As I moved to Argentina, where I have never been before
November 2014 I went with two suitcases in luggage and a laptop in my hand luggage on the route Moscow - Buenos Aires. Not on vacation, but in emigration. I was 27 years old. I have never been to Argentina before and did not know anyone there. At Vnukovo airport, my parents escorted me with such faces as if I flew to Mars, where it is impossible by definition to live. And I burned bridges behind me. Recklessness inspired and gave strength.
The decision to "throw" was not spontaneous, it has been painfully growing in me over the past few years. The social and political course chosen by the Kremlin and (why fool yourself?) By the overwhelming majority of compatriots, 200% contradicted my ideas about humanity, justice and adequacy. We were not on the road. It remained for me to choose from three points: to remain, to endure, to complain and to amuse themselves with illusions; fight the smallest chance of success; go and try everything from scratch in a more suitable place for me. I chose the third.
It was harder and more offensive to part with your favorite work and career ambitions. I decided to become a journalist in the fifth grade, and right after the university I was lucky to get on the newly opened Dozhd TV channel, where I went from being an intern girl writing for the morning news to a correspondent in the author's program, Pavel Lobkov. From a professional point of view, it was an incredibly cool four years, which I will always remember with a smile. But then, one by one, my closest friends departed from Moscow to different countries. And once I caught myself thinking that there was nothing more than work in my life — emptiness. And I was scared.
Argentina
By chance, as a student of the Moscow State University, I began to learn Spanish. Over time, it turned into a passion that spread to all the yellow-red kingdom and Latin America - history, literature, painting, film, music. I became a real fan. I traveled to Spain many times, so the first thought was: "Everything, I am moving to Madrid or to Seville." But, critically assessing their financial capabilities and prospects for many years of struggle for documents, with tears in their eyes, this plan had to be abandoned.
Thanks to the work in the news, I outlined in general what was waiting for me in each of the countries of Latin America. And I chose for myself the safest, European and climate-friendly - I was not ready for tropical heat and exotic insects. She was Argentina. As in most countries of the region, in the first six months for the Russians there is no need for a visa. With the income, at least for the first time, the issue was resolved: the remote work for a small Moscow magazine, writing about architecture and design, turned up very well. While I was buying the ticket, I was looking for a room in Buenos Aires via the Internet and found out all the details of everyday Argentine life, it was not at all scary. Anxiety overtook me about three weeks before departure. And as a sedative and benefit for local slang, I revised almost the entire childhood childhood favorite series - “The Wild Angel” with Natalia Oreiro in the title role.
Buenos Aires
While the plane was going to land, I looked with interest into the porthole lights of Buenos Aires, which I knew only from the novels of Julio Cortasar, several films and stories of familiar Argentines living in Italy. In Moscow it was late autumn and the first snow, and here the night greeted me with a warm spring rain. When in the morning I reached the city center, went out around the obelisk and saw jacaranda in a lilac fog of flowers, I realized that it was love at first sight and I could never live without this city again.
I remembered Carrie Bradshaw, who went on dates with New York. The next few weeks, having finished work, I wandered for hours around Buenos Aires. The multi-colored harbor of La Boca, the dilapidated colonial San Telmo, the aristocratic Parisian Recoleta, the Italian Palermo, the designer Puerto Madero - each district has its own face, smells, inhabitants, sounds, habits and customs. And, fortunately, no point typical building.
And Buenos Aires is a city with a rich cultural life for zero pesos. The number of free museums, exhibitions, performances, festivals, concerts and film screenings for everyone is amazing. And this is not on the occasion of the anniversary of independence or the day of the city - here it is always so.
I can say with complete confidence that Buenos Aires is no more dangerous than Moscow. As in any big city, in the Argentine capital there are areas where it is better not to appear at night. Of course, there is local specificity. The country has high duties on any imported equipment, so cameras, computers and mobile phones are several times more expensive than in Europe and the USA. New iPhones, which many tourists love to carry in their hands and demonstrate to the public, will certainly be seen by pickpockets - thieves will try to pull them out. The same applies to expensive accessories: it is not customary to show wealth among locals.
"Ponaehala"
After the first few months had passed and it became obvious that I was planning to stay in the country, and perhaps for the rest of my life, I began to be afraid to hear in my address: “We've come here!” But my fear was completely unfounded. The current Argentineans are seventy percent descendants of the Italians and Spaniards who migrated overseas in the first half of the 20th century. Still remember great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers who came to look for happiness in the New World. Therefore, new migrants are treated with understanding and without negativity.
To make temporary documents, I went to study Spanish in the University of Buenos Aires - the largest and most famous in the country. It was useful, inexpensive and entitled to a four-month student visa, which could be extended from level to level.
