Expert: Cintia - 3/12/2006

Question
My company will transfer myself and my wife to neuqen,ian presently in south texa, ian Canadian born in Montral Quebec, my wife born in the united Kingdon England,she is now a canadian citizen .I will need to rent or buy a house in a safe area, My wife does not speak spanish, my concern is will she be able to do daily things as go shopping, take walks and not have to worry about being mugged or robbed.Is Neuqen and surrouding provinces safe area, Are the police corrupt.

Answer
Dear Kirk,

I am sure you must be excited about relocating in another country!

Regarding your concern, it is fairly normal to be concerned about moving to another country, however, Argentina is in general, a safe country to live in and frankly there may be corrupt police as in other countries but it is not something terrible to be worried about. It would be useful if your company provides you with advice as well as with an argentinian assistant who will help you relocate and "adjust" to the new country as smoothly as possible. I live in the city of Buenos Aires and frankly I do not know especifically about the city of Neuquen but if this helps, Argentina is quite a civilized country so you won´t find people carrying guns on the street or being robbed all the time. In the big cities there are robberies as in any other big city around the world, but the crime rate is not as high as to be overly concerned about. Just be cautious as if you were in any other unknown place till you get familiarized. Wishing you a great time in our country,
Cintia
Buenos Aires, Argentina