We've Made Progress!!

My next door neighbor is scary.

He yells a lot.

He yelled at me once, and called me "woman!" It reminded me of my grandfather.

My roommate is slightly (okay, more than slightly) terrified of him.

I've taken him and his wife cookies a million times and they've still never invited me in for coffee, acted appreciative, told me later that they were yummy, brought me some home-made treat...

I've lived here for over a year and while we interact on at least a weekly basis, our conversations are usually short, superficial, or involve him yelling at me (like that one time the door was stuck and he yelled, "what do you want me to say??").

But TODAY....

I was downstairs at the bakery buying bread and a donut (they have the BEST donuts there!! They're dipped in chocolate or white chocolate and the inside melts in your mouth) when he came in.

As I walked out he said, "adios guapa!"

That was the FIRST time he's ever used the diminutive "guapa" for me!! That's a BIG deal!!

"Guapa" means pretty, beautiful, or handsome (in a feminine way) but is also a very common diminutive used among friends, neighbors, even strangers.

For example, most of the little old ladies in my building call me "guapa" when we pass on the stairs or on the street.

Most of the time you go get a cup of coffee the bartender calls you "guapa."

When a friend sends you a text message they say, "Hola guapa!"

You also get the creepy men in street grunting it at you, which I am anything but fond of, but aside from that it's a quite pleasant way of referring to any female with which you have some sort of interaction.

And after more than a year, my grumpy, kermudgin neighbor smiled and said, "adios, guapa!"

Yay!!

Next step: get his wife to speak more than 2 words to me.