hola guapa

at the saturday market ☼


























☼ jerry's friend My is staying with us for the weekend, which is really nice. i never get sick of jerry's company, but lately we've been bickering a bit, probably from spending so much time together, so its good to have a guest in the house.

today we all spent the afternoon at the saturday street market, which i love and is full of bargains and designer rip-offs; sunglasses, bags, jewelery and clothes. and it's really good practice for my will-power to rub my own face in all those bargains and not buy a single item...

since it was a beautiful sunny day, i wore appropriate clothing (singlet and shorts) and then instantly regretted it when the first of a million 'hola guapas' and indecent comments began from all the sleazy spanish and disgusting moroccan stall owners. My had more intelligently worn a long sleeve shirt, which she decided not to take off.

we began to discuss the issue- surely that sort of slimy behaviour doesn't get them anywhere with women! it certainly isn't good business practice, since as soon as they started up, i lost interest in their wares and moved on to the next stall, cursing them under my breath.

and i realised, that's a really nice thing about sweden. the guys are not sleazy at all! some girls argue that this is unfavourable (elin ;o)). and its true, i was shocked when i first moved to stockholm and didn't receive a single whistle or car toot, didn't turn a single male head.... not even construction workers stopped work to have a perve! even on girls nights out (and my girlfriends are stunning), few swedish guys tried their luck....

it took a while for my ego to recover from this, but i soon realized that it was much nicer!..... to be able to walk in public places alone without being harassed, to feel comfortable walking past a group of guys knowing they won't start clapping.... generally to feel respected.

i consider myself a feminist in my own way, even though jerry calls me a hippy and a bull-dyke for it. but he has the good fortune to come from a country that doesn't seem to have as much need for feminism.

anyway i guess while i'm here in spain ill just try to accept the 'hola guapa's' as compliments and leave it at that.

☮