The windows and balconies furnish convenient seats for the young women of the house, who, forbidden by custom to walk the streets unaccompanied, plant themselves there and inconsiderately stare at all who pass, and especially the men. You can look in return, for it is only properly gallant and polite to stare at them as frankly as if they were pictures or flowers. To the foreigner it is quite embarrassing to pass this gauntlet of curious eyes. When the cool of the day comes Mamma, together with Juanita and Carmencita, may be seen in the window, all of them dressed up and made very beautiful, watching the street with their faces close to the bar. One who knows them well may stop and talk with them, being careful to pay all the attention to Mamma. It is just the same at the bull-fight or theatre, for opera glasses will be levelled with a steady gaze, such as an American would never experience in his own country. It is not the coquettish glance seeking a flirtation, for it is not accompanied by a smile, but is rather that of curiosity, or a natural and uncontrollable interest in the genus represented—that is—man.
These same balconies and window-seats also play a large part in the courtship of the country. “Playing the bear” is the name given to it, and it is very much the same as Mexican love-making. A young man who is attracted by the black eye or coquettish glance of a _señorita_ will follow her to her home and then “play the bear” by passing back and forth in front of the house for a long time each day until he is rewarded by a smile or wave of the hand from the object of his attentions. I learned recently of one young man who used a telephone by throwing one instrument up on the balcony and keeping the other. In this way the “bear” would talk with the young lady for hours each day. Finally the suit progresses until he can talk to her through the barred window. Perhaps in the most casual way imaginable she may let her fingers slip through the bars, for there is just a chance that Mamma may be asleep, for she sits with her eyes shut—it is just a chance of course, but the risk may be taken and Mamma was once young herself. Later he may be invited to call at the house by the father or mother after a family council, if his antecedents are all right, for they have probably been investigated in the meantime by the sagacious parents of a marriageable young lady.