Yuck!

Today I got kissed on my face by an italiano. It was weird. Everyday as I walk through Miraflores I pass countless men who hope for some attention from an extranjera. Some have no teeth, some are 4 times my age, some look like they stepped out of a clothing catalogue from the 80s. I haven't mentioned it before because everyone already knows this about South America, and I didn't want to sound falsely modest by saying how much I can't stand it, though I truly can't. A typical day in my life involves walking down the street followed by a line of about 10 taxis with drivers either honking at me, whistling at me, asking if I need a taxi (incase I don't know how to wave in spanish), shouting, "guapa!" or any other number of words that I pretend to not understand. In addition, on every block I also pass an average of about 2 men who try to strike up conversations, or who stare at me until I am completely out of site. One taxi drove by me with a man inside who waved to me for 2 blocks and wouldn't stop until I waved back. I suppose this is some women's paradise, pero a mi, no me gusta!

So today as I was walking to my spanish class an Italian man joined me along the way. He spoke some combination of mumbled english, spanish and italian, and since I only speak english and a little spanish, we didn't have the tools to become great friends during the minute and a half that he walked with me. It didn't help that when he was walking fast, I tried to walk slow, and when he slowed down, I tried to walk faster. Maybe he thought I was playing hard to get? We finally passed the little magazine booth where I think he said he worked. Before I figured out what was going on, he leaned over and kissed my cheek! I understand that this is a very cultural thing, and in Peru it is common for people to kiss the air beside another person's cheek. However, it is not common to kiss someone who is just walking down the street that you have never met before in your life! And he didn't kiss the air, he actually kissed my cheek. And what's worse, I think he did it in front of all his friends in order to show off!

On another note, Jeff and I didn't make it on our pinguino excursion last weekend because Jeff picked up a nasty foodbourne illness and was sick for 4 days. He's feeling much better now, so hopefully we'll make it there a little later.