Moving to and living in...Argentina

Federal Voting Assistance Program for U.S. Overseas Expat Voters

If you're outside of the U.S. and you plan to vote then you should visit www.fvap.gov the Federal Voting Assistance Program. This is the official U.S. government site for voters who are overseas.

On this site you will be able to register to vote and to request an absentee ballot. There is a step by step diagram of what you will need to do to vote through their site. In addition, there are many resources and answers to frequently asked questions to help you through the overseas voting process.

The site is broken down into two sections - One for for active-duty members of the Armed Forces, Merchant Marine, Public Health Service, NOAA, and their family members and the other is for United States citizens who are living outside the U.S. for work, school or other reasons.

If you have specific questions about absentee voting then contact the Voting Assistance Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires at 011-5777-4818 or email [email protected] . 

I encourage you to visit the site and register to vote. It's going to be an interesting election and just because you're out of the country doesn't mean you can't participate.

Mercer Worldwide Cost of Living Rankings 2008/2009

Mercer has released their yearly Global World Cost of Living Rankings for 2008/2009. Once again Moscow tops the list as the most expensive and Buenos Aires comes in well down the list as a relatively affordable place. Of course we all know that there are many things that go into these surveys but in comparison to many areas BA still is a bargain.

From their site:
"Worldwide Cost of Living survey 2008 – City ranking    

 

United Kingdom       

                London,        24 July 2008

   

Moscow is still the most expensive city for   expatriates; Asunción in Paraguay is the cheapest

         

•  
   
• European and Asian cities dominate the top   10
   
• Weakening of US dollar causes significant   changes in rankings
   
• London drops one place to rank   third

Moscow is the world’s most expensive city for expatriates for the third consecutive year, according to the latest Cost of Living Survey from Mercer. Tokyo is in second position climbing two places since last year, where as London drops one place to rank third. Oslo climbs six places to 4th place and is followed by Seoul in 5th. Asunción in Paraguay is the least expensive city in the ranking for the sixth year running.

With New York as the base city scoring 100 points, Moscow scores 142.4 and is close to three times costlier than Asunción which has an index of 52.5. Contrary to the trend observed last year the gap between the world’s most and least expensive cities now seems to be widening.

Mercer’s survey covers 143 cities across six continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. It is the world’s most comprehensive cost of living survey and is used to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees." Read more at Mercer

 

New resource for schools in the province of Buenos Aires

There is a rather extensive list of schools already posted in my blog but I came across the following resource through a friend of mine that lists more than 4,500 schools or colegios in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

It's called Busco Colegios and can be found here.

Psst Want to know how to move to Argentina? All about life in Argentina? excerpt of Chapter 6 from my ebook

I've been asked several times to post an excerpt from my ebook so here it is:
From Chapter 6: Real Estate and Rentals...

Garantias - Remember how the owner can take years to get someone to pay back rent, or get them out of their property? Well the guarantia is what makes them feel secure.

                A guarantia is essentially a type of lien whereby someone’s property is put up as collateral should the tenant default on the lease or destroy the property. Although never 100% guaranteed to work, it gives the landlord more legal power to try and recoup their losses. It can be difficult to find someone to give a guarantia because they may be uncomfortable risking their property or they may already have given one to another person. Even if you are successful in getting a guarantia, there is no guarantee that the owner will accept it.

Employers can also provide a guarantia. For instance, many of the foreign companies or embassies who send their workers to

Argentina

will provide a guarantia for the property rental. If you don’t have a guarantia, don’t worry, there are other options that are available, such as paying the rent up front or pago adelantado, which is essentially what is happening in the tourist rental market. And you needn’t feel like you’re alone in securing a guarantia because many Argentines also have trouble securing guarantias.

If you choose to use the pago adelantado you need to be aware of one thing, unless you work it out with the owner or agency, you will be paying your entire rent up front and should you have any problems or need to break the contract, you will have little recourse. One way to avoid this is to try to do a contract broken into segments – for instance a two year lease that has four separate contracts, all prepared at the same time, but as each contract ends and the next begins, you pay the next rental period. This protects you in the case that you absolutely need to leave or begin to hate the place…or the owner.

 

Alternative forms of education in Buenos Aires: Waldorf and homeschooling

I've mentioned several schooling options in the past in Buenos Aires - from private, traditional American and British English schools to public schools to private bi-lingual schools such as the French Lycee.

Other options for families looking for the non-traditional would be either the Waldorf school or homeschooling.

