Welcome to the Argentina Expats Forum

There are 56 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 30,150 times. The latest Post () was by Splinter.

    Howdy... I'm moving to Argentina on Friday.


    Anyone here in Mar del Plata? I'll be there by myself for nearly three weeks before my girlfriend returns from Europe and know almost zero Spanish. Having some English speakers to help me out in the interim would be sorta cool. I need help figuring out the important things, like where to buy cheap beer and cigarettes.


    Thanks in advance!!

    • Official Post
    Quote from gringoguacamole

    Howdy... I'm moving to Argentina on Friday.


    Anyone here in Mar del Plata? I'll be there by myself for nearly three weeks before my girlfriend returns from Europe and know almost zero Spanish. Having some English speakers to help me out in the interim would be sorta cool. I need help figuring out the important things, like where to buy cheap beer and cigarettes.


    Thanks in advance!!

    Hello and Welcome!

    I am not in Mar del Plata but I spent there my last three Argentinian summers. There are some expats there, indeed, but I don't know personally any (I knew one, but he left).


    As for cigarettes, if you are buying the rolled ones (i.e. ready to smoke) the price is the same anywhere. If you want to save you should buy the tobacco and roll them yourself. Tobacco is sold in the same place as cigarettes, which are mainly quioscos (written also kioskos) and tobacco stores. Honestly, I have never rolled a cigarette myself so I cannot comment on the price of tobacco in quioscos vs. tobacco stores. Splinter is still a smoker and should be able to comment.


    In Mar Del Plata there are many beer stores, but they are not cheap. Cheap beer is sold in supermarkets and it is really piss... where are you from? Almost anywhere in the western world there is a beer culture that here is just starting out.

    However, if you go to a cerveceria early in the evening they usually have promo 2x1 on pints (such as between 7PM and 8PM). Take into account that here before 9PM nobody goes out for dinner, so it is really an after-work beer.

    • Official Post

    Welcome gringoguacamole !

    As Serafina says, it depends what you're looking for. I doubt that you'll find a decent pint like we have back in Britain, but there must be some craft beer shops now in Mar del Plata as they're spring up all over the place.

    Beer isn't that expensive here anyway and a bottle of Stella costs around AR$70. As for smokes, depends if you roll or not. I buy the nearest equivalent to Golden Virginia, called Flandria Virginia, but have no idea where it comes from. 30g is about AR$100. It's the best out of the bunch for my taste anyway.

    I have a freind who lives in MdP anyway and she may join the forum soon.

    • Official Post
    Quote from gringoguacamole

    Howdy... I'm moving to Argentina on Friday.


    Anyone here in Mar del Plata? I'll be there by myself for nearly three weeks before my girlfriend returns from Europe and know almost zero Spanish.

    There are Spanish courses for foreigners at the University of Mar del Plata. As I believe there are not many attendants this time of the year, you might want to get in touch with them right now to find out your options.

    I also saw ads by private language schools offering Spanish courses.


    The first you dig into Spanish, the better. This is a Spanish-speaking country and English won't get you very far, especially in everyday situations such as when grocery shopping and taking public transport.


    University of Mar del Plata:

    http://www.programamardelplata.org/

    • Programa de español para extranjeros intensivo. Mes de enero. Modalidad presencial. Contacto: spanishmdp@gmail.com
    • Cursos regulares de español para extranjeros. Durante todo el año. Modalidad presencial. Contacto: idiomlab@mdp.edu.ar

    Instituto Lenguas Vivas:

    http://www.lenguasvivasmdq.com.ar/idiomas.php?id=17


    Private language school:

    http://www.educaidiomas.com.ar/cursos-espanol.php


    Private classes:

    https://www.tusclases.com.ar/p…njeros/mar-del-plata.aspx

    Hey, thanks for the replies - here in a little while, I'll go back and take time to digest them a bit more thoroughly.


    I am just now getting settled in and finally have some time to take it easy and use a computer. Been a long week of storing my stuff, traveling, and acclimating a smidge to this city.


    Had a problem coming into the country. Because my girlfriend and I weren't sure about when we were coming back, I only bought a 1-way ticket. As a result, Avianca totally barred me from getting on the plane. My girlfriend and I just didn't see that coming. Out of the 8 J1s I just spent 4-5 months living with in Vail, CO, two of them came here with 1-way tickets because they weren't sure where they were going next... so, yeah, definitely caught us off guard.

    I am not in Mar del Plata but I spent there my last three Argentinian summers. There are some expats there, indeed, but I don't know personally any (I knew one, but he left).


