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sevres babylone | all galleries >> Galleries >> The Streets of Buenos Aires > The Last Picture I took before I was almost robbed
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November 8, 2008

The Last Picture I took before I was almost robbed

Boca, Buenos Aires

081108-154543-j72-550.jpg
Lonely Planet: "Some neighborhoods where you should be careful at night, however, are Constitución (around the train station), the eastern border of San Telmo, and La Boca (where, outside tourist streets, you should be careful even during the day)."
www.lonelyplanet.com/argentina/buenos-aires/practical-inf...

Epson R-D1 ,Canon 35mm 2.8 RF

other sizes: small medium original auto
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borisalex06-Feb-2010 11:38
Hi, great gallery with some really interesting shots with great approach! I´ve been last year (2009) over Easter 10 days in BA and had an apartment in San Telmo! I walked through the streets even at night, but not in La Boca! One incident was, when a couple was spilling soap on me back as I left a store during daytime in the city! They said it´s paint and wanted to help me cleaning, but the guy tried to take my camera bag, but I did hold on it thightly, so they realized I was aware about their attempt. People on the street had warned me before, not show the camera so obviously.. now I know better! If you like to visit my Buenos Aires Gallery:http://www.pbase.com/borisalex/_buenos_aires_argentina, please have a look! I loved the city and the people were very nice, but you have to be careful, but this is true for any city in the US where I lived for seven years!
Cheers
Boris
sevres babylone22-Feb-2009 06:23
Maybe karma for doing tourist activities, or for taking this cutesy sort-of-typical Boca shot.
I had done the stadium (Bombonera) tour, which was actually kind of interesting, even though I'd never heard of Boca Junior until I started to read up for my Buenos Aires trip (Of course, now they haunt me wherever I go; when I was in Mexico City, I flipped on the TV only to see a Boca - River match.)
Anyway after the stadium tour I wandered along Calle Garibaldi, where Adolph Eichmann lived when he was in Buenos Aires, which ironically had a train track running down its centre), and ended up in Caminita, which is even more of a tourist magnet than the Bombonera. As it was getting sixish, I decided to walk back to my apartment in San Telmo. The Time Out map indicated a "short-cut" if I backtracked along the side of the stadium. When I got to the street that seemed to lead to it -- a block past this building, I did feal some uneasiness. The guidebooks talked about it being one of the poorest areas in Buenas Aires -- but compared to shanties I'd seen in San Salvador, it didn't look that bad at all. The lack of pedestrians concerned me though. However, it seemed like such a long walk back along the stadium to the street I had walked up on when coming there. So, I walked down the street. About a block and half down I saw four kids (15 to 18 years old I gues) passing around a quart bottle of beer. I wasn't happy to see them, but retreat seemed wimpy, and likely to attract their attention more than the deliberate walk forward. As I came closer, the leader approached me and holding out his hand with a couple of coins in it, asked me for moneda. I reached in my pocket and pulled out a note. I might have given more, but I really didn't want to stop to do a full inventory. This didn't please them, and he then said he would kill me if I didn't give him my money, which seemed like a bit of an escalation from the original request. One of the kids reached towards his waist, like he was going to pull a weapon out. But the leader shook his head. At that moment a car came down the street -- the only one in the whole time. Its window was open, and I shouted into the car. Robbery or help me, I can't remember. Of course, the car didn't stop. You wouldn't either. But the kids all had taken a step back. And I decided to run back the way I had come. I didn't look back for a while. But they hadn't followed me. My guess is that it was something like Woody Allen's Take the Money and Run. If you ever have the misfortune of seeing me run, you'd know what I mean. But I suspect they were all rolling on the ground in laughter, and that that's what saved me. You might be wondering about the first picture I took after the robbery attempt. But the camera shake might suggest that I was not as cool about it then as I am now.