The Waldorf school in Martinez would be a great idea for someone whose kids already have some Spanish language skills as most classes are taught in Spanish. I have a good friend who has had her kids at the Waldorf school in Martinez for two years now and loves it. She thinks that it has been as great as if not better in many ways than their last Waldorf school in California.

The other possibility, particularly for someone who doesn't want to go through the headache of getting all the papers for their child to go to school is to homeschool. There is a great forum Homeschool World Forum that is helpful if you're considering homeschooling overseas. 

Any comments about your experiences with Waldorf or homeschooling in Argentina please be sure to contact me or post your comments for all to hear!

Here are a couple of other useful sites/forums/groups as well:
Expat Homeschool
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/expat-homeschool

Bilingual Homeschool
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bilingualhomeschool

Expat Kids
http://www.ori-and-ricki.net

Expat and multi-lingual resources for children and parents

I was thinking about additional resources this weekend that can be really helpful if you're moving to Argentina (or anywhere for that matter). Also some great resources if you're raising kids or planning to raise them in a bilingual family.

AP Expat Moms: attachment parenting discussion group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AP-Expat-Moms

Special Needs Abroad
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/specialneedsabroad

Expat Kids
Site for kids
http://www.ori-and-ricki.net

ExpatWoman.com
http://www.expatmum.com

Family Life Abroad
http://www.familylifeabroad.com

ExpatMomsOnline
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ExpatMomsOnline

Expat Cooking
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/expat-cooking

Foreign Wives Club
An online community by and for women in bicultural marriages.
http://www.foreignwivesclub.com

Living Abroad
http://www.liveabroad.com/

Tales from a Small Planet
The literary and humor magazine for expatriates everywhere!
http://www.talesmag.com

TheTrailingSpouse.com
http://users.anet.com/~smcnulty/homepage.html

Looking for a safe healthy place to board your pet in Buenos Aires for the holidays?

Are you looking for a safe and healthy place in Buenos Aires to board your pet for the holidays? You should definitely check out Jim Anderson's place PetsVentura.
Jim is a transplanted Canadian who has brought his holistic pet health views and pet friendly living ideas to Buenos Aires. He is the only one performing this service at this time in Buenos Aires and I love his service and the care he provides for the animals. He took care of our four babies (2 cats and 2 dogs) with the utmost respect and love like they were his own. I just can't speak highly enough about him. He speaks English and Spanish so if you have any difficulties with doing your pets paperwork in Spanish, he's the person to talk to! Here's the information on his services, try him out - you won't be disappointed.
p.s. don't forget to ask him about doing a "pet cam" for your babies :)

The Holidays are just around the Corner…
Don't forget to make your boarding reservation!

Availability for boarding your pet (dogs, cat or exotic pet) with PETSVENTURA PETS HOTEL are filling up fast and we currently have for some days a waiting list.

If you need to board during the upcoming holidays, Christmas & NEW YEAR make your reservation now!

We are constantly getting boarding reservations and will more than likely be able to reserve you a spot. Please keep in mind waiting for last moment; we may not be able to accommodate your booking needs at PETSVENTURA PETS HOTEL. 

Whether you would like your cat or dog looking best, or need a TOP NOTCH home for a stay while you’re away, PETSVENTURA is here to provide all your needs.

We have the best Master Groomer and an excellent Veterinarian (Home Visit) to take care of all your pets needs. For your convenient All services are providing in English and Spanish.   

For more information or to make a reservation, please give us a call at 11-4836-2290 or, make your reservation by email at [email protected]

Expat Women new website

I've been meaning to mention this website now for quite awhile so I'm finally gonna get it out there!!

Expat Women is a new site specifically targeting women expatriates around the world. There are a lot of great resources on the site including links to blogs, articles, mentors, and much much more. If you're a woman expat, thinking about expatriating, whether to Argentina or anywhere else in the world, you should definately check out the site.

Babywearing in Argentina

First off, if you're not interested in babies, parenting or babywearing don't even bother to read the rest of this post unless you're looking to learn something about the above :)

Babywearing has become more and more popular and there are now tons of different types of carriers   and just as many websites to provide information about them and the benefits of wearing your baby. Carriers can range from wraps to asian style carriers to ring slings to structured baby carriers (no the Baby Bjorn is not the only carrier out there).

Wearing your baby is excellent for promoting bonding both for mothers as well as fathers, and if you're adopting a baby there is no better way to bond with your new addition. Some of the most widely known reasons for wearing your baby are: resting your arms, providing hands free freedom of movement, soothing fussy, colicky infants, and making breastfeeding on the go - easier. Carried babies are often more alert, cry less and are safer - just take a look at Caitlyn in our ringsling on an airplane, well actually you can't see her because she's tucked down where it's warm and the air is moist and away from germs.  

