A Shitty New Years Eve.. and the Porteño Attitude

[mercjoe]

Well, if that's true (I don't believe it) then you've been really unlucky.

I don't know what people do you usually hang out with but generalizing and saying porteñas are like that is pure bullshit.

I strongly feel that English speaking Portena women, even if they are dating a expat seem to lack empathy for their expat bfs, especially the ones who dont speak any Spanish.

I know their is no relation of language with the robbery. What I am saying almost sounds bizarre. But I strongly feel the higher the command over English language of the the Portena, the higher the smirk she has for the expat.

These girls revel in happiness when the expat is in trouble. also these girls love their city, country and countrymen. They rather support a criminal on the street if he is a local than support the robbed/ mugged/beaten expat bf. Believe me, I have seen expats experience this with 3-4 different Portena girls in last 4-5 years.

Hope this helps.

 

[lomo]

Ok my friend, thanks for the clearification and hope you feel better.
Apparently, you will get mugged no matter what your Porteno friend said.
Those guys will get you anyway, just 3-4 hungry chicos, most crimes
to foreigners are like that, usually not violent.
I always separate my cash and credit card, just give some dinero when
that happens.

Portenos are like that, she probably feels bad but did not want to say
something, you should take it easy. They are not Americans and Canadians. They are not expected to do the same when these types of things happen. It's likely your friend just did not want to give her purse away, not because she has important document inside. Life is hard here, people are cheap when it's hard for them to make a living. They do not easily give away their things. It seems to me that your porteno friend did not feel much danger, so she probably did not feel that you saved her life. You are thinking like a North Amerian, no offense, it's a good thing.

Hope you enjoy BA and Porteno, they are really different.

Hola,

First off I apologize for taking 2 days to reply to my post.
I've had 2 days of trying to cancel my cell phone, making insurance claims etc... plus I had to work today.
I've had 2 days to calm down now and reflect on this incident.
I apologize profusely for sounding like I was making a generalization about the Porteño attitude.
There are certainly far more good Porteño's than bad ones here in BA.
My Porteña friend is a good person and I think she was embarrassed and in some kind of denial by this as she likes to present her city in a positive light to me and others. No she should not have said I was from Canada... but at the same time this probably would have happened regardless.
I should not have said that... I was fuming angry when I wrote that and I hope everyone can appreciate that.
Please forgive me.

Secondly, I have traveled a good portion of the world at length for many years and this is not my first incident like this unfortunately. These things will happen to even the most seasoned travelers sometimes.
I have a ton of experience in bad travel situations and always manage to come away unscathed fortunately (*minus stolen personal items of course).
These things can happen even when you are trying your best to ensure your personal safety. I am extremely safety conscious when traveling. This incident was an unfortunate bit of bad timing/luck...

When we arrived at Plaza San Martín New Years Eve there were maybe a dozen other 'normal' people sitting along the railings overlooking the Torre Monument getting ready to watch the fireworks (*this actually turned out to be a bad location as the fireworks were partially blocked on either side by the tall buildings in that area).
I noticed these folks there and it made me feel safe enough that we proceeded to sit on the grass just below those railings.
I started taking photos of the fireworks... but little did I know the dozen or so people who had been sitting right behind us had left .. most likely to move to a better location for viewing.
We both had our backs turned to this and did not notice them leave... otherwise I would have left too at the same time realizing this was a bad situation.
About then a guy in his 20's came and sat next to us and started talking to my Porteña friend... all the while I'm concentrating on taking good photos with my camera in night mode, which requires a very steady hand.
Unfortunately she mentioned to him (in Spanish) that I was from Canada during their conversation.
He did not seem to be a threat at this point and he just sat with us for 5-10 minutes talking to her so I just kept taking photos.
Little did we know but he had 3 buddies hiding in the shadows somewhere just behind the railings behind us.
Next thing I know... and this happened in the blink of an eye... those 3 buddies jumped down and were on top of us instantly.
It was dark enough and happened so fast that I did not even see the other 3 guys faces clearly... plus it looked like the one demanding my camera was holding some kind of weapon (a knife perhaps) in his hand.
At that same moment, the guy who we had been talking to started demanding that my Porteña friend hand over her purse in a very threatening manner. She had important documents in her purse and was quite upset about potentially losing them.
I stepped in between them and her, put up my hands and let them take my camera and Blackberry.
Thankfully they just ran away into the night after they got what they wanted.
(*Strangely they did not take my wallet or her purse).

I've always been told to just hand over the merchandise in these situations as personal safety far outweighs material objects (as I state the obvious).

As for the quote above about ``wandering around with expensive stuff around our necks``... I certainly NEVER do that... I conceal my camera etc. at ALL TIMES in my plain looking backpack.
This was just bad timing and unfortunate luck more than anything and could happen to anyone.

I still think it was important to post my incident here as a reminder to all expats, tourists etc. that you can NEVER be to cautious when traveling.
Again, I apologize for the anger and silly generalization about Porteño attitude.
Yes, my friend acted strangely after this happened (*exactly as I reported her behavior previously) but I am not writing her off just yet.
I think a combination of things... shock, embarrassment, denial.. maybe a little aloofness.. all combined to make her act the way she did.
But I know she`s not a bad person per se... and everybody deserves a second chance. We are now slowly discussing the incident and will work through this.

 

[Maria E.]

