They are not digital nomads nor did they come to Argentina attracted by the exchange rate. On the contrary, they suffer, like Argentines, from the economic crisis that the country is experiencing.
Many foreigners choose to stay in Argentina despite the problems that a country with more than 140% inflation has been going through for several years.
“Argentina is delicious in many ways”says Paige Nichols, 36 years old, who arrived in Buenos Aires from Washington 15 years ago. For this digital content advisor, Argentina is a country that can “drive you crazy,” but that does not take away the good thing about living in a “dynamic and creative” society.
Of the more than 46 million people who live in Argentina more than three million are foreigners with Argentine residence, according to the latest data from the National Registry of Persons.
That figure, which represents a 6.5% of the country’s populationdoes not include immigrants who are not registered, so it is estimated that the number may be much higher.
“Argentina is recognized for having the best education in Latin America“says Isla Montalier, 29, who in 2012 traveled from Sergipe, in the northeast of Brazil, to Buenos Aires to study Medicine at a private university.
Island is part of the 87% of migrants who arrive in Argentina from other South American countries.
“We all know the situation that the country is experiencing. What happens hurts me. But since I arrived I never thought about going somewhere else“says Larry Montes, a 33-year-old architect who, before leaving Venezuela in 2017, had evaluated the possibility of settling in Santiago, Chile.
The feeling of community, the good treatment of migrants by Argentines, the vibrant energy, its universities, the way of relating, the disruptive outlook and the nightlife are some of the reasons that explain why many foreigners stay despite difficulties.
At BBC Mundo we talk to some of them about the reasons that led them to choose Argentina.
Reception of the migrant: Larry Montes (Venezuela)
The day I arrived in Buenos Aires I felt like it was my place in the world.
We all know the economic situation that Argentina is experiencing. What happens hurts me. But since I arrived in 2017 I never thought about leaving, although before leaving Caracas I had thought about settling in Santiago de Chile.
Argentina is a very warm country with Venezuelan migrants.
In many other Latin American countries, Venezuelans are victims of xenophobia. On the contrary, in Argentina we are a respected community. We Venezuelans feel grateful to this beautiful country.
Look, to give an example, in my first job I met a person in a strange way, at the house of some acquaintances, and the following week we were already eating a barbecue at their house. It’s lovely!
I also notice it in the professional field. I am an architect and from the beginning I found work in the construction sector. Argentine professionals I have always been treated with respect In my workplaces, they have made me feel integrated.
I think that has to do with the migratory past of many Argentine families, which make Argentina a warm place for foreigners. Most people open the doors of their house to you, welcome you well, invite you to eat.
Of course I would like the economic reality to not be so hectic. That’s a feeling we all have right now.
But the rest… I love living here. I can’t feel anything but grateful for this beautiful country that welcomed me with so much love.
Creativity and contrasts: Paige Nichols (USA)
Sometimes I say, jokingly, that I stay in Argentina because I like to suffer.
Argentina has a seductive chaos. I mean there’s room here for change, transformation, creativity.
Anyway, I don’t romanticize chaos. At times, This country drives me crazy.
For example, if one day I have to go to the bank, the supermarket and the post office, that can take up to three days: you go to the bank and there is no system; You go to the supermarket and you can’t find half of the products you want to take; You get to the post office and they are on strike.
So, here comes the question that many ask me: Why did you leave the United States, a first world country, to live here? That’s what a lot of people can’t understand.
Well, Argentina is delicious in many ways. This country has given me everything in these 15 years that I have been here: it gave me a job, a community of friends, a chosen family, opened the doors and my eyes.
Also, I like contrasts of the Argentines: hysteria with sincerity, the desire to break the rules with respect for certain social conventions. It is a country that forces you to always be awake.
Of course, that has a negative side, It is a country that demands too much of youyou can not rest because you don’t know what to do you are going to find
In Argentina we do more with much less and that forces us to be creative and dynamic, something that at the end of the day is a strength.
The way of relating: Oriane Flechaire (France)
I was born in Pernes-les-Fontaines, in the south of France.
After studying business administration and communication in France, I decided that I wanted to live abroad, although I did not start in Argentina but in California, in the United States.
In Los Angeles I noticed that each person focuses on their life without looking too much at the other and, for me, the way of relating is important.
For example, there is no custom of sitting down to talk in a cafe. I think that the absence of this type of customs greatly conditions the way which people connect.
On the other hand, in 2011, when I arrived in Argentina, I noticed that We French and Argentinians have a lot in common.
For example, we share good food. It seems like something minor but when I say this I mean that we interact sitting around a table: a good meal with good conversations.
Both the French and the Argentinians we value the idea of community more than the idea of individual success and failure. You see it in education and in public health, in the way people go out into the streets, walk at night, meet each other. All of this speaks volumes about a society.
Of course, I feel concerned about what is happening in Argentina, especially since I am a mother. I want my son to grow up in a democratic society and I want him to have some kind of future that is not disastrous.
In that sense, we think about our stay in the countrybut I don’t have my suitcase ready in a corner of my house.
Access to education: Montalier Island (Brazil)
I always wanted to be a doctor. But studying Medicine in Brazil is very expensive.
Education in Brazil is elitist. It is very rare to see someone who is not white, middle or upper-middle class among the doctors received in my country.
In public universities, if you did not go to private schools, it is very difficult for you to pass the “vestibular” [examen de ingreso a la universidad]. In private universities, the fee is five times higher than in paid universities in Argentina.
That’s why, Many Brazilians come to study here. In my case, I graduated from a private university that I could not have paid for in Brazil.
In that sense, we see with some concern – and I think I can speak for a large part of the Brazilian community in the country – the debate on the future of public education in Argentina, especially those who are studying at the moment.
Argentina is recognized for having the best education in Latin America. I wonder what would happen in this country, which has 50% poor people, if they did not have access to education. I think they would be in a much more complicated position.
In my case, I am not thinking about leaving the country. I realized that one day in 2014, walking with my mother on Florida Street in Buenos Aires, when she told me that she had to think about what she was going to do when she returned to Brazil.
At that moment I responded: “I don’t want to go back to Brazil. I love the life I have in Argentina“.
Growth: Mauricio Flórez (Colombia)
In Argentina I discovered a country where everything happens at all times.
I left Medellín, where I was born, for Quito, Ecuador, when I was 19 years old. I was there for a while, but the city seemed too small to me, too conservative.
On the contrary, Buenos Aires is a very creative place.
Already in Argentina, I began little by little to dedicate myself to gastronomy. First, from the world of wines, thanks to a partnership with which we opened a wine bar.
I am aware of the problems that Argentina is experiencing. For those of us who work in the field of gastronomy, day-to-day life becomes very difficult. You always have to be thinking about prices when you could invest that time in other things.
But I stay because I feel an evolution. Despite the economic crisis, I notice constant growth in Argentina.
Also, I don’t think there are as many cities as Buenos Aires in Latin America. This is a place with people from all over the world, fun, with an intense nightlife, that many of the other cities in Latin America do not have.
It seems to me that this has to do with what it is Safer. Although security has improved in Medellín and worsened in Buenos Aires, we are still far from reaching the levels of violence experienced in some regions of Colombia.
If I had to give advice to someone who is wanting to come to Argentina, I would tell you to try other cities: Córdoba, Mendoza, Bariloche, don’t just think about Buenos Aires. There are many opportunities in other provinces.
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