Is "bolsa" honestly that hard of a word to understand? Native Argentine opinion?

[MickMolloy]

I go to a supermarket today, buy a bunch of stuff, then ask for a "bolsa" to take it home

The IDIOT cashier who left school at 5 plays dumb and says "What's a bolsa?"

We keep arguing like this until eventually an Argentine girl behind me in line screams "BOLSA!!" then the scum gives it to me

Anti gringo hate is growing fast

 

[MickMolloy]

Time to leave Argentina if you can't handle the heat

 

[Che Vos]

Is there really anti gringo hate in Buenos Aires? I never heard of that. Maybe he didn't hear you good or the person have problems hearing? I'm sorry you have rude person to you in my country.

 

[Betsy Ross]

The Argentine girl behind you wasn't mad at you no? She was most likely on your side and angry at the cashier? I hope that was the case. Sometimes the locals are just plain rude. Not only to foreigners but also with one another.

 

[Avocado]

I am native to this country. I am sad you have to experience this but it is what I say will happen. People are angry when they can't eat and hungry. I don't think they angry because you gringo. Probably just in bad mood because they can't afford to feed their family. Argentina one of the countries that respect tourists the most.

 

[Digital Nomad]

I have been here the past few months and I haven't had any issues at all. My Spanish is conversational and not perfect but I haven't had problems. Sometimes in taxis when I saw the name of a street wrong they won't understand it. But it is because I am not pronouncing it correctly. Then I will show them on my iPhone and then they will have their aha moment and pronounce it the right way.

Hopefully it was just the cashier having a bad day. @MickMolloy do you have this happen often? Or just one off?

 

[Wally]

I haven't had issues. Bolsa is a fairly easy word to understand with no confusion. Maybe the cashier was just hard of hearing which I know can be the case with some. As you mentioned, the cashiers aren't educated typically but I haven't had problems nor have any of my friends or family visiting. It is true that some words the locals won't understand as some words in Spanish are different. That is where my family visiting me has issues. Sometimes they will look at them like they are stupid but I don't think this is specifically geared towards gringos. They call one another stupid all the time.

 

[FuturoBA]

None of us were there so couldn't tell you specifically, but it could be lots of things. The guy could have just been an ass or was busting your chops if you said it with a certain accent and it was an attempt that fell flat. When I was down there I was at bakery shop when the clerk asked what I wanted I was still mulling the menu and said "a ver (let's see)" and he thought I wanted a beer. Not sure if he really thought that or messing around, it seems like some have a different sense of humor there. Best thing is to just laugh it off and move on.

 

[Spend Thrift]

None of us were there so couldn't tell you specifically, but it could be lots of things. The guy could have just been an ass or was busting your chops if you said it with a certain accent and it was an attempt that fell flat. When I was down there I was at bakery shop when the clerk asked what I wanted I was still mulling the menu and said "a ver (let's see)" and he thought I wanted a beer. Not sure if he really thought that or messing around, it seems like some have a different sense of humor there. Best thing is to just laugh it off and move on.

I am taking Spanish lessons now. What I noticed is Argentines seem to have less patience and not as friendly as other Latin American countries. In Mexico people are very friendly and if you try to use Spanish they seem to appreciate you tried and they will smile. Here it seems like they just get frustrated and impatient and almost angry if they can't understand you on the first try.

 

[James Bond]

I go to a supermarket today, buy a bunch of stuff, then ask for a "bolsa" to take it home

The IDIOT cashier who left school at 5 plays dumb and says "What's a bolsa?"

We keep arguing like this until eventually an Argentine girl behind me in line screams "BOLSA!!" then the scum gives it to me

Anti gringo hate is growing fast

I think it is just around the world where locals feel like tourists are to blame for high cost of living. I am in Spain now and some anti-tourists propoganda around.

