Culture shock when visiting home

[Philsword]

When I went to the United States for holiday I was robbed twice on the streets once in Los Angeles and the other time in San Francisco by a gang of african youths. In Buenos Aires this has never happened to me.

The big difference with Argentina and the USA is that Porteños are brought up to be super paranoid and the media plays up on that creating this false image of more crime that the reality . Violent crimes in Argentina are much lower than most USA cities this is a fact.

You must be the most unlucky person in the world to be robbed twice on one trip, if you were describing a trip Argentina I could be believe it. This is also the first time I've heard paranoia described as almost a virtue.

 

[Napoleon]

While I have not been back to the US in over 4.5 years I would imagine that one of the things I would find shocking is the ability to get cash back almost everywhere when you use your debt card to buy something. Getting cash can be so hard here at time.

Anyone find that one to be shocking?

I left the house today and I patted my right pocket and realized that I didn't have any US monedas... I was a little worried, but then I thought that I could probably get through the evening without any.

After going to dinner, then Target (splooged twice over the prices...), and then 7-Eleven, I finally decided at 7-Eleven that I wanted to actually use CASH to buy the bag of ice (that was INSANELY EASY TO FIND!!).

The guy didn't hassle me over using a US$20 to buy a US$2.72 item and then he gave me US$17.30 back because I guess that they just don't deal with pennies that much anymore.

One more thing that I thought about and I am sure I am not alone in this...but if I walked into a BEST BUY I think I would either have a heart attack or cum (perhaps both at the same time) after seeing the insane prices we have to pay here for old technology, limited selection, and TWICE the PRICE here in Argentina!

I am actually afraid to go back due to the possibility of the heart attack since Best Buy is the first place I would head to after landing!

OK, so I splooged at least twice in Target. (Lee, remind me never to go to Target with you unless I remember a raincoat AND umbrella.)

6 years ago I bought a Bodum French Press in LA for ~US$30 that looked like this:

These things are about AR$400-AR$480 in Buenos Aires (US$96-US$113). But at Target? It was

30 FREAKING DOLLARS!!!

I even went for the cheap one made with plastic like this:

Because I'm going to take it on a road trip and it was only 20 FREAKING DOLLARS!!

500 Johnson&Johnson Q-tips swabs? SOOOOOOO much more spun cotton than in Argentina... only US$3.00!!!!!

1.5 LITERS of Listerine? US$5.79!!! ONE-THIRD that amount in Buenos Aires costs more.

Blistex SPF15 (perfect for visiting the beach or the mountains)... US$0.84... HOLY ******** *****!! Just over 3 pesos...

I'm just saying. It turns out that there are some differences between Buenos Aires and the USofA.

PS- Didn't get robbed by any African youth... and don't expect it to happen in the Rocky Mountains either, but I will report back.

 

[chris]

An Argentine friend said to me recently "This country exists for no more than 10% of the people" meaning that everything is expensive and out of the reach of most people. In the last few years with high inflation this has become more and more true.

 

[starlucia]

Violent crimes in Argentina are much lower than most USA cities this is a fact.

I will just never, ever, ever believe this fact. Yes, there are gang- and drug-related crimes in the ghettos of most American cities, and there are many more people in general, but the culture of pickpockets, motochorros, salideras, counterfeit money, etc. is virtually non-existent. In BA, I recently met a woman in her 70s with a purple, swollen head who could barely walk or talk, because 4 thugs had beaten and robbed her. Also, out in the suburbs, my partner's elderly mother had to buy all new light fixtures because thieves had climbed over the wall at night to steal not only the fixtures, but the lemons from her tree. THESE are the kinds of incidents (plus the resignation from the victims) that make me think, "What is wrong with this country?"

 

[starlucia]

II. WHOLE FOODS!!!
(a) On the way home from the airport I went to Whole Foods, BEFORE going home.
(b) They had fruit OUT OF SEASON and it was DELICIOUS!!!
(c) There were about 30 (yes THIRTY!!) different types of breads in the bakery department and absolutely NONE of them had DDL.
(d) Artesenal Beers for about HALF the price as in BsAs and oh-so-much better.
(e) I bought a water bottle for the gym that didn't scan, so the lady decided to GIVE IT TO ME FOR FREE!!
(f) Something else didn't scan, so she gave that to me for FREE as well!!
(g) This Whole Foods has a Day Spa upstairs, but I didn't stop in for a massage.
(h) I bought a small loaf of Jalapeño Cheese bread for US$2.50
(i) OK, the produce was worth repeating.

Do not go to the cheese counter! I repeat, do NOT step foot near the cheese counter! The prices of the many, many varieties of imported, hormone-free, delicious cheeses will make you never want to return to Argentina. Same goes for the coffee and chocolate sections. Of course, if you DO decide to torture yourself thusly... can you bring me some?

 

[dennisr]

The first thing that always strikes me when returning to the Fatherland is the number of obese people: obesity. Half the airport traffic is obese people being ferried around on carts. It is crazy for me. Too much Whole Foods I guess?

 

[perry]

You must be the most unlucky person in the world to be robbed twice on one trip, if you were describing a trip Argentina I could be believe it. This is also the first time I've heard paranoia described as almost a virtue.

I was in the USA for 6 months giving me a good understanding of the USA . I loved the country and found Chicago, Miami , Portland Oregon to be great cities.

I agree that Buenos Aires is worse for pickpocket crimes than the USA but my post said violent crimes that include physical harm towards its victims and the USA has much higher rates per capita than Argentina. There are two cities in the USA St Louis Missiouri and New Orleans that are amongst the top ten most dangerous cities on the planet.

According to a latest study analyzing cities based on their FBI statistics for murder, rape, robbery, and assault, St. Louis top the list of the most dangerous city in America, beating Camden, Detroit and New Orleans, last year’s most dangerous cities. After first being pronaunced ‘America’s Most Dangerous City’ in 2006 and coming in second place in 2009, St. Louis has once again reached the top. St. Louis had 2,070.1 violent crimes per 100,000 residents,

 

[ghost]

Censored again.

 

[Tangerine]

Censored again.

Not surprising.

 

[cbphoto]

There might be more murders per capita...in the USA.. but most of those would be gang member against gang member..and highly concentrated in gang neighborhoods. General theft of cars, property, muggings, counterfeiting, cheating, corruption, bribes etc etc... Seemingly BA has any US city beat. As far as Argentina goes, not sure about general crime.