unfriendly people

austin

Registered
Joined
Apr 17, 2008
Messages
56
Likes
4
A recurrent theme here seems to be the relative indifference of the local people. Argentines don't seem to be warm and cheerful like other Latin Americans. Is this your experience? I'd especially like to hear from expats who lived in other Latin American countries.
 
Maybe its because my missus is Argentine, but all the locals I have met, either through her, or on my own, have been great - Must be me being irish, and a sociable person, but seriously, I have found everyone I have met to be great.....
 
The Argentines are highly suspicious, just look at all the security everywhere. This can make them difficulut to know and appear stand offish. I have found though, once you break through the barriers, they are very warm and friendly people. Maybe because they can be difficult to reach, they cling more once attached, but I find them very loyal and while they would steal the last penny from a stranger, to friends and family they would give the shirts off their backs.
 
I speak from my 5 years of experience and agree with Tango Bob comments. The outershell is just a shell and if you have the pleasure of socialising with a group of argentinians they are as jovial as anyone.

The Argentinians are not a servient people and have this is common with the english and their relationship with Europe . Humbleness is not a virtue in the Capital Federal but if you are prepared for the culture it is a wonderful suprising city where great loyal friends can be made for life.
 
Posted by Austin on 08-14-2008

snapshot4j.jpg


Still in the same unfriendly circle?....Maybe is you attitude and not the argies.....think about it instead of posting the same negativism, this is a big city and not a hamlet in the middle of nowhere if you do not try no one will do that for you.
 
austin said:
A recurrent theme here seems to be the relative indifference of the local people. Argentines don't seem to be warm and cheerful like other Latin Americans. Is this your experience? I'd especially like to hear from expats who lived in other Latin American countries.

I have lived in other Latin countries and I do not find the Argentines to be the friendliest group I've run across. I hear this particularly from other Latin Americans living or visiting from other countries on the continent. That being said the Argentines that I have had the opportunity to get to know better are pretty much like people you will meet anywhere, but getting to that point in knowing them better can be very difficult. I would say this is true of B.A. but not the rest of Argentina, Argentina is a friendlier place the further you get from the capital.
 
Exactly as gauchobob said, maybe the solution for you is to get out of the big city and in a rural area even in a provincial city and I can assure you the people there are completely different than this crazy city.
 
I don't know, I've been here almost 8 years, maybe it's me but I have really experience nothing but friendly locals. Of course, I really try and dig in with the language and surround myself with local friends, etc.

Of course, there are a lot of rude and ornery people here, but no more than any other countries that I have lived.

In fact, if you want to talk about rude, obnoxious, disgusting people, try Singapore or China (where I lived the last 2 years). They make the Argentine people look like angels. I was SO eager to leave Asia I had a calendar with a count-down of my returning flight.

Enjoy, smile, help when you see someone in need....it will come back to you.
 
Excellent thread. And really more of a litmus test of one's own personality than that of population we're supposedly talking about. Like every other huge city, Buenos Aires is nothing more than a mirror of the soul. I would be willing to bet that many of the whiny haters on this site - and my god there are a lot of them - believe nothing but the worst about the locals. But in reality they're saying more about themselves than the people they share this city with. Ugly people see ugliness everywhere they go.

For the record: I love this place. Why? Because it's fucking huge (among other things). Meet someone you're not to fond of? No problem: move on and soon enough someone wonderful will walk into your life. On average, the people here are thoughtful and interesting, well-educated and excellent conversationalists, creative and forward-looking - unlike many of the ex-pats that now criticize them.

And compare the people of Buenos Aires to members of this forum. BAExpats is dominated by a group of dirty old right-wing men who complain incessantly about how miserable they are here. ("I've been robbed 8000 times in the past two weeks!" or "Why won't someone pay me a fortune to do nothing, oops, I mean be a writer??") It's fun to read the newcomers forum. When a young girls posts an introduction (for example, "Hi, I'm Trixie. I'm 25 years old and looking for friends!") she'll get dozens of responses, possibly even an invite to a nudist beach event. It's really quite amusing.
 
Back
Top