She's actual size

If communication were only about the sale and purchase of goods, I'd be all set with Spanish. I went shopping today; I'm pretty good at buying things in Spanish. I can ask for sizes, talk about colors, understand prices. Small victories. Most of the stores have sales in January and February, making this the last weekend of rebajas. I expected the stores to be super crowded, but there was actually kind of a strange calm over the city all day--I just don't get this place. Anyway, now I know about European sizes. Shoes are a 37, tops are 40, and pants are evil in any sizing scheme. The sizing of tops is strange--I'm used to small, medium, large, not numbers. And the numbers are big, which makes me feel like a fullback. But as usual with women's clothing, they don't seem to correspond to any actual measurements.

It's Carnaval right now--not quite the Rio version, but there were lots of people out in costumes today. Tonight I'm going to Sitges, a town about half an hour away that apparently goes crazy during Carnaval. More on that tomorrow.

And, while I have an audience: My iPod won't turn off--anyone know what to do? (Besides read the instructions, which I admit I haven't done yet.)