So many judgements with such a short of details story... I bet she felt horrible about what happened, and blaming her sounds to me a little childlish... or , if she was screaming on purpose you were a foregneir, ok, what an idiot.... but that sounds a bit weird . HAving dated you and then putting both of you in risk.
Anyway when bad things happens we usually blame someone...
LOL

 

[rcmedia]

So many judgements with such a short of details story... I bet she felt horrible about what happened, and blaming her sounds to me a little childlish... or , if she was screaming on purpose you were a foregneir, ok, what an idiot.... but that sounds a bit weird . HAving dated you and then putting both of you in risk.
Anyway when bad things happens we usually blame someone...
LOL

Hi Maria E,
I`m glad you took the time to read my post so carefully...
First of all.. I wrote as many details as I could remember above.
There are no more details... that`s EXACTLY what happened to the letter.
No more, no less.
Secondly, if you go back and read what I actually said... I never once mentioned her screaming out loud I was from Canada etc.
This guy came and sat down in a friendly enough manner and started up a friendly conversation with her in Spanish. that lasted for a good 5-10 minutes and nothing seemed amiss at that point.

 

[rcmedia]

Ok my friend, thanks for the clearification and hope you feel better.
Apparently, you will get mugged no matter what your Porteno friend said.
Those guys will get you anyway, just 3-4 hungry chicos, most crimes
to foreigners are like that, usually not violent.
I always separate my cash and credit card, just give some dinero when
that happens.

Portenos are like that, she probably feels bad but did not want to say
something, you should take it easy. They are not Americans and Canadians. They are not expected to do the same when these types of things happen. It's likely your friend just did not want to give her purse away, not because she has important document inside. Life is hard here, people are cheap when it's hard for them to make a living. They do not easily give away their things. It seems to me that your porteno friend did not feel much danger, so she probably did not feel that you saved her life. You are thinking like a North Amerian, no offense, it's a good thing.

Hope you enjoy BA and Porteno, they are really different.

Thank you.
PS - I never carry my passport, credit cards, ATM cards or much cash on me. I did not have those things in my wallet that night.. maybe 100 pesos at the most and that`s it.

 

[BROOKLYN]

PS.. I never wear flashy american high top sneakers, gold chains, american brand name styles. or my prada eyeglasses. I try to blend in as much as possible when I go to visit family in bsas. I just wear topper sneakers and my collection of futbol jerseys and adidas track pants.

 

[Mitch]

First off, if your porteña friend brought you to Plaza San Martin at night carrying valuables and did not warn you of the dangers, she is at best not to bright or an accomplice. Furthermore, why would any porteña not suffering from mental retardation bring important papers to Plaza San Martin or any other park in BA at night?

If I am sitting with a woman and a male stranger strikes up a conversation with any female friend of mine for five or ten minutes, I would feel disrespected. In all that time she could not pick up on the fact or at least suspect he was a street criminal seems unlikely. Unless I was just friends with this girl with no other designs on her, and he seemed like a potential mate, I would have interuppted and made it my conversation. If she resisted this I would have left her there with him.

The minute a stranger sat down in a dark park with me and a friend. My head would have stayed on a swivel and when all those people left I would have left with them. I would have ordered her to leave with me, if she excercised her free will not to listen, it´s buh bye and good luck.

If she were my friend, I would be asking her a lot of questions before I considered walking around the block with her again.

 

[rcmedia]

First off, if your porteña friend brought you to Plaza San Martin at night carrying valuables and did not warn you of the dangers, she is at best not to bright or an accomplice. Furthermore, why would any porteña not suffering from mental retardation bring important papers to Plaza San Martin or any other park in BA at night?

If I am sitting with a woman and a male stranger strikes up a conversation with any female friend of mine for five or ten minutes, I would feel disrespected. In all that time she could not pick up on the fact or at least suspect he was a street criminal seems unlikely. Unless I was just friends with this girl with no other designs on her, and he seemed like a potential mate, I would have interuppted and made it my conversation. If she resisted this I would have left her there with him.

The minute a stranger sat down in a dark park with me and a friend. My head would have stayed on a swivel and when all those people left I would have left with them. I would have ordered her to leave with me, if she excercised her free will not to listen, it´s buh bye and good luck.

If she were my friend, I would be asking her a lot of questions before I considered walking around the block with her again.

You make an excellent point and this exact thought definitely entered my mind over the last 2 days.
But... I think she is just not too bright to be honest.
She is from a middle class family etc.
I've known her over a year now and been out with her many times and had no problems whatsoever. She even gave me a Xmas gift etc.
But still you never know... my suspicions are definitely aroused at this point.. but I still doubt it.
(*No we're just friends, not dating... she was introduced via a friend of mine from back home who was here the year previous and hung out with her many times with no problems).

 

[scarface]

OP,
Your explanation now corrects a lot of the anger-inspired nonsense set forth in the original post. I remain curious about one more thing. What were the important papers in the female friend's purse (if not a bunch of 100 pesos notes) that made her so reluctant to give it up?

 

[surfing]

A few things:

A Porteña saying "important documents" can simply mean DNI and Cedula (commonly called documentos) which would not be at all unusual for her to be carrying in her purse. I any similar event these would be the things I would try to save as well ... in addition to my life!

OP do you really believe if she had not told the robbers that you were Canadian that they would have just gone away? They wanted the camera which was plainly visibile. You don't make a very good case for why you think that information was so material to the crime.

If this woman is from Capital (unless she grew up elsewhere) how she would not warn you that Plaza San Martin was not a place to go at night simply defies logical explanation.

Finally, I think it was very big of you to come back here and say what you did ---- bravo!