I've also worn her in places like the Puerto de Frutos market in Tigre and even grocery shopping which drew all kinds of looks from people and lots of questions. One thing that's important though is not all carriers are suited for all types of weather - my ring sling was perfect for the hot Buenos Aires summer but my stretchy wrap was way too hot but would be perfect for fall and winter.

In Argentina it's begining to catch on in the more mainstream lifestyle but there aren't many carriers available, one of the most widely commercially available ones being the Wawita Portabebe which I found to be a bit bulky and cumbersome and definately too hot for the summer, but at least they're making the effort to get them out there. However, with so many seamstresses in Argentina there's absolutely no reason not to have your own made (just make sure they use VERY STRONG thread and double stitch things) - I'm listing plently of links that give the instructions on how to made sewn carriers and how to construct a simple wrap as well as well as proving information about how to choose a carriers, forums where you can talk to other baby wearing people, and tons of other information.  

One of the biggest sites on the internet is The Baby Wearer which although it can be overwhelming has excellent information on choosing a carrier, forums where you can talk to other people, ask questions and even connect with people in Argentina. There is also plenty of information about how to make your own carrier.

NINO (Nine in Nine Out) a nonprofit babywearing organization to promote babywearing by educating the general public about its benefits.

Mamatoto Wear Your Baby Project where you can learn to wear baby wearing positions from their excellent videos, sewing instructions for making your own carrier and even how to make a SPOC carrier (simple piece of cloth)

The Rebozo Way Project has lots of information and also some excellent articles. Este sitio Proyecto " A La Manera del Rebozo" esta en Espanol tambien y tiene muchos articulos en Espanol.

Another great site is Kelly Mom which not only has great information about baby wearing but also lots of breastfeeding information as well - excellent resource.

Last but not least is another favorite, although not just about babywearing that one of my good friends in Argentina turned me onto, Mothering.com. The site has excellent information on everything from babywearing, attachment parenting, cloth diapering, breastfeeding, and also a "tribe" forum where you can connect with other people around the world (I'm hoping they'll add a South American tribe). A huge plus for expats - they just launched a digital version of their magazine.

I hope this information is useful and would certainly love to hear comments!

Getting your Argentine born childs passport

I must admit I've been very lax about posting lately, somehow I think becoming a new mom has been the major culprit. I have so little time on my hands now and it seems that just as I sit down to write, something else always pulls me away. But I recently received a couple of questions about how to get a passport for a child born in Argentina to expat parents so I wanted to get this post out that I've been trying to do for more than three months :( It's gonna be a quick post but here goes.

Argentine passports are processed at the Policia Federal in the capital. You can go online to their website and download the form that you'll need to turn in with your paperwork which will save you a lot of time, particularly if you think you'll struggle with your Spanish. You'll click on the dropdown menu for "servicios" and then on "formularios" and then choose "pasaporte cedula de identitad". You can then print it to LEGAL sized paper. You need to fill out the entire form - have your child's DNI handy because you'll need information from it.

Once you've got your form filled out, collect your child's DNI, birth certificate, and your passports. You must make copies of everything...first page of DNI, birth cert, and first pages of passports PLUS the page which shows your last entry stamp. (if you are illegal because your visa has expired you'll have to first exit the country ie. go to Uruguay and then you can go to the Policia). If you don't get all the correct copies don't worry because there's a copy place just across the street. So once you've got all your paperwork together you'll head on down to the office.

Try to go to the office early just to avoid waiting. When you get there, DO NOT stand in line outside. Enter the building and turn immediately to your left and you'll see a special area for elderly, pregnant women, and people with young children - that's where you go. Head to the desk where the "very nice" (read grouchy) people will take your papers. They will check your paperwork and have you sit down to wait to be called. Once you're called back up they check everything again, send you over to pay for the passport in the main cajeras; then you return again where you'll head to get your child's photos done where the person will also give you a paper with a bar code DO NOT LOSE THIS; then you'll go to have their fingerprints taken; you're done. All said if everything goes smoothly you should be out in no more than 2 hours and possibly much less.

They tell you the passports can take around 20 business days but we got ours in around 7 business days. The passport is delivered by a mail courier and for him to release it to you you'll need the child's DNI, your passport, and that little paper with the bar code and then you just sign for the passport. And that's it.

It really isn't that bad as long as you know what to expect. Good luck and email if you have any questions!

When the person take