They don't sell white eggs here.



So I used beet juice and old wine to dye some brown eggs murky.



Then I dropped them. That was an accident.



They're very tender and lovely inside. But are they easter?

She came! And noticed things I'd never, like how the Madrid gov is hip to graywater and doesn't waste freshwater on it's public lawns nor streets. I'd only ever whined about how wastefully often the streets in the center are hosed down.

And noticed, on her own, things I had once noticed, but since forgotten. Like the extraordinary giant in the Cathedral of Toledo. When I went to the Cathedral, as a student, I had thought the giant mural represented Goliath (he being the only biblical huge guy I knew of) (is the respectful term for giants "big people"?) but was laughed at by a friend from these parts, who explained that the dude was lucky, a Saint whose image conferred blessings, and therefore was often represented out of scale for extravisibility. The internet just says it's Saint Christopher; apparently he was very big. Who knows!

There's old Cristobal. I think he's especially striking in person because HIS person is the entirety of the fresco. No background, yknow?

Ms. Aunt Darling also enjoyed and photographed many of my favorite places and people in Madrid, luckily for both of us:



The Reina Sofía extension entrance.



A charming fachada near my neighbourhood.



My Swedes, at their goodbye party, in a beautiful ancient bar.


Post-prandial silliness with my housemates.


And the same with Lolin! Who, along with all my friends/Spain, was very taken with my beautiful aunt.

Secret surprise!



Beginning: Mary Kate cut my hair! So see here's how it went down: I was shaggy, so shaggy. Then! It was the first day of school. So! I hopped on a bus and went to school, and there were maybe three teachers and six students and no coffee and it turned out the governor had decided that due to snow (snap out of it, europe) classes were canceled BUT schools were not closed. Yep: all schools must open, but no teaching allowed. So! I and the other auxiliar de conversación were sent home (we took cookies from the teachers lounge to make up for the 7 euro transportation costs) (not that we won't be paid for that day) while some of the other teachers who had not listened to the radio that morning stayed and watched the stranded kids whose parents had also not listened to the radio that morning.

End: So! That's why my hair is different.

okay Middle: Sooo I called Mary Kate, who also works for a snowstruck public school, and with sweets and coffee manipulated her into spending oh maybe an hour slivering my hair off. Mary Kate, as the Spanish say: muak muak muak.