Meeting Americans

[chris]

How do you

I have not noticed a particular trend towards obesity in US tourists. I live near Alto Palermo, and work in Retiro near Florida, so on the street I see some tourists, and the US ones usually are pretty affluent, and they exercise. It costs a lot now to fly to Argentina, and the cruises that stop in BA are a minimum of several thousand dollars per person. A lot of the tourists I see are on their way to patagonia or antarctica- big bucks. In San Telmo, even the young US tourists have a thousand dollars worth of clothes on, most days, counting their 200 nikes, their fancy 80 dollar baseball hats, and so on.
I see US tourists in Palermo, and, again, in trendy restaurants now and again- like, say Chui, where you see US rock stars or movie stars slumming it. Havent seen many crustpunks or backpackers since the glory days before 2010 or so, when it was really cheap here in dollars, and you could fly economy on miles.
Argentina gets something like 2 to 3 million tourists a year, but the majority I see are brazilian.
Washington DC, on the other hand, gets 20 million plus tourists, and NYC has been clocking 35 million or so since Covid.
Many places I hang out, you dont see any tourists. Most times I go to see music, we are the only Yanks in the room.
Villa Crespo, or eating pizza at La Mezzeta, nobody from the US...

How do you know that they are going to Antarctica? Did you interview them? Air fares to Argentina have always been high but we still got lots of backpacker types. My question, however, was not about how rich or poor the tourists are but if they were mostly obese. Some years ago I sailed on a US cruise ship from BA to Valparaiso. Most passengers were from the US, mostly over 60 and mostly considerably overweight. I was astonished at how much they ate on the ship. Maybe that has changed in the years since. I remember that the men tended to wear baseball caps (don't know that they cost $80! I could not tell if they were $5 or $80), even when inside. They clearly had money but it wasn't reflected in their clothes, rather in the expensive camera equipment.

 

[sts7049]

good grief, you wonder why people judge americans so much for our arrogance around the world - look at this ridiculous thread. pondering about how fat you think tourists from the USA are and what kind of clothes they are wearing? you guys need a life

 

[cuando_volverá]

I once had the pleasure of saying to a stereotypical Ugly American in BAires, "You really don't get it...I come here to get away from people like you."

Exactly! I used to live across the street from the US embassy. I used to hear Americans babbling en Nucha (no lonnger there) every day. I never spoke to any of them or in any way hinted that I was one of them. I did overhear some interesting conversations, however.

 

[chris]

good grief, you wonder why people judge americans so much for our arrogance around the world - look at this ridiculous thread. pondering about how fat you think tourists from the USA are and what kind of clothes they are wearing? you guys need a lif

Exactly! I used to live across the street from the US embassy. I used to hear Americans babbling en Nucha (no lonnger there) every day. I never spoke to any of them or in any way hinted that I was one of them. I did overhear some interesting conversations, however.

Were they obese? Were they wearing baseball caps? What did they talk about? Embassy secrets?

 

[D.B. Cooper]

I'm a huge Bowie fan and I was a young American when this song came out. I still love the song. I never get tired of it. Bowie was a musical genius. On this live recording Luther Vandross sings back up vocals and David Sandborn plays sax.

 

[Ries]

good grief, you wonder why people judge americans so much for our arrogance around the world - look at this ridiculous thread. pondering about how fat you think tourists from the USA are and what kind of clothes they are wearing? you guys need a life

My life has been about clothes for 60 odd years- I always notice what people are wearing, everywhere I go, and I try to learn about who made the clothes, the economics behind them, the cultural trends, the creativity of designers, the political signifiers, and much more.
That IS my life.
I have sewn since around 1970, and still make and customize clothes, and definitely have more clothes of all types than the average male my age. I have been in clothing factories in Argentina, spend a lot of time in Once, and know tons of designers here.
Clothes tell you a lot about a lot of things. And if the wearer doesnt care about clothes, thats obvious, and also tells you a lot.

So, no chance of me changing any time soon to please you.

I have not noticed any signicant obesity in tourists in general- but then, I have never actually been on a cruise ship.
Maybe only the skinny ones get off for shore leave.

 

[chris]

My life has been about clothes for 60 odd years- I always notice what people are wearing, everywhere I go, and I try to learn about who made the clothes, the economics behind them, the cultural trends, the creativity of designers, the political signifiers, and much more.
That IS my life.
I have sewn since around 1970, and still make and customize clothes, and definitely have more clothes of all types than the average male my age. I have been in clothing factories in Argentina, spend a lot of time in Once, and know tons of designers here.
Clothes tell you a lot about a lot of things. And if the wearer doesnt care about clothes, thats obvious, and also tells you a lot.

So, no chance of me changing any time soon to please you.

I have not noticed any signicant obesity in tourists in general- but then, I have never actually been on a cruise ship.
Maybe only the skinny ones get off for shore leave.

You're quite right about clothes and what they tell us. As for US citizens...I'd be more inclined to say that I haven't seen any lessening of obesity among US citizens but in recent years with the pandemic there haven't been very many around.

 

[Ronnie Hotdogs]

You can usually spot an American tourist at least before you hear them. That is saying something.

 

[FrankPintor]

Since this thread initially veered off into a discussion about cultural imperialism, and the use of the term "Americans" vs. "North / Central / South Americans", I'd like to offer the forum the latest, just-heard, unambiguous, Spanish-language term for US-Americans: "Yonaites".

 

[cuando_volverá]

"Were they obese? Were they wearing baseball caps? What did they talk about? Embassy secrets?"

Mostly the same things you read on baexpats. I did hear someone discussing adamantly that the ambassodar paid for a party or dinner from her own pocket. The most memorable thing I overheard was a middle-aged guy with an American/Canadian accent talking to his MUCH younger, surgically-enhanced girlfriend/wife who could barely speak English ... "I don't make the money for you. I make the money for me."