    I haven't heard much about United States dudes here. One bartender at Bruno told me that, after summer, they're all gone, and another at Alem said that the last time a United States guy had come in was when the sub crashed... the guy was there from the States for the S&R, apparently.


    In Mar Del Plata there are many beer stores, but they are not cheap. Cheap beer is sold in supermarkets and it is really piss... where are you from? Almost anywhere in the western world there is a beer culture that here is just starting out.

    However, if you go to a cerveceria early in the evening they usually have promo 2x1 on pints (such as between 7PM and 8PM). Take into account that here before 9PM nobody goes out for dinner, so it is really an after-work beer.


    Oh, man, a litre of IPA for a little less than two bucks is super cheap compared to where I've been out in CO. I've been really pleased with most of the beer prices.



    Three packs of marlboros for 200 pesos is also pretty good considering I've been paying a little under $7 USD per pack.

    • Official Post
    Quote from gringoguacamole

    Had a problem coming into the country. Because my girlfriend and I weren't sure about when we were coming back, I only bought a 1-way ticket. As a result, Avianca totally barred me from getting on the plane. My girlfriend and I just didn't see that coming. Out of the 8 J1s I just spent 4-5 months living with in Vail, CO, two of them came here with 1-way tickets because they weren't sure where they were going next... so, yeah, definitely caught us off guard.

    That's pretty standard - if you are coming to a country without a VISA (i.e. as a tourist) they want to know that you are going away before your tourist permit expires (usually 90 days). They do not always check but airlines usually do check as they are the ones who have to carry you back (for free) if Immigration officers deny you entry.


    This is true for international flight, while I am not aware this being an issue on national flights (also because Immigration officers do not check passengers arriving with national flights). When I arrived here as a tourist I had a boat ticket to Uruguay dated 80 days after my arrival to show in case anybody asked. Nobody asked, I had a day in Colonia, and that was it. Afterwards I got married and solved the visa issue. Now controls are stricter and trips to UY are no longer a way to get unlimited time in Argentina.

    I never knew the airlines had to take people back to their countries for free, if denied entry.

    Just thought the job of checking documents was one they were doing to make sure all was in order, to make sure the passengers weren't accidentally inconvenienced.


    I do remember some years ago, checking in for the return trip from EZE when on a tourist visa, when an ambitious Delta employee gave us a scare. Looking at our documents, he announced that we had overstayed our Visas. It turned our that the guy just couldn't count.

    • Official Post
    Quote from Rice

    I never knew the airlines had to take people back to their countries for free, if denied entry.

    I believe that Immigration bounds airlines that take you back to the country where you were boarded on the first returning flight. Now, if the airlines can make the passenger pay for the round trip, is another story. I did not research too much on the issue, so I cannot tell for sure if they can actually make you pay for the return flight (I guess they will try, especially if you paid with a credit card in the first place).

    Anyway, this explains why checking your immigration status at the departing country is part of airlines due diligence, nowadays.


    For example, since European nationals can enter the US with a ESTA (or other VISA), I remember we were asked for those in Milan when we were boarding in 2014. And every time I travel back to Argentina from Italy, I am asked about my Argentinian VISA.


    In 2015 I left from Montevideo, and Uruguayans even questioned my previous stay in Argentina! This was quite odd, as I was traveling with my Italian passport which had been stamped in UY on the day before (I just spent a night in Montevideo, and caught the plane on the next day). At the airport in Montevideo, the immigration lady asked me about my stay in Argentina. What did she care? I don't know... AFAIK, she only should have cared about my 1-day stay in Montevideo. Anyway I told her I was a permanent resident of Argentina, I was starting to look for my Argentinian DNI to show and she waved me off with a smile. :scratchead:

    Due to the present inmigration policies of Argentina, I assume that nothing happens if you have overstayed here. There are no records about when you arrive and when are uou levong the country. Perhaps there are, but nobody takes care of it.

    As an argentinean, if there are some tourists which overstayed the visit to the country, provided the come from Europe or USA, I am not concerned. The problem is when the inmigrants come from Paraguay, Bolivia, and Peru. They are always overstayed, and since it rules the wroong criteria of the "Patria Grande", they remain here tolerated by the authorities. Then those inmigrants apply for a "plan trabajar".

    • Official Post

    December 4th 2020 marked three years since the new style forum came to life, when we moved from an Argentina based domain (argentinaexpats.com.ar), hosting and admin which turned out to be a disaster.

    It's also worth mentioning that Argentina Expats has been a forum in existence since 2014 and the change to new forum software was a welcome boost for us all. I believe the Argentine hosting company is now out of business, which is hardly surprising.

    The Wolt Lab software from Germany has proven to be very robust, is regularly updated and we plan to continue with the this plan for the foreseeable future.