Almost completed my paper for the Madrid and Toledo travel from a few weeks ago. I would have finished the paper tonight if I had not run into a slight setback. One of the subjects I am writing about in my paper is starting to become very difficult to find substantial information on. Just in case you forgot I have to write about the Synagogue of El Transito and then choose another building or site from the trip to expand upon. I chose the park and more specifically the monument to Alfonso XII. I think I will have to research another area of the park in addition to the monument in order to have enough material for my paper, hopefully I can complete that tomorrow.
On a less academic note I went to the Peluqueria today, more commonly known as the barbershop! I was in desperate need of a hair cut and finding a place over here was starting to become impossible. Luckily Gerardo and his command of the Spanish language came in handy, he discovered a barbershop that could my hair! Of course the barbers in there spoke no English so I needed Gerardo to accompany me so I did not end up with some strange fade, s-curl, or worse! The barber was very nice and introduced me to all of the locals and other barbers in the shop. They assumed that I was Dominican, that is until I opened my mouth; everyone laughed (in a good way) when I tried to speak and introduce myself. Barber shop culture is a universal concept that transcends language boundaries...everything was just like back home, guys talking about any and everything while enjoying the company of everyone present. I would fade in and out in terms of what I understood (they spoke extremely fast) but whenever I laughed at something everyone else laughed a little louder because they realized that I understood the joke! The only thing that was different was the "trimming" process, instead of using a clipper he used a STRAIGHT RAZOR! I was very nervous at first...but he knew his craft very well...it took him about 10 minutes and he had completely trimmed me up...he even did it without shaving cream, just water.
Another thing I can check off on my "list of to dos" while here in Europe! Studio tomorrow, hopefully Jordi will approve of the lack of detail I have prepared!
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