From the first trip to the migration service, I did not expect anything good. And she was discouraged when, after an hour, she successfully passed all the documents and at the same time I never got nasty. The building, where all this happened, until the 1950s was a "hotel for immigrants". Here stayed those who upon arrival had nowhere to go. Part of the hotel was preserved as it was at that time, and turned into a museum. Bunk beds, shared toilets, shower, dining room, a huge collection of forgotten, lost and abandoned as unnecessary personal items and documents. Here, thousands of foreigners bombarded with dreams of a happy future in their new homeland, and mothers lulled their children with lullabies in Italian, Spanish, German, Polish, Ukrainian and Russian. On the ground floor there is an archive department where you can find out if relatives were listed here, and even find out the exact date and name of the ship on which they arrived in Argentina.
Argentines
Argentines are mostly sociable and family people. They are easily invited to visit, get acquainted with friends, relatives and maintain close relationships with numerous second cousins and four cousins. Locals love to eat and hang out. They are musical, athletic, well prepared and always ready to try something new.
It is almost impossible to run into rudeness, but forgetfulness and disorder in the order of things. Quickly, clearly and efficiently - this is not about the locals. It makes no sense to be offended and angry: you need to either keep everything under personal control, or learn how to score. Football and politics are treated equally passionately. Dissatisfied in Argentina immediately take to the streets, untouchable politicians do not exist. And the right to be yourself, to live, to love and to look the way you want, inviolable.
Psychologically, Argentines are still much closer to Italy and Spain than the neighboring countries. People under 35 years old are considered almost teenagers. They are still easily asking for money from their parents, even if they live separately, they manage to start and give up several higher educations, and they don’t worry about this at all, confident that they have absolutely everything ahead.
Old age as such does not exist. In Buenos Aires, it is in the nature of things to retire and happily do all the things that we didn’t have time for: learning to sing, dance tango, draw or play in the amateur theater. In Pilates classes, Argentine pensioners are tied into such spectacular nods that age seems like an illusion. I have not heard from anyone here: “Well, my time has passed. Where are we? Health is not that ...” The Argentines have everything, and they do not seem to be going to die at all.
Without exception, my friends and acquaintances in Buenos Aires are actively involved in sports and go to psychologists, and for years, most often since high school. According to statistics, in Argentina the most practicing psychologists per capita in the world. And if the United States, for example, leads in the consumption of antidepressants, the Argentines in 99% of cases cost regular conversations with experts. At first I laughed at this local habit, then I asked about its causes, in the end I wrote a great report about it and sat down myself. Now every Thursday I come to the office of Beatrice, sit in a dark turquoise velvet chair and try to calmly deal with herds of cockroaches in my head. After six months of therapy, I began to feel a serious positive effect. The services of psychologists in Argentina are big business, but you can always find a specialist not only for a reasonable fee, but, in an emergency, completely free.
Job
Moving to another country and radically changing everything, I was ready for the fact that my standard of living would temporarily decrease and for a few years I would have to go into economy mode. In addition, modern Argentina is absolutely not suitable for those who seek to earn big money. Well-to-do families are almost always the ones that continue the business founded by previous generations.
Life in Buenos Aires is not cheaper than Moscow. This was especially felt with the arrival of the new president, Mauricio Macri. Against the background of 40% inflation, his government has significantly increased the prices of gas, electricity, water, transportation, and food. The opposition and trade unions are trying to slow down this process, but not very successfully.
I undertake any journalistic and editorial work that is offered to me, and also work as a private guide for Russian-speaking tourists - I adore Buenos Aires, and I like to show it to travelers.
Husband from tinder
"Argentines are terribly long. Five or seven years old are dating before the wedding," several Russian girls in Buenos Aires warned me at once. I was not eager to get married immediately, so the forecast was fine with me. At first, in the city, I knew very few people, and the correspondence in Tinder was fun. There were only three dates. The last happened in February 2015. That evening, tropical summer rain fell on Buenos Aires that night, and the center of the city was blocked because of the big opposition march I had time to drop by. All cafes, pizzerias and coffee houses were crammed with people wanting to hide from the rain.
Franco came on a date: 28 years old, beautiful instagram, by profession - director. After a long walk through the puddles, we came across a strange completely empty bar in the colonial San Telmo district. The ceiling in several places leaked, the bartender enthusiastically talked with his friend. There were no other visitors besides us. Having ordered a bottle of wine, we went to the far table, where we quietly talked until morning. And exactly one year later they got married at the registry office on the last floor of the shopping center, from where they had a great view of one of the main attractions of the city - Recoleta Cemetery, where I regularly take tourists.
The question whether I remain is resolved by itself. In two years of living in Argentina, I had a beloved husband, a large Argentinean family, an adorable dachshund named Simon, a new job and a clear realization that I found a suitable place on the world map.
Photo: MARCELO - stock.adobe.com, Henrik Dolle - stock.adobe.com, Pascal RATEAU - stock.adobe.com, Flickr
