982]

it all sounds very argentine...

[REDLEY]

houston, the neighbourhoods I like the best are Palermo, Barrio Norte and Recoleta (Belgrano too perhaps). They are safe and very accesible by all means of transportation, and close to everywhere. Saludos.

[Gareth2000]

yeah u could always be a geek and get a headset and call through the internet using msn or something