Consolation Prize

After our Diving gone wrong experience we had a nice lunch (i had a tomato and avacado chicken soup) and one of our table side vendors happened to be two women with books of hair braiding. I had seen them a few times in the Adoquin (the beach area where we were) and decided that only a head full of braids would make me happy after such a gloomy stormy dive. So i made a reservation for when i was done eating and while denise and tina wandered off i went down and sat looking at the ocean while these girls put hundreds of braids and shells in my hair. It was fun to hear them talking and gossiping above me, though i really had no idea what they were saying most the time.... ok, so most all the time. But 30 minutes later i was tightly braided and full of shells and wondering if i will clear customs on sunday! :-) When denise returned she decided she wanted to be as cute as me and got her hair braided too! I liked that the restaurant just let them sit us at one of their tables, use their chairs, use their table even. Of course it is also a regular occurance to have several cute children come up to you while you are eating and bat their cute little eyes at you and try and sell you bracelets or paintings or purses. the younger they are the harder it is to resist! There is certainly no "no soliciting" policy here. We also have a new perspective of what our kids mean when they say "i couldn't do my homework last night, i had to go to work with my mom". If i had to go to work with one of MY parents i think that i would have been sitting there reading a book, coloring, getting in the way, but i think that when our hispanic children are saying this - they mean it. They had to Work. children don't seem to be too idle here. They seem to be put to work in the family stores, actual stores or street vendor stores. Young and old alike. Some of the kids at the super che can't be much older than the kids in elementary school - and our best bracelet seller was only 6. And everyone here takes so much pride in their work. Pride in presentation and service. I have NEVER stayed in hotel type accomodations that are as clean as CasaMar is. We even get clean BEDSPREADS once a week. Floors cleaned daily, pool chairs scrubbed daily, constant sweeping - even of the roofs. I feel VERY pampered and spoiled and taken care of here. My feet are NEVER dirty here! Sandy yes.... but all the sand disapears again while we are out for the day. And this in turn has made us more conciencious of how WE are keeping things - turning off fans and lights and unplugging things we are not using and keeping our things cleaned up. I knew i was a lazy person..... america...... is a lazy society.... my little corner of oklahoma, with horrible public transportation and a city plan that isn't conducive to walking or biking...... i miss my roots. I think they might be planted somewhere here under a plum tree and i will have to come back and water them often.