The joys of being plugged in....

I finally found an adapter! My laptop had completely run out of battery, as had my iphone. Without these two devices, I felt quite out of touch. Thus, an adapter was high on my priority list today.

My nephew was sure I could find one at the variety store across the street owned by Chinese immigrants. I looked and looked, but there were none. The storeowner had no idea what I was talking about nor where I could find one, so I asked another customer. She told me I needed to go to a real hardware store, and that there was one just a few blocks away. I ventured down the block and made it to the hardware store. The person who attended told me that he only had adapters for when you when want to go from Spain to another country, but not vice versa. He recommended I try El Campo - a large Target-like store just across the street.

El Campo, it turns out, has a little bit of everything, from groceries, to furniture, to power adapters. In El Campo, I looked up and down the wide aisles before I finally found a universal power adapter, a pretty neat gadget that lives up to its name - universal. You can use it to change U.S.-style plugs to European or UK style-plugs and vice-versa.

The only worker in the store who actually was able to help me find an adapter turned out to be an African immigrant, who took an adapter with him to London when he traveled there. The adapter cost 11 euros, and he told me I probably could get a simpler one elsewhere for cheaper. I considered it an 11 euros well-spent.

With my adapter, I just needed one more thing: a cell phone. I bought a vodaphone for 19 euros, that came with 12 euros worth of pre-paid time. Not a bad deal.

With an adapter and a cell phone, I am plugged in!