How To Not Pass For A Tourist?

[Cialu]

I was going to call this topic 'Safety" but that one is taken. 1118 times

1st, a confession - this forum scares!!! sexism, piropos, unwanted attacks, verbal agression? mugging at knifepoint/gunpoint entering one's home? ... snatching/stealing? sorry, there's so much time you can spend thinking about the beauty of Colon and the bad coffee before you start feeling really really scared

so:
1. to pass for a portena: what do i do? walk fast, no exp<b></b>ression on face, pretend you know where you are going? ok - what if i want to stop and open a map/guidebook? or take a photo?

2. Clothes: t shirt/jeans/keds, ditch sunhat. nice top/skirt/flats, bag.
I did all that - was told i look like an american tourist. besides, i do wear a hat and try to prevent sunburn. any tips?

3. do people feel strongly that subte is less safe than buses?

Basically, any concrete guidance as to how to 'fit in' while being a tourist is welcome, eg obviously i don't have a Leica around my neck and a T shirt 'I love NYC" in big red letters.

Thanks!!!!

 

[lamarque]

I was going to call this topic 'Safety" but that one is taken. 1118 times

1st, a confession - this forum scares!!! sexism, piropos, unwanted attacks, verbal agression? mugging at knifepoint/gunpoint entering one's home? ... snatching/stealing? sorry, there's so much time you can spend thinking about the beauty of Colon and the bad coffee before you start feeling really really scared

so:
1. to pass for a portena: what do i do? walk fast, no exp<b></b>ression on face, pretend you know where you are going? ok - what if i want to stop and open a map/guidebook? or take a photo?

2. Clothes: t shirt/jeans/keds, ditch sunhat. nice top/skirt/flats, bag.
I did all that - was told i look like an american tourist. besides, i do wear a hat and try to prevent sunburn. any tips?

3. do people feel strongly that subte is less safe than buses?

Basically, any concrete guidance as to how to 'fit in' while being a tourist is welcome, eg obviously i don't have a Leica around my neck and a T shirt 'I love NYC" in big red letters.

Thanks!!!!

I will answer your 3 question, subte if you are smart you shouldn't have problem, the problem there is pick pocketing specially if you are a very distracted person, pay attention to your bag and you will be fine, busses have not that problem that much so yes we can say that they are much safer in that sense. The subte pick pocketing problem i will put it in a Paris scale or maybe rome, but the buglars here are less skilled, we got pick pocketed 2 times in Paris and 1 in rome in a 3 month road trip, while i have never been robed in Buenos Aires neither in London or Dublin where i pass the mayority of the time, is more easy to detect them here compared to the incredible skilled they are in Paris.

About your first question i cannot answer as i'm not porteño and the true i still use the iphone as gps to find where i need to go and use it to take pictures every time i see something that deserve a picture, about dreesing just look how the others dress and copy them, i'm not sure how to dress as porteño neither .

 

[EricLovesBA]

There's a cultural thing here about fashion. It kind of came home to me one time talking with a friend of ours about walking to the hardware store. My (Argentine) wife was complaining about how I walk to the hardware store (2 blocks away) in dirty work clothes, and our friend said he could never walk to the hardware store like that. He has to put on some clean jeans and decent shoes, nice clean shirt, etc. He's just a blue collar kind of guy. This was the moment I really understood the fashion thing here is not just my wife's obsession, but something cultural.

If you want to blend in here, buying some local clothes would be a good first step. The styles are a little different here. More than blending in I think of toning it down, and I think there must be something working about my body language, because (knock on wood), I have yet to have any incidents here since my arrival in 2008, with the exception of my initial cab ride in from the airport where the guy overcharged me and tried to switch out a 100 peso bill for a 10 peso bill.

I dress way down, avoid eye contact with questionable characters, avoid showing signs of fear, and stay very aware of my surroundings and belongings. I don't speak English loudly in questionable areas. I don't use my back pockets any more, and usually keep a loose shirt covering the front pockets as well. If I have something valuable in my pockets, (iphone, money, etc), I keep the valuable things together in one pocket, and keep that pocket facing away from problematic characters, or toward my wife if we are traveling together. That being said, I have never even experienced an attempted pickpocket, though I was with my wife when she had her cell stolen out of her backpack on a very crowded subway. She was wearing the backpack on her back. Never do that. In any crowded situation, switch a backpack around to the front, and better to keep a cell or other small valuables in your pocket if that is an option.

