My name is not "linda" or "barbara"!

As an average, semi-gorgeous gringa with a fabulous new haircut walks down a regular street in latin america she does not appreciate the whistles, the hollers, the comments... the leering. Oh, I hate the leering. I've noticed though that I must look like a lot of girls named Linda or Barbara because this is what the boys I walk by in the street seem to recognize me as such. I always hear it everywhere I go: "sos barbara" and "que linda que sos!" I try to ignore them to give them the hint that I am neither linda nor barbara, but the very next greeting a few blocks down is from yet another young (or old) man saying, "hola linda!" Who is this Linda?

Well, after only a few days of near complete and utter confusion I discovered that the translation for "linda" is something like "pretty" and "barbara" is "hot"... Needless to say, I still ignore the comments and even have accustomed my foreign ear to hear some of the more vulgar greetings - of which I was also unaware up until this past week. Disappointingly enough, I took my frustrations to my host mom. She is open and easy-going like my real mommy so I feel I can talk to her about everything and anything. I began the conversation with telling her about all the comments from the chicos in the street and she interrupted me mid-sigh-of-frustration to say,
"isn't it wonderful that the men here adore complimenting women!" I hesitated and didn't want to burst her bubble so I carefully agreed with her and changed the subject.