Buenos Aires is a city of highs and lows. One night you are having the time life your life, dancing at an amazing nightclub enjoying all the luxuries youth has to offer (free entry and drinks included)…The next day you are walking down a street while scanning through pictures on your new DSLR camera when suddenly, a man comes from behind, pulls a knife out on you at 4:30pm in broad daylight, and demands that you give him your camera.
The whole thing was pretty silly actually. The man was not very intimidating at all. He was about the same age and weight as me. Muy flaco. His knife was small and rusted. From making brief eye contact with him, I could tell this was his first time doing something like this and imagining his thought process before he decided to take action is very simple. There I was, being cool and American and carefree with my DSLR around my neck (might as well haven been gold)… wearing a really cute t-shirt that I’d just ordered from online (A t-shirt I was so excited to wear in Buenos Aires) …prancing around one of the most dangerous barrios in Buenos Aires, La Boca ( Check out the history: http://www.buenostours.com/caminito).La Boca visitors are advised to walk along only two sites, El Caminito (the street of colored houses) and the Boca Juniors’ soccer stadium, and one step away from these tourist sites and you’re in danger. So, one wrong step and I was an easy target. El ladrón (thief) knew this. I knew this. To him, I was carrying two months worth of rent on my neck…or maybe even a ticket out of poverty.
How could I have been so dumb?
When I finally realized the situation I was in, I screamed a classic “Ahhhhh,” but the scream didn’t feel sincere. It was as if I was screaming just because that’s what I had seen people do in the movies. I tried to snatch back my camera but to no avail. El ladrón ran off, and (because it is what one does in the movies) I ran after him. But then…I stopped. I realized I was not in a movie and that the situation I was in was a result of my own actions. I knew La Boca was/is a dangerous place but to my defense, I didn’t think the area looked very dangerous. Sure there was garbage and dilapidated buildings around me, but that’s what most of Buenos Aires looks like!
So, picture this: Me standing in the middle of the street watching el ladrón disappear into the concrete maze while yelling for help that never came. Haha, such a tourist’s tale.
After the incident, I went to El Caminito to see the famous & colorful conventillos that I remember seeing so enchantingly displayed in photos prior to arriving.
As I sat on a bench staring at the conventillos (a moment I looked forward to for months), I hated Argentina. I was not mad at el ladrón but mad at a country….a country that would allow its people to live in such terrible circumstances; mad because of the pollution around the city; mad at the deep disparities in income and wealth in Argentina…in the US…in the world.
To put myself at ease with my experience with el ladrón, I’ve forced myself to believe that he will sell my camera and buy his family a decent meal tonight or pay February’s rent on time…and maybe even order a cute shirt from online!
I remained frozen at the bench in front of the conventillos. I couldn’t move….I spent 20 minutes connecting the dots between my life and life of el ladrón.
I have come to the conclusion that Buenos Aires is a dusty pearl. There are so many opportunities available in the city. There are beautiful restaurants and people. There is shopping, dancing, laughing. There is fun! But behind it all there are poor people cleaning the dishes you eat with…living paycheck to paycheck….waiting for the right moment to snatch a camera from a young man’s neck. This is no revelation. All cities are like this...but in the US you don’t expect to get robbed in broad daylight. Hah, but guess what Christian, you are NOT in the US anymore.
And so, what do I gain from this? Well, a good story and street cred…and we all want street cred, right? Or maybe I lost street cred because I didn’t fight back. Yeah….I def lost street cred. Dang.
Man, I love life! Gracias a la vida!
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