About crime here in Buenos Aires: while there is very little violent crime here there is loads of petty thievery so make sure to keep an eye on your stuff whenever you go out. Even in places that seem nice and filled with folks who seem to have money, your wallet or mobile phone or bag or jacket will get snatched in the blink of an eye if you get careless. You may have heard how one of George W. Bush's daughters got her bag stolen here even though she had Secret Service protection. The thieves here are that good; let your guard down and you will be amazed how quickly your stuff disappears.
Any African-Americans or people of color in BA?
- Thread starter YoleeG
- Start date
yes, they stole that too. this is africa > this is argentina
personally, i dont like stuck-up portenos; how can one claim to be italian and have such horrible food. do not forget that they are the decedents of the uneducated, unwanted southern Italians... i.e to the point that none of them could properly read/write so their children adopted spanish. the previous also explains why BA is so messed up.
the people i love from this country are from the other cities, San Juan, Mar Del Plata, Bariloche, el Calafate... etc. The expats i hang out with are from the commonwealth, northern euros, and northern south americans. Yes, I prefer not to hang with americans since a majority are study aboard students or are focused on making money
1) dont trap yourself in Palermo (XYZ), pseudo eumerica. however, since you are a woman, safety first; Bario Norte is the perfect place for you. It allows access to the rich north and the more historic south of BA.
mar del plata is a beach resort town with brown water and is dead outside of summer high season. the best beaches in SA are in Brazil, Columbia, and Venezuela (uber dangerous)... a rule of thumb: where the brothas are resides the best beach water
2)people that say BA is safer than NY/LA/London are drinking too much mate... are you crazy??? the only crime i ever experienced in LA was property crime in the 'hipster' areas ' le revenge por gentrification'.
In NYC, walking around in Harlem at 4-5am is not the best of ideas. London has so much CCTV that illegal taxis only come to rolling stops because they are afraid of getting tickets.
In Brazil, if you are white you will get jacked, and Brazilians prefer the direct approach. Portenos, its unlikely you will get robbed outside of BA, try to be smooth: misdirection, tricks, pickpockets...etc.
For example, Ive been to Salvador and Rio in Brazil. people walk around normal: open and free. When I first moved to BA i noticed that most people wear backpacks on their chest, women hold their bags with a stiff grip, and no one looks you in the eye. For women its a good idea to take taxis late at night or be accompanied by a male.
My roomie warned me not to bring my bling, so I was prepared. however, if you walk around looking like a tourist, you will get jacked. I never carry a wallet and i have black ear buds for my iphone. I only bring out my debit card when im going directly to the ATM. I carry my credit card only when im going to the supermarket or eating lunch at a high-end restaurant.
FYI: another form of robbery comes in the form of taxis; watch the meter, know the streets you going to with confidence, and DO NOT tip.
racism > always a complex issue
3 perspectives:
1) last march i met a girl of british girl of nigerian decent who attends Oxford. She thought there was abundant racism here, and complained of getting searched more often at futbol games/the border and people constantly staring at her
2) I'm sort of in a business venture with some west-african refugees. one of them explained to me that portenos are afraid of outside threats. for example: if one goes to another country, the people there will ask what does this person have to offer us and work with the immigrant. In BA, they are afraid of outsiders so they will try to take advantage of them before they get taken advantage of. This is why it is good to have a argentine business partner.
3) my perspective is different because lived in Germany and Italy in my youth and the US afterward. I'm a lighter skinned pan-african with dread-locks, so 'naturally' people assume im half white, brazilian/dominican and/or a drug dealer. I never had a problem in Germany. In italy, they treated my dark-skinned african brothers like dirty while at the same time trying to sleep with all the sisters I was rolling with. There are weird social class issues in Italy. In Brazil, the southern brazilians loved me, but the northern Brazilians preferred my baltic/balkan friends. Every place is different... some places im not african enough or im too african.
* i say pan-african because thats what an african-american really is
In BA, as ericdharma and my german friends have pointed out the men like blondes. However, they also like chocolate. Even I like chocolate a lot more since there is none around, and i mean none. One thing is for sure its better to be darker in argentina
Other than the staring which i reply to with a wink and close inspection of my passport prior to going to Uruguay i haven't experienced too much racism. the passport issue most likely has to do with my short trip to europe in which i entered Holland twice in a period of 2 weeks after going to spain and then a trip to brazil 2 months later.
its way too earlier in the morning for this
personally, i dont like stuck-up portenos; how can one claim to be italian and have such horrible food. do not forget that they are the decedents of the uneducated, unwanted southern Italians... i.e to the point that none of them could properly read/write so their children adopted spanish. the previous also explains why BA is so messed up.
