Discover Buenos Aires

In the second “Buenos Aires Contacts” post, I’d like to highlight Aurora Couretot.

Aurora is an English-speaking doctor working as an advisor at Swiss Medical since 2000.  She has helped many expats get set up with medical insurance through Swiss Medical.  She understands the process inside and out and can answer any questions that you may have.  Not only did she set up my medical insurance, she was available to answer questions that I had about booking appointments, referrals, hospital visits, etc. Basically everything I didn’t know about the medical system here or couldn’t understand due to my initially very limited Spanish.  I’d highly recommend contacting her.

Dr. Aurora Couretot
Swiss Medical
Official Representative
Tel. +54 9 11 6180 1556 (from abroad) or 15 61 80 1556 (from Buenos Aires)
acouretot@yahoo.com.ar

After being here a year, things become a lot easier (trust me), but I remember how difficult it was to figure out how to do so many simple things when I first got here.  One of those things was adding credit to my pre-paid Movistar phone. (As a foreigner, you cannot get a cell phone plan here, so you must use the “pre-pago” service.)  A big problem, of course, was my lack of being able to speak or understand Spanish.  So, hopefully this English guide to adding credit to your Movistar phone will help some of you out.

Let me start by saying, the easiest way for me personally to add credit has just been to charge it to my US credit card.  I know that it is possible to buy Movistar credits at the kioscos and charge it that way, but I like the convenience of being able to do it from wherever I am.  Hopefully we can get some people to comment on what works for them or how they do it with other mobile services.

Ok, so on to Movistar.  Here’s the steps:

1. Dial *444 from your mobile phone. You will hear an automated voice announcing some promotions and then asking for input.
2. Press 2 to begin the recharge process. (Press 1 to hear your current available credit.)
3. Press 2 to charge to a credit card. (Press 1 to charge to a Movistar card.)
4. Wait a second for it to connect and you’ll the be prompted to enter your credit card number followed by the # sign. Do that.
5. They repeat the credit card number back to you.  Press 1 if correct, 2 if incorrect.
6. You’re next asked for the security code (4 digit for American Express, 3 digit for Visa/MasterCard) followed by the # sign. Enter that.
7. They repeat the security code back to you.  Press 1 if correct, 2 if incorrect.
8. You’re then prompted to enter the 2-digit month and the 2-digit year for the credit card expiration. (No # sign at the end this time.) Enter it.
9. They repeat the expiration date back to you.  Press 1 if correct, 2 if incorrect.
10. You are now prompted to choose what you want to charge.  Press 2 to specify an amount to charge your credit card.
11. Enter the amount to charge to your account followed by the number sign.
12. They now repeat the amount, the credit card and expiration date information back to you.Press 1 if correct, 2 if incorrect.
13. Wait a few seconds.  They will confirm the charge and disconnect the call. You should get a text message stating your new balance. Please note that this new balance may not include any double-credit promotions.  You may get that as an additional text.
14. That’s it!  You did it.

Another thing to realize is that Movistar will send a number of promotions throughout the week to your mobile phone.  This is usually the best time to recharge, as they often give double credit when you recharge and occasionally triple credit.  After you recharge, they will send a number of texts with additional promotions too, such as free SMS for a day, free calling to another Movistar number for 7 days, etc.

So, anyone else have any tips or instructions for other carriers?

Yesterday, Google released yet another product that will disrupt an industry, Google Public DNS.  Most people are probably not familiar with what DNS even is, so Google offers this explanation:

Most of us aren’t familiar with DNS because it’s often handled automatically by our Internet Service Provider (ISP), but it provides an essential function for the web. You could think of it as the switchboard of the Internet, converting easy-to-remember domain names – e.g., www.google.com – into the unique Internet Protocol (IP) numbers – e.g., 74.125.45.100 – that computers use to communicate with one another.

This service is usually handled by your Internet provider, but Google’s product aims to replace this with a faster and more secure version.  To start using it, follow the instructions on their web page to change either your router or computer settings.

I’ve been using it for the last day and it seems to be much quicker that either my ISP or OpenDNS was.  This blog post on the TechSutra site also notes that it seems to be much better for users outside of the US.

I’d definitely recommend making the switch to it today.

UPDATE: as further proof that Google is taking over the world, they released their own dictionary today.

Ok, so you’re down here in Buenos Aires, enjoying the warm December weather while all your friends and family are stuck back in the northern hemisphere freezing and waiting for the holidays.  Why not cheer them up and send them an old-fashioned, non-electronic holiday card?  Ahh, right, all the hassles with postage and sending things from Buenos Aires…

Well, luckily, Google comes to the rescue – if you don’t mind a little Gmail branding that is. As part of a new promotion, Google will send one free holiday card via snail-mail for you. There are six different designs to choose from.

You say, “One card is not enough for all the people I know! AND, I want to personalize my card!”  Well then, check out Hippopost.  They allow you to turn any photo into a postcard and add a customized message to the back. They add a small advertising message and then send the card to any US or Canadian address.  You can do this from your mobile phone, the web or Facebook. (Be careful choosing which drunken one to use and who you send it to.) They have a limit of sending 2 per day, so you’d better get started now.

Ok, now you have no excuse not to send snail-mail cards to everyone you know…get to it!