I have begun to work at a digital media company here in Buenos Aires, not only am I gaining experience and all that I am also being introduced to Argentine culture and politics like never before.

Argentina’s new president, Mauricio Macri was elected last November, he is part of the Cambiemos party, a fairly new political party that is a far cry from Kircherismo. Kirchnerismo, is derived from president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Nestor Kirchner. Nestor served one term as president and then was followed by his wife which served two full terms, together they rules the country for 12 years.. Kirchnerismo, is a left leaning party while Cambiemos is more to the right.

Argentine politics really can’t be described. Currently many of the past politicians that served in Cristina’s government have been accused of massive corruption and embezzlement. One of her close friends, Lazaro Baez, benefitted greatly from government contracts. His size of all of his estates put together are about the size of the province of Buenos Aires.

Argentina recently paid their massive debt and as a result economy is struggling, there have been thousands of dismissals from government jobs and inflation is rampant.

I don’t usually frequent supermarkets but I do feel the inflation when I pay for laundry or my lunch. When I first arrived to BA a load of laundry was 70 pesos or roughly $4.50 now it’s 80 pesos or roughly $5.50. It may not seem like a lot but in the long run it is especially if you wash frequently.

I always think that you if you are a middle-class worker in the United States working on a American-dollar based salary then you’d be doing well in Buenos Aires. Many of the services offered here are priced that way. For example, lunch here depending on where you go of course costs upwards of 100 pesos or about $7. Dinner might be more expensive especially if you’re having drinks. Drinks are usually 70-100 ($5-$7) pesos, of course depending on what you order. Also, water here is not free like in the U.S., most of the time you will get charged the same amount as if you had ordered a soda or juice.

Clothes are very expensive in BA, no fast-fashion prices here. The clothes and shoes are expensive and are usually bad quality. I advice you to bring what is necessary taking into account that you might not want to buy any clothes or shoes here. Another issue in the retail business are the sizes, clothes here run small and stores only carry certain numbers. This has to do with the European and American influence on Argentine fashion. Argentina has a huge epidemic of eating disorders only second to Japan.