Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Resources

Since I've been doing this blog, I've gotten a bunch of comments saying how helpful it is and how great of a resource it's been for people who are considering or planning to move down here to the lovely Buenos of Aires. Which is nice to hear, because it's always been one of my goals to help out other people who took the plunge just like I did (see first post ever).

That being said, there are lots of resources out there that contain a virtual goldmine of information and opinions about everything from the current inflation problem to the best place for pizza. I used some of these myself before coming down, and they helped immeasurably. Others I discovered after being here for a while.

In this post I'm going to list some of the different resources available to tourists, permatourists, expats, exchange students, and anyone else who has been drawn to this country. Because I'm super organized, these will be in categorized list form...I know how happy this will make you all. Oh wait, that's me.

GENERAL RESOURCES
Baexpats.org- forum for expatriates in Argentina; incredibly useful information combined with lots and lots of different opinions; use the search function for a more focused approach, or just browse the different categories and topics to see what people are doing, thinking, planning, asking

landingpadBA- another general information site, geared toward a younger crowd

transitionsabroad.com- general information about moving abroad; some useful links and information, be aware that some of it might be dated

www.cultura.gov.ar (Spanish)

www.museos.buenosaires.gov.ar (Spanish)

http://bloggersinargentina.blogspot.com/ - list of bloggers in Argentina (including me!); click randomly and get a fresh new perspective on the country

HOUSING
myspaceba.com 
apartmentsba.com
craigslist.org

 
NEWS
The Argentimes (English)- excellent source of current events, cultural activities, social issues, travel ideas
buenosairesherald.com (English)
clarin.com (Spanish)
lanacion.com.ar (Spanish)

COMMUNITY PROJECTS
couchsurfing.org- worldwide community of travelers; concept = people travel the world by crashing on other people’s couches; join the Buenos Aires community, and you’ll see lists of events, activities, trips, and general get-togethers with both Argentines and foreigners living or traveling through BA

wwoof.org- World Wide Opportunity for Organic Farming; concept = you live and work (for free) on an organic farm performing whatever duties the owners/family require, and you get a place to live, food, and a great experience (for free); check out the list of participating farms in Argentina and see what kinds of things you could be doing outside of the big city

ONCE YOU’RE HERE
Plataforma10.com (Spanish)- search for and purchase long-distance bus tickets to anywhere in Argentina and several cities in Chile, Brazil, and Peru

guiaoleo (Spanish)- highly used diner’s guidebook; lists most restaurants in Buenos Aires, and you can search for what you want by name, type of food, barrio, price, etc; also features descriptions of the resto, pictures, and reviews by customers

comoviajo.com (Spanish)- enter in your current location and final destination and figure out how to get where you want to go

ole.com.ar (Spanish)- diario deportivo aka sports journal, detailing all the happenings in Argentine and some international sports; because this is Argentina people, the site features mostly football

taringa (Spanish)- Argentine site for downloading or just browsing different things on the internet; features music, videos, programs, etc

compumap (Spanish)- downloadable program that is seriously awesome; similar to comoviajo, you can enter in your current location and final destination and find the exact bus route to get you there; also allows you to search for hospitals, fire stations, police stations, and government buildings; incredible map also shows all of Buenos Aires province with all the street names, train lines, parks, etc; there’s also lots of other functions that I haven’t figured out yet, but will ASAP—download this from taringa and play around!
 
BLOGS
Tourist2townie- great perspective from a guy who is attempting to go from tourist to local; he describes some of the more interesting aspects of Argentine life (ie the Man Kiss)

Saltshaker- blog by the owner of a closed-door restaurant here in BA; in his words “casting a little flavor (and a few aspersions) on the world of food, drink, and life” in Buenos Aires

The Argentine Post- one of my favorite sources for Argentine current events, presented clearly and concisely


So there you go! Hopefully some of these links will be of some use to someone out there! Oh and you can also check out my how-to posts for some explanations of how to navigate life in BA (section on the sidebar). Suerte!

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