‘Stinking of tourist’: Why Málaga locals have had enough of visitors

Millions of holidaymakers visit the Costa de Sol and Málaga, one of its most popular destinations, every year, but now locals are saying enough is enough.

www.euronews.com

Here in Barcelona seeing this as well.

Spain’s digital nomad visa one year on: How are remote workers and locals getting along?

Spain introduced its digital nomad visa last year. Here's how it's going so far.

ca.news.yahoo.com

 

[Mitch]

I think it is just around the world where locals feel like tourists are to blame for high cost of living. I am in Spain now and some anti-tourists propoganda around.

‘Stinking of tourist’: Why Málaga locals have had enough of visitors

Millions of holidaymakers visit the Costa de Sol and Málaga, one of its most popular destinations, every year, but now locals are saying enough is enough.

www.euronews.com

Here in Barcelona seeing this as well.

Spain’s digital nomad visa one year on: How are remote workers and locals getting along?

Spain introduced its digital nomad visa last year. Here's how it's going so far.

ca.news.yahoo.com

Madrid wasn't bad but in Malaga you are seeing the anti-gringo sentiment more. More and more expats here. I think Tik Tok makes it worse or at least locals see the videos and blame tourists.

 

[StatusNomadicus]

Argentines seem to have less patience and not as friendly as other Latin American countries. In Mexico people are very friendly and if you try to use Spanish they seem to appreciate you tried and they will smile. Here it seems like they just get frustrated and impatient and almost angry if they can't understand you on the first try.

i observed the same thing

here

Can you get by living in Buenos Aires not speaking Spanish and only English?

I can't speak any Spanish at all. When I go to Mexico I just use Google Translate and can get by. Many of the cities are very touristy like Cancun and Cabo. Can I easily get by speaking no Spanish at all in a city like Buenos Aires? I am sure most tourists don't speak Spanish from the USA...

www.expatsba.com

and here

Banking - ATM or Cash Exchange

Hello, We're planning a trip to Argentina in January, with Buenos Aires as our initial destination. We anticipate carrying a modest amount of cash for the journey, perhaps a few hundred USD equivalents. Is it convenient to exchange cash in Buenos Aires, and is the exchange rate reasonable...

www.expatsba.com

and here also in that thread https://www.expatsba.com/threads/atm-or-cash-exchange.256/post-1776

i think the difference is Expats/tourists in BsAs are in 3 categories:

1. solo travel or with a partner/family, no contacts at all in Argentina.

2. business trip for a short time, planned tours/itinerary, no real 'living' and buying groceries, walking around regular streets.

3. coming to BsAs because you have friends/family here, and having a sort of introduction. going out in a group or with a local.

#1 and #3 are going to have very different experiences. i would love to have a local watch me interact with people via livestream with an earpiece, and tell me what's normal. there are just so many things weird that you never know if it's a psycho or that's the culture. like when i went on a run yesterday in a very suburb/rural outskirt of town, and i was chased a little by a couple dogs. the locals walking around weren't bothered; they probably lived next door. they didn't seem like it was weird. but i was running, and dogs here in Cordoba Province seem to react like they've never seen a human doing anything other than walking (not the most fit people here). but after chucking a rock at the first one and then facing-off with the second who i thought was going to bite my leg and get punted across the street, i wished i could send a local to do the same run and se if they get chased. is it my sunglasses? (zero people wear sunglasses here, which is weird as f*ck, especially when driving or working outside). is it my clothing/colors? but i can't know, since i have no one to ask other than my Airbnb landlord 😛

people overwhelmingly do not know English, like any English whatsoever, but every few days i'll meet some professional or a younger employee who is really fluent and well-traveled. they are excited to practice English, so it must be rare in Cordoba Province even more so than BsAs (and regardless of what some people say, no no no CABA doesn't have a lot of English-speakers. i would not send a friend here without a basic level of Spanish)

compared to places like Phuket Thailand or Minsk Belarus or Riga Latvia or a ton of other places where you can speak zero local language and converse in English with anyone in the food/hospitality/tour world, Argentina i think lost its English speakers due to the economy. why stay here and make inflationary Pesos if you don't have to? i wouldn't stay if i were born here, i'd go work somewhere and then come back to retire.

you're not crazy @MickMolloy - some people are intentionally assholes if you aren't a local, and 20% of people will offer zero help if you aren't a fluent-Rioplatense-Spanish speaker. but overall people are kind, especially out of the big city urban areas (same thing with assholes in Paris and NYC).

