Those coming to Buenos Aires in search of a “local” experience find living in shared houses a great opportunity. Craigslist.org and Spareroomsba.com have made finding these rooms ridiculously easy and from personal experience I can say my best living situation took place in a house I found online.
While adults tend to be skeptical about moving in with complete strangers, the young and possibly naive find it exciting and a cool learning experience. The truth is that you never know whom you’re going to be living with and what secrets they may be hiding.
Cock fighting, chorizos and condoms in Barracas
My first shared housing experience in Buenos Aires took place in the neighborhood of Barracas, near San Telmo. The house belonged to a young couple that had recently split up. They both still lived and worked at the house (they were refurbishing it). She was Argentine and he was from the US. When I first moved in they seemed really friendly and at peace with one another. Turned out they went at it like cock-fighting roosters and since I was in the beginning stages of learning Spanish I quickly mastered how-to-bitch-out-your-boyfriend 101. La reputa que te repario.
Since he didn’t have a visa to live in Argentina she frequently threatened to alert the officials and have him deported. In the end her threats worked and all of the sudden he was gone. Lucky for the rest of the housemates he left behind 3 gigantic duffel bags filled with pirated DVDs, kitchen appliances he had been hoarding, clothes, which we donated to street kids and other lovely home furnishings.
In that house I also lived with a French kid who thought it was hilarious to drop a chorizo in the toilet during each asado. Every time he did it, the toilet clogged. The first time it happened we all gathered around to figure out what was in there and all got a good chuckle when we realized it was a chorizo. After the 1st time it was really funny and after the 5th time he had to leave.
The most intriguing moments often occur upon first meeting your housemates. In this house in Barracas, I went to bed one night knowing that in the middle of the night a kid named Bo was moving in. In the morning he came into my room to introduce himself and he had 3 empty condom wrappers stuck to his sweaty back.
Hi my name is Joe, I got a wife and two kids and I live in a… panty factory?
My good friend arrived in Buenos Aires after spending a year in Santiago, Chile. He left Chile because he said the city was a bore and he wanted a bit more excitement in his life. After a few cursory online searches he found a shared house with a cheap room in Villa Crespo, a great neighborhood near Palermo.
I received a text from him a few days after he’d moved in saying his place was “tight, yo” and that I should come by. On the phone later that day he mentioned that his landlord was some sort of fashion designer who used the living room to hold some merchandise. I thought of it simply as random information but when I arrived at the house I was…surprised.
My friend opens the front door and welcomes me into the living room, which is filled with scrapes of colorful fabrics and sewing materials. I picked up one of the pieces and realized that it was a thong. Looking around I realized all the material was cut in the shape of panties. There were panties on the table, on the floor, on chairs, on the kitchen counter and some even hanging on the windowsill. And they were really cute.
I asked my friend if I could meet the designer and maybe make a deal. He said I could never mention to him that I saw the goods because this was an illegal panty factory and he could get in serious trouble if “they” found out. I don’t know who “they” are but apparently the situation was seriously hush-hush.
In my mind I imagined this designer/landlord as a really creepy guy who spends his days playing with women’s panties. Strangely enough when I followed my friend upstairs to the non-panty-factory part of the house I saw a photo of an incredibly gorgeous man. I asked who it was in the photo and turns out it’s the creepy designer. Figured.
A few months went by smoothly with a joke here and there about my buddy’s living situation until I received a worrisome text message after inviting him to an asado at my house.
Me: Yo! Señor Panty, asado at my house, want to come?
Friend: Can’t – fire in the panty factory.
Of course I was almost out of credit on my cell phone, but luckily had enough to make sure he was not hurt.
Me: Oh my gosh! Are you ok?
Friend: I’m fine. But some of the panties didn’t make it. And those that did smell like BBQ.
Needless to say he moved out a few weeks later.
Paz y Amor y RocknRoll
For those who are reading this and now doubt renting a spare room- please don’t! My best living experience took place in an 8-bedorom house in La Paternal, about 10 minutes from Palermo. From the moment I walked in the vibe was love and peace and we became a family. The 5 Porteños that rented the house decided to fill the 3 extra rooms with cute girls. Jana from Germany, Valentina from Chile and I joined Nacho, Noya, Faku, Tomy and Galle in what we called “El Castillito de Paternal.” During the summer we grilled on the terrace and played futbol. In the winter we made music in the living room and cooked stews in a big cauldron. Porteños really care about the wellbeing of their friends and the Castillito was a place to laugh and cry and just be. It was there that I perfected my Spanish, learned how to make empanadas, studied tango lyrics, learned local childhood songs, sang Argentine national rocknroll and felt safe.
I encourage anyone who is looking for an authentic experience in Buenos Aires to find a spare room in a shared house and experience life in a collective.
If you are looking to live in shared house with many other young people use Craigslist: http://buenosaires.en.craigslist.org/roo/
If you’re looking for a mix between a home stay and a shared house visit www.spareroomsba.com to find a room in a home that is recommended by owner Valeria Pasmanter.
Madi Lang
LPBA Staff
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