About the little things

January 20: 91 degrees,  hot and no wind

This morning we walk to a local pharmacy.  There are many things in which you cannot get in a grocery here.  There is nothing more that we want right now then a pair of nail clippers.  We have been on the hunt for about 3 days.  The pharmacy has one but we are fairly certain that it is made to clip horse hooves and not our nails.  We hang our heads down in disappointment when the clerk asks us to hold on.  He searches a box below and pulls out the most beautiful pair of nail clippers we have ever seen!  Just one American dollar and it could be ours.  Once we had it in our hands,  you would have thought we were Charlie from Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory with the last golden ticket!

Mandy scheduled another private Spanish lesson with a friend of Sara's.  Angelina was to stop by LazDivaz at 2 pm for 2 hours to chat.  During this time,  I decided to walk the beach.  I didn't feel as though paying for a session for me would be worth it since Mandy knows a lot more Spanish than I do. While walking the beach,  I was keeping an eye out for pretty shells or anything else interesting that may have washed ashore.  Then I saw something ahead that looked something like a stick.  As I got closer and closer, I noticed it was moving.  As I walk upon it, I realize that it is a small eel that was stuck on the sand.  Not sure of what type of eel it was and, my obsession with National Geographic, I knew this little guy was going to be hard to handle.  I grabbed a nearby leaf, wrapped it around its body and tossed him into the water.  Within seconds, he was washed ashore again.  For a second time, I grabbed him by leaf and tossed him as hard as I could into the water.  Today, I saved an eel's life.

Spending so much time in Samara also has given us some insight into local living.  We can post all day about the beautiful beaches, sunsets, surfing, etc, but of course it is not all rainbows and unicorns.  Stuff goes wrong. Not everything is easy to get. Locals have become extremely savvy with using resources available to them.  An example includes using an old flip-flop as a hose washer or for applying to the bottom of furniture in order to not scuff their floors.  We also witnessed Sara build a car rack on the roof of her car out of two branches and some rope.

It isn't that we couldn't do any of these things ourselves but,  it just makes me think about how accessible everything can be back home.  How easy is it to get in your car and drive to Lowe's or Home Depot?  Have the conveniences of places like these taken the creativity out of our problem solving?  Maybe it guides our problem solving in the same direction of those who have manufactured these "easy fixes" or tools.  Definitely got me thinking.  Necessity vs. convenience.  Both serving the same purpose.  Money can buy you convenience and necessities.  It can also take away creativity and appreciation.  Interesting.