Sentilecto
Argentine expat in Spain
Forum posts
78
Contacts
63
About me
Argentine
Lives in Valencia, Espa脙卤a
Speaks Ingl茅s y portugu茅s. No soy biling眉e en estos idiomas pero los comprendo y los hablo bastante. He vivido y trabajado en Brasil (portugu茅s) y en Trinidad y Tobago y Malasia (Ingl茅s).
Registration: 26 February 2013
About
My expat journey
Valencia, Spain
I came to this country to retire. Growing old in Argentina is somewhat more complicated - from my perspective - than doing so in Spain. Or at least, in today's Spain.
I think I was right to settle in Valencia, a city that shortly after living here I baptized The Queen of the Kingdom. It is a pearl of the Mediterranean.
Spain is the country of 3 of my grandparents and my upbringing throughout my childhood was living with Galicians. Grandparents, uncles, cousins, etc. My father was also the treasurer of the Spanish Sports Club in Argentina for 10 years when it was a first-class team. I went to see him play hundreds of times from a very young age.
I like everything about Valencia and I really like the education of its people. Sometimes we Argentines have a somewhat exaggerated arrogance - an expression of ignorance - and I have not seen that here. What I do believe is that if I had to define the Spanish with a single word I would say: courage. They are strong and tenacious. But the new generations - as in many other places in the West - in my opinion are made of glass.
I ride my bike every day because I have a heart condition and I try to survive by exercising. I take a lot of photos, because I am an amateur photographer but with a lot of work done. I also write a lot each day and continue to study psychology, neuroscience and philosophy for 2 to 3 hours each day. Now, with AI, all that has been much simplified.
In general the climate and topography of the city. The architecture. The people. Visca Valencia
They are somewhat closed, although very polite. I lived in small and medium-sized towns in Argentina and in small cities there is a certain closedness - tribe - among their inhabitants. Valencia is a big city, but its spirit is small-town.
Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
I was HR director in a metallurgical and crane maintenance company in several ports in the Indian Ocean. I also managed the development of our staff in Vietnam, Indonesia and China.
People who are humble and peaceful. Living in Asia is a good experience for those of us who have a Western and Christian maternal culture and it allows us to get to know other very interesting ways of life, even though it does not correspond in some ways with ours.
Kuala Lumpur is a thriving and very interesting city. In the 5 years that I lived there, it also developed more than other countries in a century. I have been fortunate to meet several university presidents, both public and private, observing their concern for improving educational quality and developing their community.
Not speaking Bahasa Melayu fluently and missing some dialogues that I imagine would have been very interesting if I had developed that skill.
Sao Domingos, S茫o Paulo, Brazil
I was HR Director of a multinational construction company at its headquarters in San Pablo. Also from Brazil I managed the rest of the Latin American countries where we had projects, except Argentina.
In addition to living in S茫o Paulo for 2 years, I have gone to Brazil more than 100 times, for work and tourism. The first time I went I was 18 years old and I realized that my brain was Argentine, but my heart was Brazilian. Maybe that's why, at age 45, I had a heart attack while living in San Pablo and I left part of it there. Brazil is for me my second homeland - being that in addition to being Argentine I am Spanish and live in Valencia, Argentina is my first homeland and Brazil is my substitute. I have never, not once, been made to feel like a foreigner in Brazil. It is a wonderful country, with virtues and defects like any country in the world.
Some places in the city are unsafe.
San Fernando, City of San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago
I lived for a year in the revamping of the largest refinery in the country. He was the HR Manager of the project.
For me the experience of living in a country where 50% of the population is of African origin and 45% of Indian origin has been very educational. I learned a lot from them. Being white, something very rare on the island, personal treatment is always mediated by a story that is not always well told. I remember with great affection Shelly, our cook there who was like a mother. And also Shorty - he was very short and they called him that - who was our driver - not mine, from the work - and always had his heart open to anyone who approached him. The beaches, especially Maracas, are incredible. Also those of Tobago. For example, Pigeon Point is a paradise on earth. Or at least it was 35 years ago.
They have never made me feel bad, but on occasions I have seen certain preferential treatment because of my skin color and I have not liked that because it does not suit my personality at all.
Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires F.D., Argentina
I was born in Argentina and I believe I am deeply Argentine. I did all my education in my country and that allowed me to travel halfway around the world. Above all, working in several countries. I am graduated in Administration and Psychologist.
While studying, I did everything. Sales, insurance. But then I started a career in Human Resources that allowed me to develop and travel to many places in the world.
I am Argentine and I like almost everything about my country. To begin with, one thing I like is the diversity of climate and geography. Argentina has everything. And all in a very generous measure. I like that I have my childhood friends and that every year I hang out with them many times when I go there in the summer. I am fascinated by Buenos Aires, which although it is not the city where I live, it is the city that lives in me. I like Argentine rock and a little bit of tango. And the meat from my country, which is among the best. Argentine wines - especially due to the development of the last 20 years - are unbeatable if we consider the cost/quality ratio. I usually treat my Spanish friends to the wines I bring from there and they are usually surprised.
We are arrogant and charlatans. Buenos Aires is now a dirty and unsafe city. Politicians are aberrant, throughout the ideological arc.