Do Argentines Hate Us?

Here's a rather negative post made last month by an expat who was pretty disgruntled and upset with Argentina.

Reader's Comment

I love reading these superficial posts where Americans write about pretty women, cheap prices and good food. I'm another American who has lived on and off in BA since before the economic crash, often for 2 years at a time. Here's what I think... Argentines don't generally like us much. They blame America for their econonomic woes. Sure, the women are nice looking and the place is cheap but one cannot go there and think he or she will be accepted into the culture or date any of these fine girls. You are a foreigner and a foreigner you will stay!

Yes, You Can Be Accepted

I would consider myself pretty integrated at this point. People tell me I speak good Spanish. I make an effort to understand things from an Argentine point of view. I have Argentine friends and I ask only that they accept me for who I am, which has nothing to do with the politics of my country. I don't get mad at my Argentine friends when I get poor service from the bureaucrats here, so I don't expect them to generalize about how I am based on my government.

And although this person said one cannot expect to be "accepted", I should comment that I do happen to be dating one of those girls that people talk about. I have lots of Argentine friends who have accepted me and like me for who I am. I imagine there are plenty of other expats with similar stories. It isn't impossible to go to a new country and be accepted into the society. However, if you go there with a chip on your shoulder and get upset the minute someone makes a bad comment about your country of birth, you might have a hard time fitting in.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't really feel the need to defend the United States when people make some comment or express an opinion. Now, obviously, if they say something totally ridiculous (i.e. the CIA blew up the World Trade Center, and yes I've heard this opinion expressed), I try to explain the facts to that person in a respectful manner, but I wouldn't get upset with anyone who's just putting their opinion out there.

I think expats will find that although Argentines might not have a favorable view towards the United States or Americans, that opinion is formed without them actually knowing you personally. Once people get to know you and see you're not the cartoonish money-grubbing yanqui capitalist who's come to steal the country's resources, you'll find you can get along with people here and be accepted into society just fine.