 

[Vince]

i observed the same thing

here

Can you get by living in Buenos Aires not speaking Spanish and only English?

I can't speak any Spanish at all. When I go to Mexico I just use Google Translate and can get by. Many of the cities are very touristy like Cancun and Cabo. Can I easily get by speaking no Spanish at all in a city like Buenos Aires? I am sure most tourists don't speak Spanish from the USA...

www.expatsba.com

and here

Banking - ATM or Cash Exchange

Hello, We're planning a trip to Argentina in January, with Buenos Aires as our initial destination. We anticipate carrying a modest amount of cash for the journey, perhaps a few hundred USD equivalents. Is it convenient to exchange cash in Buenos Aires, and is the exchange rate reasonable...

www.expatsba.com

and here also in that thread https://www.expatsba.com/threads/atm-or-cash-exchange.256/post-1776

i think the difference is Expats/tourists in BsAs are in 3 categories:

1. solo travel or with a partner/family, no contacts at all in Argentina.

2. business trip for a short time, planned tours/itinerary, no real 'living' and buying groceries, walking around regular streets.

3. coming to BsAs because you have friends/family here, and having a sort of introduction. going out in a group or with a local.

#1 and #3 are going to have very different experiences. i would love to have a local watch me interact with people via livestream with an earpiece, and tell me what's normal. there are just so many things weird that you never know if it's a psycho or that's the culture. like when i went on a run yesterday in a very suburb/rural outskirt of town, and i was chased a little by a couple dogs. the locals walking around weren't bothered; they probably lived next door. they didn't seem like it was weird. but i was running, and dogs here in Cordoba Province seem to react like they've never seen a human doing anything other than walking (not the most fit people here). but after chucking a rock at the first one and then facing-off with the second who i thought was going to bite my leg and get punted across the street, i wished i could send a local to do the same run and se if they get chased. is it my sunglasses? (zero people wear sunglasses here, which is weird as f*ck, especially when driving or working outside). is it my clothing/colors? but i can't know, since i have no one to ask other than my Airbnb landlord 😛

people overwhelmingly do not know English, like any English whatsoever, but every few days i'll meet some professional or a younger employee who is really fluent and well-traveled. they are excited to practice English, so it must be rare in Cordoba Province even more so than BsAs (and regardless of what some people say, no no no CABA doesn't have a lot of English-speakers. i would not send a friend here without a basic level of Spanish)

compared to places like Phuket Thailand or Minsk Belarus or Riga Latvia or a ton of other places where you can speak zero local language and converse in English with anyone in the food/hospitality/tour world, Argentina i think lost its English speakers due to the economy. why stay here and make inflationary Pesos if you don't have to? i wouldn't stay if i were born here, i'd go work somewhere and then come back to retire.

you're not crazy @MickMolloy - some people are intentionally assholes if you aren't a local, and 20% of people will offer zero help if you aren't a fluent-Rioplatense-Spanish speaker. but overall people are kind, especially out of the big city urban areas (same thing with assholes in Paris and NYC).

I agree about the buckets of people. I also disagree with some of these surveys I am seeing online lately. I saw one on X the other day that showed the fluency of various countries in South America of English speakers and they had Argentina ahead of Mexico and I don't find that is true at all. Overall I have found Mexicans to speak more English than Argentines so not sure where those surveys come from.

