Is BsAs that dangerous??

[Moxon]

Nobody likes you newbie, not even the crooks.

Do you by any chance bear a passing resemblance to Charles Manson?

Just curious.

 

[Eternalnewbie]

Busted.

I can't even get mugged. Clearly I'm hanging out with the wrong crowd. Would you rob me, Moxon, if we passed in the dark of night?

Actually, as I think about it, that response was too sarcastic when considering that there is of course a lot of crime here, much of it violent, and people using this board have been victims. I do feel sympathy for the victims, and do know that there but for fortune go I.

I am mainly responding to the wide variance in experiences with crime here. And I do suppose that I have been really lucky.

Although looking quite like a younger, much more handsome Charlie Manson, although my forehead swastika has faded and is hardly noticeable in the dark, from a distance, might give passing thugs a second thought. I might send one of my girls after them.

 

[Moxon]

Would you rob me, Moxon, if we passed in the dark of night?

No, but I would advise you to be on the look out for rubber penises.

 

[pauper]

No, but I would advise you to be on the look out for rubber penises.

OK, that scares me, so yes, it is a dangerous city.

 

[HotYogaTeacher]

Buenos Aires, in my opinion, and I'm no fan, is no more dangerous for an intelligent watchful person than any other large crowded city. People will steal from you if you let them. The worst things I've heard happening to expats here, a man being beaten walking on the street and woman being raped by a taxi driver, both happened because the person was out very late at night and VERY drunk. That is stupid even in Mobile Alabama. If you drink go with friends and don't go home alone. If you are out late, be alert, watchful and careful, take a taxi with a friend and get inside off the street. BA is very much a night city, especially for the young, but there is no one to blame but yourself if you are vulnerable and get hurt. Good advice here all around.

I agree with the man who suggested other places. BsAs is NOT cheap, it's not an easy place to live and frankly Spanish speaking from all over the rest of the world look down on the accents of people from here. Just the other day a repairman said something to me that took me, after 2 years here, a while to understand. He kept saying "mee-shon-ess" and I couldn't grasp it, then in context came to understand he was saying Millones, which of course, any where else in the Spanish speaking world would be pronounced "mee-yon-ess" possibly with a little L sound thrown in between the I and the first L. Learning to speak Spanish in Argentina is like learning to swim in the Sahara. It's possible, but you'd be better off choosing a different spot...

 

[nlaruccia]

Most of the supposedly safe areas of the city are the ones filled with highest amount of crime. It's a gross exaggeration to say that you are safe if stay in safe neighborhoods. There are no safe areas in Buenos Aires. The only somewhat safe area is Puerto Madero because if someone's apartment gets robbed the bridge can be blocked to prevent the thief from escaping. Even the countries (private gated neighborhoods) in the northern part of Buenos Aires near Nordelta, Pilar, and San Isidro are constantly getting robbed-and usually the police are in on it. It's a matter of luck and a matter of time.

 

[SaraSara]

BsAs is NOT cheap, it's not an easy place to live and frankly Spanish speaking from all over the rest of the world look down on the accents of people from here.

You are right in that BA is definitely not cheap, and not an easy place to live.

But you are wrong when you say other Spanish speakers look down on the local Spanish, although I see how you might have trouble with it.

I used to work as a translator for an international organization with people from all over the Americas and Spain, and never had any trouble with my Argentinian Spanish. Neither had anyone else with their particular brand of Spanish. Rather, we all enjoyed each other's different accents and cadences. We used different words for some things, which made for some hilarious confusions, but that was it.

 

[Napoleon]

Two nights ago I sat next to a Mexican guy for about 11 hours. He chuckled at my accent. (I chuckled at how his girth meant that I didn't have access to any part of the arm rest that separated our seats.)

Today I spoke with a lady from El Salvador (I think) and I realized that when I mentioned someone having a lot of "plata", that maybe she didn't understand me.

When I sh'd with the Mexican lady who helps with my niece, she thought that my Spanish was pretty good. (I know better, but I let her humor me.)

The accent is what it is. It's no dumber or smarter than any other Spanish speaking country. In fact, it wouldn't take much to argue that it's the best Spanish speaking country as far as cheto-ness, but then again the Spanish, the Colombians, the Miami Cubans, then Chileans... would argue otherwise.

PS- If private citizens could take a concealed weapons course and carry a "peace maker", there'd be a lot more dead motochorros on the street right now. Texas Justice!

 

[SaraSara]

Even the countries (private gated neighborhoods) in the northern part of Buenos Aires near Nordelta, Pilar, and San Isidro are constantly getting robbed-and usually the police are in on it.

Quite true. The private security systems are all owned by former police chieftains who cover each other's backs, and the guards are paid a pittance. How do you keep honest a guy getting paid four hundred dollars a month and asked to guard people driving cars worth ninety thousand dollars? Naturally, they sell information on the residents' possesions and schedules, and the right houses are burglarized.

In my block the neighbors chip in to pay for a private security guard, who is the one who informs the burglars on their comings and goings.

I dropped out of the system after the spare tire was stolen from my car parked right in front of my house, at noon, with the guard on duty.

He made sure to be busy on the next block while the thieves went to work. They leisurely broke into the car, disabled the alarm, folded down the rear seats, crawled into the back of the car, lifted the cover of the tire compartment under the trunk's floor, and removed the bolts anchoring the wheel. The whole operation must have taken over half an hour.

I count myself lucky that the wheel was covered by insurance, and that the thieves missed the camera I keep in the glove compartment.

 

[EufemiaEudoxia]

Pauper, You are saying that below listed parts of the city should be avoided. I was told that f.ex. Belgrano is one of the safest city districts of BsAs...From the information I could read here, these districts seem to be safer than the rest of the city and maybe this is why they have now become targeted by criminals? What are your thoughts on it guys?

What we have learned from this thread:

1. Anecdotes are everything

and hence...

2. The axis of sin, sleaze and crime that extends north of the city and includes (but is not restricted to) Palermo, Recoleta, Belgrano and San Isidro should be avoided at all costs!