So You Think Shopping is Easy? Try it in Catalan.

So. This is just a quick post about the things I have purchased which, for various reasons, are completely useless to me.

First, a quick note about buying things in foreign countries. It's different wherever you go. There are things that are available to purchase that you wouldn't ever want. Period. There are things you don't quite understand. Like rambutans. Ever seen a rambutan? Those things are friggin terrifying. First time a person offered me one, I thought they were trying to kill me.

Anyway, I decided to be a "smart packer" on this trip and not pack shampoo, soap, things that I figured every developed country had, with the hopes of buying them when I arrived. STUPID IDEA.

So, I get to Spain, and I go in search of a place that sells sundry-esque things. I stumble upon a farmacia. I would say it's a pharmacy, but this place was...too special to be a pharmacy as we know them.

Essentially, I learned two things in the farmacia:

1. The Spanish do not believe in conditioner.
2. The Spanish have evolved beyond using the razor.

I think number 1 is self-explanatory. For the first part, I must also add that, at this farmacia, they didn't believe in using the word champu, the traditional word for shampoo, either. No. There was hydrating solution for the hair. There was elixir for blondes (or maybe it was elixir of blondes...both kind of scary names for things). But did I go with these vaguely-champu-esque bottles of liquid? Oh no. No, my brain on jetlag decided it wanted Vinagre de Brillance a la Camomile. That's right, ladies and gentlemen. I purchased Vinegar of Brillance a la Chamomile.

There is something wrong with the world when the name of the liquid which you put in your hair could also apply to a salad dressing. Seriously. I'd be more inclined to order Vinegar of Brilliance at a restaurant then put it in my hair.

I later discovered that a farmacia is not the place you go to buy shampoo. Unless you need medicated shampoo. Or unless your hair has an IQ and needs some Vinegar of Brilliance.

For the second thing. In the United States, we tend to shave with shaving cream. The Spanish, however, tend to shave by implementation of magic.

I tried, in vain, to find ye olde shaving cream. In several stores. Monce (whose name is actually Montse...oops.) even tried to help me find some. I wound up purchasing Veet. Which I later discovered doesn't actually work as shaving cream per se. Thankfully, I read the instructions before actually using Veet, a spray depilatorio, something which uses caustic chemicals to remove hair. Maybe skin. Potentially muscle. In the US, studies have shown Nair, the cousin of Veet, to be a "skin irritant." Sort of like Ebola is "bad for the immune system." Now, I tend to be needlessly paranoid about new chemicals in the market. And I like to do things the way I'm used to doing them. I know, we all need to branch out and accept the future...but why can't we keep shaving cream, eh? WHY.

I was so confused.

Thankfully, I stole/clandestinely removed all the free shampoo/conditioner/soap/itty bitty shaving cream containers and bottles from out hotel room before coming to the apartment. Eventually, I was able to convey my general dismay to Montse, who was able to buy me actually shaving cream. She still insists that I use the same shampoo as the rest of the family...which I don't mind doing. It's Garnier Fructis, which is something I would normally put in my hair.