BAIN

Buenos Aires International Newcomers (BAIN) was recommended to me before we moved as a good way to connect with other expats in the area. The group takes anyone, newcomers or longtime Bs.As. residents, with the common thread that everyone speaks English. The larger group is divided into two sections of BAIN, suburbs and downtown, generally the suburbs group is more families and the downtown group is more couples without kids, singles and retired folks. I am involved in the downtown section.

BAIN is a great way to get involved in events, meet new people that are also looking to get involved and see areas of the city that you may otherwise have passed by. I spent my first month here reaching out to people on my own and exploring the city out of guidebooks and internet recommendations. Although I feel like I did a pretty decent job on my own, as soon as we returned from a two week vacation in the US, I had run out of ways to occupy myself. Nothing is more depressing than sitting at home with a silent phone, so I promptly joined BAIN. I met Bonnie, the downtown group president at a restaurant called Empire Thai, where she meets potential new members every Friday. My intention was to sign up, pay my $100peso yearly fee and then head back home, but Bonnie and I struck a great conversation and I ended up sharing a 2.5 hour lunch with her and one of the restaurant owners, Kevin.

BAIN offers monthly lunches and dinners at new restaurants, monthly meetings with guest speakers and a social network for buying and selling items when other expats move through the area. This is where I finally bought an artificial Christmas tree, something that I was trying to buy for a few months before I found a good price through the BAIN buyer/seller network.

For me, the most beneficial perk of BAIN are the English speaking tours in unique museums and cultural spots that they arrange each month. I've attended every tour that I was available for and without fail, they have all been excellent. The only tour that I have been able to write about so far was the Museo Evita but there are more to come. All in all, BAIN has been a great resource for me to network, see the city and exchange advice with folks that have been here and have lots of tips to share. Well worth the US$25 yearly fee.

Update: As of yesterday, I'm up to a long run of 6 miles! My legs feel like Jell-o and I'm hoping to be able to walk today, but I am successfully over halfway to the goal!