Piropos
Latin men are known for their piropos (come-ons, compliments, pick-up lines, whatever). Some women (who are not from a latin american country) are really bothered by them, but I think it is quite funny. Today, I went to buy an ice cream and then had to walk about five blocks to come to the Internet place. On my way here, I must have passed about thirty men at a construction site where they are working on the street, and the reactions are priceless.Now, mind you I am not wearing a revealing outfit (I have on jeans and a V-neck sweater with a t-shirt underneath, so there is no cleavage or anything like that), I don´t have an ounce of make up on my face, and my hair it thrown back haphazardly in a barette.
So the first guy I passed (probably about 55 years old) actually stopped working just to stare at me. The next guy, who was welding, stopped as well and murmerd something under his breath. Then next group of males (there were about five of them) were in the middle of a conversation and as I passed, I heard one of them whistle (signaling the next group of guys down the street) and a different one say something about how sweet it was (me? the ice cream? whatever). Since the guys down the way had already been notified of my aproach, it was hard to not laugh as I walked towards them and heard one of them begin to sing (this is normal- they will start to sing a song about being lonely, or about romance, or whatever instead of saying something directly).
At the end of the street on the corner where I had to turn, there was another group, so I had to turn my attention on to my ice cream and pretend like they didn´t exist while walking through their whistles. And lastly, before turning into the building, there was a man sitting in a car reading a new paper who stopped and said "gracias" as I walked by.
And I have to admit, it isn´t that bad to receive the compliments on most occasions. However, it can get out of hand sometimes when they go over the top and start saying dirty comments, or when they are drunk and way too obvious, because sometimes it makes a girl feel quite uncomfortable. It is going to be quite different going back to the US where you walk down the street and don´t get compliments, let alone even get noticed.
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