If there is one big difference between American men and Italian men, it is that Italians are much more up-front about their opinion of you. Thankfully, I am usually blissfully unaware on the street when they say things to me, because my grasp of the language does not extend after ordering food. However, some things, like a graze across your ass, or "Ciao, bella"s translate loud.
Today, I was loitering outside of a store, smoking, when a very large middle-aged man wandered into my personal space and gave me a "Ciao, bella!" I was startled, yet a little pleased, as always. Then he continued wandering past, muttering to himself, and then started shouting things about "amore!" to absolutely no one.
He was stark-raving mad.
I didn't know it this verified or negated his compliment to me. I'm still questioning this.
XOXO
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Never question a compliment - even if it's from a loon. You're taking over Italy one heart at a time :)
ReplyDelete"Ciao, bella" is a very common phrase among Italian men--it's a kind of automatic response to seeing a pretty lady on the street. So regardless of how crazy the guy was, he genuinely thought you were a pretty lady ;)
ReplyDelete