It is also true that many English speaking educated Argentines have left for Spain or Portugal or other places.

 

[earlyretirement]

I think by and large the vast majority of Argentines are really friendly and if you make an attempt to speak Spanish it goes a long way. But I'd agree that they aren't nearly as friendly as other countries. I traveled extensively around much of South America and Latin America. I found people far friendlier in Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, etc. Argentines can sometimes be cranky. Also, when I was first learning Castellano and first moved to Buenos Aires if I pronounced Callao without the "shh" sound they totally wouldn't understand. It is like they only comprehend their own version of the Spanish language. Even though they know that other parts of Spanish speaking countries don't it's like they get pissed that you are using another version. LOL.

I think these type are very small that are rude or get angry. But they do exist. Probably with the poor economy, you will see it even more. The biggest worry I have is how patient the lower class will be. It is very tough times for many people in Argentina right now and the next few months will get worse.

 

[Nasdaq]

I had this issue when I first moved to BA and my Spanish wasn't good. Now I have Google Translate for any words but I have found some people in the stores are just rude!

 

[enbits]

Relax

 

[Wally]

Relax

I think this is the best advice. The older I get the more I find that probably about 10% to 15% of people are real jerks. Fortunately the majority are good people.

 

[StatusNomadicus]

Relax

i think it's okay to complain about shitty aspects of specific cultures. this is a forum for Expats in BsAs, and if everyone paints this rosy picture that Argentina is completely friendly to outsiders, people won't plan accordingly. the problem with today's internet culture for me is that most of the loud minority think any criticism is a complete destruction of the culture/civilization. it just isn't; and most of us are choosing to be in Argentina, so it's not like we don't criticize our homelands WAYYY more when the topic arises.

and these things aren't static. with a new government, more Expats/tourists, and a willingness to adapt to the ever-globalizing world, aspects of culture can change, and they should in some ways. i would never go back to Paris because of how rude so many people were. compared to Greece, where people had great service and were open to tourists learning the language, why would i go to a place with shitty locals and an influx of North-African muslims who travel in packs? these things have a domino-effect. not that my perspective is going to change Argentina, but in Cordoba i was struggling with printing a form for Migraciones, and a tech-support business owner printed 2 pages for free, and he wouldn't take money. he said, 'i've traveled to Europe without English, and i know how hard it is, so i always try to help people since i appreciated being helped when i was traveling'

this is the way.

 

[Betsy Ross]

i think it's okay to complain about shitty aspects of specific cultures. this is a forum for Expats in BsAs, and if everyone paints this rosy picture that Argentina is completely friendly to outsiders, people won't plan accordingly. the problem with today's internet culture for me is that most of the loud minority think any criticism is a complete destruction of the culture/civilization. it just isn't; and most of us are choosing to be in Argentina, so it's not like we don't criticize our homelands WAYYY more when the topic arises.

and these things aren't static. with a new government, more Expats/tourists, and a willingness to adapt to the ever-globalizing world, aspects of culture can change, and they should in some ways. i would never go back to Paris because of how rude so many people were. compared to Greece, where people had great service and were open to tourists learning the language, why would i go to a place with shitty locals and an influx of North-African muslims who travel in packs? these things have a domino-effect. not that my perspective is going to change Argentina, but in Cordoba i was struggling with printing a form for Migraciones, and a tech-support business owner printed 2 pages for free, and he wouldn't take money. he said, 'i've traveled to Europe without English, and i know how hard it is, so i always try to help people since i appreciated being helped when i was traveling'

this is the way.

I totally agree with you it's ok to complain. How friendly of that biz owner that assisted you. There truly are nice people in this world and nice when you experience it traveling to a foreign country.

 

[Todd]

I have found the locals to be quite friendly. I am surprised that more people here don't speak English. I always see various things online saying that Argentina has a high English fluency rate but I don't find that to be the case. Although the locals all seem friendly when I try. Google Translate is a godsend.