Expats and discrimination

Pulpo,

I am originally from Puerto Rico, and by my skin color and look, I am clearly not European. I have had no real issues at all. Most people are VERY kind and welcoming. Sometimes they are a bit curious since there are not many Latinos here. In most countries you will find some backwards village people, but overall, we are having wonderful experiences meeting locals. Most are sweet and kind. usually when I tell them where i am from and that my native language is Spanish, they think its great. Their main exposure to our culture are Telenovelas, so they usually tell you about that. Some people have even learned quite a bit of Spanish just watching those. So, I would recommend you tell people you are from Argentina and that your language is Spanish, it is a nice ice breaker (conversation opener).

One suggestion I can give you is to try to get things done by getting referrals and recommendations from the friendly locals you meet. We are finding this to work much better than trying to independently search for things we need. It seems to me that people may not go out of their way to help out a complete stranger here, but if you say "John from the restaurant" recommend your service, it has usually gotten us a better result. That is probably true in most countries, but it is definitely works well here.

Last thing since you are a tech worker... ask very specific questions about the internet service available. The biggest company, Telekom.me  is just starting to provide optic lines, but unfortunately, most places where we are only have old ADSL, with the fastest speed 7megs down , 768kbs up ... This has been a problem for us.  I believe Telekom is rolling out optic fibre, and also M:Tel and Telemach ... have faster options. Make sure before you rent or buy that you confirm what is available, so you don't end up a contract in a place with weak internet. Maybe in Podgorica this won't be a problem. But on the coast of the Bay, it can be.

I hope this information helps!  Wish you success.

Ed