Cold climates and Bad habits

This week has been cold.  I say this and instantly regret saying it, but in my mind it has been.  For the most part it has been around 30 degrees but now has increased to about 50 during the day, which is much more bearable.  However, at night time it can still get pretty chilly.  I was thinking about buying a euro coat (not that cheap, just style wise), but I after shopping at several stores with rebajas, I decided not to buy one.  I was really looking for some light weight jacket that would serve the purpose for the slightly warmer months and look more stylish than a ski jacket.  Rebajas by the way are sales.  At first when I got here I thought they just had the sale signs up all year round like in Mexico.  They signs seemed to be plastered to the windows, so it seemed like a logical explanation.  After talking with Marli, I found out that actually the rebajas are just like we have in the US.  The stores are merely trying to get rid of their winter stock.  I was very surprised today when I saw Lacoste finally had rebajas signs up.  That must mean we are nearing the end of the rebajas.  I decided to see what a rebaja meant as far as lacoste goes, and as I expected, a button up shirt (or down if you prefer) was about 70 to 80 euro.

Shopping for me so far has been, I regret to say this too, shoes.  I have basically turned in to a woman and now every time I go by some shoe stores, I feel the urge to go in.  This may sound horrible, but you've got to understand where I'm coming from.  In the US I wear tennis shoes.  That's it.  Here they wear dress shoes, well at least leather shoes.  Therefore, I stick out like a sore thumb (which I don't really know how that would necessarily stick out) and these shoes are sooooo cheap for nice dress shoes.  The other day I bought (what I consider to be) a really nice pair of leather shoes for going out for only 20 euro.  That's about 30 dollars, and now according to my friends, I look very euro (I was wearing a thermal at the time, so that's why I attribute it to the shoes).  Yesterday I was overcome by another store and wanted to indulge again.  I know I would have loved these shoes, but I couldn't get over the fact that they might only be for play (even though these were only 15!).

This brings me to another point.  Something I have always wanted stores to do in the US is done here on a regular basis.  Prices are set with tax included (maybe a little more expensive), but there is little need for change.  As of yet I have not seen a penny and I'm not even sure they exist.  I do carry a lot of change with me, but each coin is worth a euro or two, which is actually a sizable amount.

Another interesting thing here, as in most big cities, is the street performers.  Yesterday while shopping, we first passed a demonstration full of people protesting the palestinian/israeli war, and then we found street performers lining the streets.  I also found out that people line the Plaza Mayor also.  On a regular basis there are performers in the subway playing an accordion or something similar, but the ones in Sol are much better.  I saw a statue of a soldier with a flower in his gun, a statue of a guy playing a guitar and a guy frozen in the wind.  The most impressive was the guys with actual talent.  It seemed like a bunch of business guys who just decide to go out and play on the weekends and pick up a bit of money if they can get it.  The four of them were dressed well for a bum and that is why I think they were not bums, and they were playing classical music, which was quite impressive.  I did not take many pictures of these people but some will be up sometime today.