Nearly Pickpocketed on the Bus

[victoria]

I don't know if they're available here, but my travel wallet has steel in the straps so it can't be cut off your body.

 

[diosaarenosa]

my flatmate and i carry our 100 notes in our bras. works for us.

 

[sergio]

Victoria, read my post carefully. I made a distinction between expats and tourists. I commented that I could understand (mostly American, though not exclusively) tourists dressing in their typically silly way but I couldn't understand expat resistance to conforming to local standards of grooming and dress. I've known American women here who, after several years, dress the same old sloppy way they would back in the US. They just seem oblivious to local standards. Some American men do the same, especially when wearing a suit or jacket is expected and they just refuse.

 

[SaraSara]

In Argentina, clothing is a language, a form of communication. It says a lot about who you are. Well groomed people get respect, sloppy ones don't.

It doesn't matter if the well groomed one is bankrupt, and the sloppy one is wealthy. You are what you look like, at least initially.

Victoria, read my post carefully. I made a distinction between expats and tourists. I commented that I could understand (mostly American, though not exclusively) tourists dressing in their typically silly way but I couldn't understand expat resistance to conforming to local standards of grooming and dress. I've known American women here who, after several years, dress the same old sloppy way they would back in the US. They just seem oblivious to local standards. Some American men do the same, especially when wearing a suit or jacket is expected and they just refuse.

 

[Moonwitch]

Apparently I look a mess, so I guess that has kept me safe. Pick pocketing happens in every city though.

 

[ReemsterCARP]

If you really want to blend in with the locals just buy a tracksuit and a jersey of some 3rd division argentine football team. You'll look like the average cartonero and nobody will think of robbing you

 

[sergio]

Sara, you are absolutely right. An American entrepreneur friend - a muilti-millionaire - told me that he discovered that soon after starting to do business here. He would meet with businessmen who looked as though they had a fortune - beautifully dressed in James Smart type suits - only to discover that they had no money! An American businessman told me that when he came here to sell farm machinery he used to call prospective clients from his 3-4 star hotels. The secretaries asked him what hotel he was staying at and he never heard from them again. Finally someone clued him in: In Argentina you will NEVER be taken seriously if you stay in less than 5 star hotels, or at least the best available where you are located. This at least applies to someone doing high end business. You are judged by how you look, where you live. Like it or not, that's the culture.

 

[HowardinBA]

my flatmate and i carry our 100 notes in our bras. works for us.

and where do you keep your loose change?

 

[arty]

I've never worried once about a pick pocket in the usa, mexico or canada. In italy, czech, france and here, yes.

 

[argsteve]

When I first got down here....I used to be an idiot tourist(hopefully not anymore)... I used to carry my passport and my wallet with about 1000 pesos 7 credit cards and 2 atm cards... ipod.. sometimes a laptop.. etc.. It is a miracle I wasnt robbed.....maybe because I dont go out late...
Now I never carry a passport... just take a money clip with what I need like 200 pesos.. and go....
It is true you can really spot the tourists out there.. fanny packs... shorts... and a t-shirt saying Nebraska or something...