the people i love from this country are from the other cities, San Juan, Mar Del Plata, Bariloche, el Calafate... etc. The expats i hang out with are from the commonwealth, northern euros, and northern south americans. Yes, I prefer not to hang with americans since a majority are study aboard students or are focused on making money
1) dont trap yourself in Palermo (XYZ), pseudo eumerica. however, since you are a woman, safety first; Bario Norte is the perfect place for you. It allows access to the rich north and the more historic south of BA.
mar del plata is a beach resort town with brown water and is dead outside of summer high season. the best beaches in SA are in Brazil, Columbia, and Venezuela (uber dangerous)... a rule of thumb: where the brothas are resides the best beach water
2)people that say BA is safer than NY/LA/London are drinking too much mate... are you crazy??? the only crime i ever experienced in LA was property crime in the 'hipster' areas ' le revenge por gentrification'.
In NYC, walking around in Harlem at 4-5am is not the best of ideas. London has so much CCTV that illegal taxis only come to rolling stops because they are afraid of getting tickets.
In Brazil, if you are white you will get jacked, and Brazilians prefer the direct approach. Portenos, its unlikely you will get robbed outside of BA, try to be smooth: misdirection, tricks, pickpockets...etc.
For example, Ive been to Salvador and Rio in Brazil. people walk around normal: open and free. When I first moved to BA i noticed that most people wear backpacks on their chest, women hold their bags with a stiff grip, and no one looks you in the eye. For women its a good idea to take taxis late at night or be accompanied by a male.
My roomie warned me not to bring my bling, so I was prepared. however, if you walk around looking like a tourist, you will get jacked. I never carry a wallet and i have black ear buds for my iphone. I only bring out my debit card when im going directly to the ATM. I carry my credit card only when im going to the supermarket or eating lunch at a high-end restaurant.
FYI: another form of robbery comes in the form of taxis; watch the meter, know the streets you going to with confidence, and DO NOT tip.
racism > always a complex issue
3 perspectives:
1) last march i met a girl of british girl of nigerian decent who attends Oxford. She thought there was abundant racism here, and complained of getting searched more often at futbol games/the border and people constantly staring at her
2) I'm sort of in a business venture with some west-african refugees. one of them explained to me that portenos are afraid of outside threats. for example: if one goes to another country, the people there will ask what does this person have to offer us and work with the immigrant. In BA, they are afraid of outsiders so they will try to take advantage of them before they get taken advantage of. This is why it is good to have a argentine business partner.
3) my perspective is different because lived in Germany and Italy in my youth and the US afterward. I'm a lighter skinned pan-african with dread-locks, so 'naturally' people assume im half white, brazilian/dominican and/or a drug dealer. I never had a problem in Germany. In italy, they treated my dark-skinned african brothers like dirty while at the same time trying to sleep with all the sisters I was rolling with. There are weird social class issues in Italy. In Brazil, the southern brazilians loved me, but the northern Brazilians preferred my baltic/balkan friends. Every place is different... some places im not african enough or im too african.
* i say pan-african because thats what an african-american really is
In BA, as ericdharma and my german friends have pointed out the men like blondes. However, they also like chocolate. Even I like chocolate a lot more since there is none around, and i mean none. One thing is for sure its better to be darker in argentina
Other than the staring which i reply to with a wink and close inspection of my passport prior to going to Uruguay i haven't experienced too much racism. the passport issue most likely has to do with my short trip to europe in which i entered Holland twice in a period of 2 weeks after going to spain and then a trip to brazil 2 months later.
its way too earlier in the morning for this
Ryoga said:
And always have small bills on hand because counterfeit money is a problem down here and handing a taxi driver a large bill is a good way to get your hands on some. Although I've heard stories about counterfeits finding their way into people's wallets in other ways (one guy told me that he got a counterfeit 100-peso bill from an ATM machine; seems unlikely), more often than not counterfeit bill stories involve a taxi ride paid for with a large bill. So, even though it can be a bitch to get change down here, try to always have some 10- or 20-peso bills on hand for cab rides. Paying for an eight peso cab ride with a 50- or 100-peso bill, at night, after a few drinks, when you're clearly a foreigner, is not a wise thing to do.
perry
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I believe that Buenos Aires is more rascist than many believe and discrimination based on class is high as well. I do not find Buenos Aires to be such a white city as people are saying . Maybe in a few barrios its white but the majority of the Capital Federal is brown and tests have shown that close to 50 percent of argentinians have indian blood. Now they might deny this but if you look at the common person clearly this is true. The features of many of the inhabitants are indigenous and its very sad that there is an inverse rascism here.
Class is an interesting topic and one that has strong importance in Argentina till today .
Class is an interesting topic and one that has strong importance in Argentina till today .
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