Study abroad- VALPARAISO, CHILE or BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA?

BA is the choice!! I know people who go to UDS, lots of americans there. Buenos Aires is a really beutiful and fun city. Never been to Chile but I know that there is nother like Buenos Aires.

Hey I lived in Santiago in Chile for nine months and I got to travel around Chile a lot. I did a high school student exchange. I got back to the good old USA this June. Valapariso is VERY pretty; it is off the shore and there are a lot of hills and old buildings in some older areas. It has a very different atmosphere than all other parts of Chile...it can remind you of San Fransisco a little bit. Chile is pretty safe, I have to admit. Of course, use your common sense, but yes, it is pretty safe. I've never been to Argentina; I was going to, but something got in the way. My host parents stayed in Buenos Aires while I was in Chile , though. They liked it , it was full of excitement but at the same time they said it was a little more "dirty' than Chile and that it was more dangerous at night. I've always heard it was a little more "dangerous" in Argentina than in Chile; in fact, I had chosen Chile over Argentina for that sole reason. I had no idea how to decide so I used it as a deciding factor. You obviously know spanish well and it wont be a problem for you although Argentinians speak worse Spanish at times. Chileans speak differently than Mexicans...I'm almost full mexican and I went with my small knowledge of Mexican styled Spanish and there were differences but not that much. They use some slang but I think that in Argentina they use even more slang. Peruvians speak quite eloquently and grammatically correct. Chileans are very friendly and love foreigners. They know how to party too, lol. They can party pretty hard so I was surprised how one Chilean girl told me once that when she to Argentina, they partied even harder than in Chile. But no thanks; partying in Chile is quite sufficient for me lol. You'll miss Mexican food in Chile though...they don't know **** about mexican rice , frijoles, and all that jazz. They barely can distinguish the difference between a burrito and a taco. I was so desperate for some Mexcian food, but corn tortillas can't be found there and there are very few Mexican restaurants. Chilean food was good, but not nearly as rich when compared to Mexican food. Chile has a good transportation system and it's easy to move around without a car. Even to other cities hours away it is fairly cheap and easy to travel there. I'm sorry I am giving you one sided information; I'm trying not to be biased but present you a small picture of life in Chile. Hopefully you can talk to someone who has lived in Argentina and get a more realistic picture of the country. Then you can compare the two. Hope this helped a bit ; Good luck!