I have white skin and somewhat European features, so blending in is not an option where I live. I think that for many of us it's not possible because really the population has a fairly narrow band of skin color and feature compared to the true melting pot mix of cultures that you find in other places such as the US. Maybe a more reachable goal is to look like you are not lost, to look like you belong here, and that you know what's going on around you, that you can and will react decisively if someone tries to take advantage of you.

And as for this forum - it's a bit like watching the news. If life was like what you see on the news, nobody would ever leave their house. Enjoy Buenos Aires and have fun!!

 

[PhilipDT]

Where are you going to be living? Blending in in Belgrano is not the same as blending in in soldati.

 

[Ries]

First, dye hair rubio, get botox injections in lips. Then, buy Christian Louboutin shoes, big gold watch. Go to spa, hairdresser, and manicurist.
Buy big Audi.

Presto- you are a Portena!


(I cannot fit in anywhere, gave up trying 50 years ago. and I have never been robbed or bothered here, in the last five years. When the going gets weird, the weird go pro)

 

[citygirl]

It's a city. Bad things happen. It's not the most unsafe city in the world by a long stretch and if crime happens to you, it's about a 95% chance that it will involve getting robbed (be it purse snatched, pickpocketed, car stolen, etc). It's awful but not life-threatening.

Walk with confidence, don't pull out expensive electronics on the street, don't speak English if you're in a potential pick-pocketing situ (I don't go around chatting in English on the train/subway//crowded streets, don't carry lots of cash or wear valuable jewelry (esp gold) and exercise general precautions.

People vent about crime here b/c it affects us and when it happens, it really affects you. But in general, yes there are crime issues here but street smarts will help alleviate a lot of them and the rest is luck.

 

[French jurist]

For men:
- Wear a River Plate shirt (South of Puerto Madero, use a Boca one).
- For your hair, use a "rat's tail"
- A thermos under your arm + a mate in your hand

And there you go!

 

[arlean]

I live in Palermo. I still wear my U.S. clothes. I don't wear my diamonds or anything expensive. Mostly plain slacks and tops of one kind of another. I wear jewelry from the local jewelry stores and in my area most people are kind of careful how they dress. I sometimes stand and notice how nice the women look on the street. Scarves are very popular here, more so than jewelry. But I get by. I am kind of laughing because I think Cialu is smart. If I walk down the street here and anyone tries to hand me a tourist flyer, I look in the mirror when I get home and try to figure out why. I do think walking like you know where you are going is important too. I see men in plaid shirts here and bermuda shorts walking around like they don't know where they are and I think. Oh goodness--American. I might even ask if I can help him. All the advice here is good. (giggle giggle except try to ignore Ries!)

I am laughing for sure as I read the above. A thermos and a mate and bombilla would really do it. (I jest, but as my long gone daddy, rest his soul, would say, I'm kidding--on the level! )

 

[stephensonle]

It's a big city, so as citygirl said very well, you've got to develop your street smarts.

Don't carry valuable things, and if you have to, keep them stored at the bottom of a bag that makes them difficult to reach. That bag needs to be in front of you when you walk on busy streets or enter the subway/bus, always. Waving around valuable cameras and cell phones makes you a target, and people can easily snatch them out of your hands when you're distracted.

The thing is that even if you change your clothes, a lot of people may still guess you're a tourist/foreigner. Whether it's height or skin color or clothing style, you may give yourself away even if you don't want to. Focus on what you can effectively change-- your attitude and behavior. Walk confidently, open the map discreetly, stick to well-lit and traveled areas in the evenings.

Don't get drunk, don't be loud, and keep an eye out. If someone robs you, throw your wallet in one direction and run in the other. I'd happily trade my safety for a $700 camera, ah well. Whatever you do, give them what they want, it's just stuff.

Have fun in this city. It welcomes you.

 

[arlean]

I just went to lunch at my favorite restaurant. Just for you, I scrutinized the clothing. First of all, they came casual. Not exactly "WalMart casual" but close! Scratch any comment about Bermuda shorts. Right next to me were six Argentines--all in Bermudas. One even was wearing those plastic flip-flop sandals and had them off most of the time. In fact, I think if you had been here today, you could have worn anything short of your Rollex and your bikini and you'd have been fine. Okay, that's a bit of a stretch, but only a bit. I now realize that I'm no help at all!

'Course this IS Saturday, not a work day. It is sweltering hot. So all of this might be a factor. So how do you spot tourists? I just decided I have no clue.