Frustrating

Since I’ll be in Buenos Aires for over a month, I was googling around such topics as “living in Buenos Aires”, etc., to get some various perspectives on the city since I’m not going as a usual tourist. I mean of course I’ll do some touristy things, but for the most part I’m going there to dance, to be with mi amor, to get to know his family better (probably will see them every day), to meet some nice people, to learn Spanish, to get to know the culture of the city in which mi amor was born. Understanding his hometown and his culture is very, very important for our relationship (just as it was important to me that he saw “Tina in Italy” as well as “Tina in Seattle”.) It’s going to be different for me to see him in this environment – to see us in this environment. So I don’t consider myself the usual tourist.

Anyway, I was rather frustrated with my google search results (I was hoping to find informative sites, personal stories, etc…). All I could find were sensational, materialistic articles about how you too can live large in Buenos Aires. Come down to BsAs with your US dollars and live like a king – or as I see it, benefit from their economic situation without bothering to learn Spanish or even try to assimilate into the local culture. It’s okay if you’re into that sort of thing, but it really got me upset that more people don’t move to a city because they are curious about it, or because they love it, or to improve their language skills.

And this is why I choose to read blogs written by expats who are taking it day by day as they discover and re-discover the environment, the culture, the people, the language, etc., of their new home. So far I just have Tangospam (la vida con Deby) and Tango in Her Eyes on my blogroll, but I’m sure that list will grow… (UPDATE: just added a couple more!)

Maybe the next google search will be “living in Buenos Aires BLOG”.