5 Annoying Things About Living in Buenos Aires as an Expat
Are you considering moving to Buenos Aires, Argentina? My husband and I have wanted to move to Buenos Aires for a long time. And after living there for 3 years I can say it really was an awesome place to be an expat however there were also some things I didn’t like about living in Buenos Aires.
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DISCLAIMER - This is meant to be CHEEKY and FUN. If you are an Argentine, please do not take any of this personally. There are things I don’t like about each culture I visit, including the USA.
Rather watch me talk about Buenos Aires? Check out my YouTube video on this topic —>
Ready for the details? Let’s get into it...
But, first!
Moving to or visiting Buenos Aires? Be sure to check out this activity list I created with over 50 things you have to do when you’re in Buenos Aires!
5 Things That Annoyed About Living in Buenos Aires
The Paris of Latin America
Everyone and everything says, “Buenos Aires is the Paris of Latin America.” And having gone to Paris, that is what I expected when I arrived in Buenos Aires. Well, I beg to differ with that infamous statement.
In my opinion (after traveling on 6 continents and in 35 countries) the only similarities Buenos Aires shares with Paris is the architecture and some of the culture. Yes, a lot of the buildings are beautiful and they were influenced by European architecture. But unfortunately a lot of those beautiful buildings you see in photos aren’t kept up very well and up close look very old and in need of restoration work.
I do think Buenos Aires is similar to Paris in the culture as far as cafe and park life. Both Parisians and Porteños (citizens of BsAs) like to sit on cafe sidewalks and take in the street life. They also enjoy a good day at the park, sitting on a hill taking in a drink and snack while they people watch.
Bottom line: don’t go to Buenos Aires expecting everything to look and feel like Paris.
Dog Poop
Porteños love their dogs, which is awesome. I’m a dog lover too! But that love for dogs doesn’t translate into picking up dog poop. There is dog poop everywhere in Buenos Aires. Yes, that includes the wealthy neighborhoods as well.
You really have to watch where you’re walking on Buenos Aires sidewalks. You will see dog poop everywhere from parks, in front of cafes and in walkways. Sorry, I’m not trying to gross you out - just preparing you for reality there.
After about a month in Buenos Aires, we decided to buy a cheap toothbrush to clean dog poop off the bottom of our shoes when we got back into our apartment. That sounds nuts but that’s how bad it was - we stepped in it so much we needed a dedicated brush to get it off!
Now, it may have been extra bad for us because we would go in the grass with our pups. But on the weekends or after work, those grassy parks were full of people. So I’m sure we weren’t the only ones getting poop on their shoes!
When you move to or visit Buenos Aires, be sure to watch where you’re walking to avoid a messy accident!
City Noise
Buenos Aires is a large and densely populated city. Know this before you move there. There will be a lot of noise at all hours. Now, if you’re from a large city now you’re probably thinking this one is obvious. But for those of you not used to city noise or who currently live in a large city but the noise stops at night (like where I was in Houston, Texas) then this warning is for you.
This was one of the hardest transitions for me when we moved to Buenos Aires - the noise level. We had an apartment that was close to a busy street and next to a park. We picked it because we have 2 dogs and wanted to be very close to a park for their 3 daily restroom breaks.
As it turned out, the park was very noisy all weekend. They had a craft fair (which was awesome for visitors) that caused noise all night Friday from 7pm - 7am for the setup. Then the actual fair on Saturday and Sunday attracted musicians, tango dancers, drum players, etc. And to top it off Sunday night was the take down and they would be banging metal rods all night from 7pm - 7am. Oh and Saturday nights we had a disco club come to life with music so loud my ear plugs could not drown it out.
All this to say Buenos Aires is loud. Whether it’s parties, car horns, people yelling on the street, old buses, dogs barking, people cheering on futbol matches or Porteños protesting the latest government actions by banging pots and pans on their balconies. Be prepared for a noisy environment. The only thing that got me through living in our first Buenos Aires apartment was this sleep machine which helped drown out some of the nightly traffic noise.
Sharing Mate
In Argentina, drinking yerba mate is huge. When you’re walking about the city almost everyone you see will have a mate cup or a thermos of water at just the right temperature, ready to be poured for a mate. In parks, everyone out relaxing will have a mate on them. It’s probably the biggest, most profound custom in Argentina.
The thing about this custom that I’m not a fan of is the sharing of mate. That’s right, normally a group of people will pass around the mate cup and share it. It can be family members, friends hanging out, coworkers in a meeting, students in Spanish class or friends sitting on a bus together.
In fact, I would say it’s rare (it would literally never happen!) to have someone pour a mate and not offer it to anyone near them. I was offered a mate by so many people - friends, teachers and tour guides!
And they’re not just sharing with one person - they share with the whole room. So if there’s 8 people, they’ll pass it around until everyone gets a sip then refill the water and pass it around again.
To me, it’s gross. I know it's Argentine culture and this is definitely the American in me. I recognize my biases. But something about sharing straws with strangers - I’m just not into it.
Drivers & Pedestrians
When I moved to Buenos Aires and for many months (maybe over a year?!) I thought Porteños were very rude people. But I think a lot of it has to do with there being so many people in such a small space (Buenos Aires is densely populated y’all!). The pedestrians can be rude on the sidewalks. They don’t like to move over and make space for others and they certainly won’t hesitate to bump into you. And if/when you get bumped into, don’t expect an “excuse me”. Instead you may get a glare, even if it was their fault.
Being from the South, this took a little (a lot) getting used to. In fact, I think I still struggle with it. It’ll take me back for a minute and then I’ll snap out of it and remind myself it’s just their culture.
The drivers are the same way. There’s a saying in Buenos Aires and it goes something like, “The only things that yield in the city are pedestrians. Not cars or bicycles.” And it’s definitely accurate. If you’re walking across the street and you have the right away, you better still look out for cars. They will get inches away from people without a second thought.
It also reminds me of that old video game Grand Theft Auto - where they try to hit people. Walking around BsAs felt like that quite often.
I’m a little embarrassed about this, but one time I was almost hit (when I had a “walk” sign) and I was so furious (I was probably having a bad day) I slammed the car's trunk with my fists as he passed by me!!
Bottom line: the drivers and pedestrians are usually only looking out for themselves…so be careful out there when you visit or move to Buenos Aires!
I’ve outlined some things that I found annoying while I was living in Buenos Aires however this is just one side of the conversation. There are also so many positive and amazing things about living there too. In fact, I’ll do a blog post on only those positive things, soon!
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