Photos and the Origins Mecca

Yesterday I decided to go for a stroll by myself and explore my neighborhood. Let me say now that it is damn cold here and I'm glad I brought my massive $7 vintage ebay coat with the awesome fur collar. Which, I am happy to say, it quite fashionable here. Lots of women, especially older ladies, wear fur. Hey, it's the warmest thing out there.

Anyway, my neighborhood is really cute, and in a great location. I'm only two blocks away from the Metro station, which is on a large busy street called Miguel Angel. On Miguel Angel there's lots of big hotels, The Museum of Natural Sciences (pictured below),



and a beautiful plaza, complete with a fountain.


And, just for kicks, this is what Spanish mailboxes look like:


I've already dropped some stuff in there, so check your mailboxes, everyone! Fun fact: When buying stamps (cellos), you have to specify what country you are sending them to, as opposed to just putting on more stamps if you need to send something larger, or a further distance. You buy the stamps at these little shops called Tabaceros, where they also sell tons of cigarettes (remember how I said everyone smokes?). Anyway, when I was buying my stamps, the guy mistook me for being French and gave me French stamps. I was flattered. Hell, I'd like to French! I attribute it to the Amelie-esque haircut I have.

Oh, and two occasions people asked me for directions, once by French tourists and once by a Spanish woman, and both times I was able to help them! Woo! I'm quickly becoming a Madrilena!

Anyway, during my chilly solo tour of my neighborhood, I saw a few flakey things falling. I was walking under a bunch of large trees, so I thought it was just tree dandruff, but the little flakes just. . . . kept . . . coming. Snow! In Spain! It was amazing. I've only seen snow fall like, one other time in my life, so it was pretty momentous, especially considering I'm in Spain. I was euphoric. Don't all those big white flakes look great in my black hair?

The Holy Grail of Origins has been revealed to me! It's much more expensive here- I bought some Ain't Misbehavin' hairspray and it was $22.00, or like 16 Euro. Eep. I asked the gal if I could take a photo and she said no, so I'll have to go back all stealthy- like and sneak one, heh, heh, heh. They sell it at El Corte Ingles, Spain's only department store. They have a smaller selection and a bunch of items we've discontinued, like the Perfect World lip balm. And they had a Make A Difference toner-I had never even heard of that. I think I might have to buy it. Lori, do you know anything about it? The girl siad it's for combo skin. Also since the bottle is only in English and French, they add a sticker with the Spanish description:

I don't know if you can really see that it's in Spanish, but oh well. It's so cute, I swear!

And now for some photos of my charming living quarters:

Note the Kirk doll! I haven't taken any photos of the rest of the house yet, but it's cute-the kitchen is tiny, literally about 3 feet wide. No wonder Carmen always declines my help. It's impossible for two people to be in there at once! The apartment has lots of old world charm and detail, like crown molding and hardwood floors, but IKEA is huge in Spain, so pretty much everything in the apartment is from IKEA. It kind of clashes with the architecture, but oh well.

On a side note, I really appreciate everyone's Spain blog comments, or "Sblomments". I'm tickled that everyone wants to know what I'm up to, and what Spain is like, and that I'm not writing this Sblog in vain! So please keep it up and I'll keep Sblogging away!

Gettin' into the groove,
Emily