Old ladies ROCK!

How a day can turn around.....

Earlier this afternoon, I was walking from one job to another, and nearly got run over by a gross man in a pick up truck. I assume he got so close to me so he could catch a better look, not that I was dressed particularly well nor was I having a good hair day (I’ve stopped trying- good hair days in a tropical climate just don’t exist!). Anyways, crude male attention is NOT something I am use to getting at home, though I am sure it happens, maybe in cities, or to women with minimal clothing, or what have you. And here it’s something that happens several times a day, every day, no matter where I am, what I am wearing, if I’ve showered or not…. But somehow I have not grown accustomed to it (and I don’t think I should, it’s unnecessary and immature). Anyways, needless to say, after my “near death” experience, I was not in a good mood.

But then, at the end of the day, I was leaving the house where I tutor a little boy, and I see my ‘host grandmother’ (one of my counterpart’s mothers) strolling down the street with her friend. She greets me with a big smile, calls me her “amorcita preciosa” (note men, it is ONLY cute when old ladies say it!), and we stroll together, with our arms around each other’s shoulders, all the way to my street.

Such a simple little gesture… but it was all I needed to snap me out of bitterville, and remember again WHY I am here. I am not here to change a culture of cat-calls and disrespect towards women; I am here to give just a little bit of hope for a better future to those who genuinely want to believe in something more.

This picture is of her and I dancing at her granddaughter's birthday party. Sorry to disappoint but I don't have any photos of piropos in action.