Reader Mailbag: What is the hardest thing you have had to do so far?

One of the fans of this blog wanted me to post on what was the hardest thing I have had to do in my 5 days here in Sao Paulo. I first want to say that nothing is "hard" unless you allow it to be, however certain things can challenge you and if you are not challenged each and every day then chances are you are not making any progress in any aspect of your life. Now that I've clarify my stance on "hard", I can analyze a couple things that have been challenging.
Certainly navigating a city 5,000 miles away from home that speaks a language not used in the northern hemisphere can be challenging but it is also a fun challenge. The folks down here in Sao Paulo are very friendly and always happy to help even if they don't understand what the tall "gringo" is saying. The taxi's can be challenge given the language barrier but as long as you have the address printed or written its fairly easy. Not having a cell phone is certainly a challenge after living on a blackberry for 4-5 years. But perhaps the most challenging thing for me thus far is my back spasms and muscle knots. Sure it can make things like standing, walking, sitting, and sleeping uncomfortable, but that's not really even the most challenging part. See, here in Sao Paulo, they have several over the counter medications that are in the "Relaxante Muscular" variety family. If I was back in Ohio I could see my great chiropractor Dr. Ryan Zullo up off of Polaris Parkway, but Im not. I said I was 5,000 miles away right? So I've done yoga (yes I brought my yoga mat), stretching, electronic stim, and heat but its only getting worse. I decided to take it into my own hands with a trip to the farmacia and see what I could come up with. My new friend Bruno had written down two great products, Ill call them "D" and "L" because both of their parent companies are clients of Ernst & Young. I was able to find and purchase them both rather easily without having to ask any questions that undoubtedly would go un-interpreted. I get back to the hotel room and crack open the box and realize that there is no English directions in here. There appears to be several other languages both no English in either box. How many times have you purchased a toy, a bookshelf, a piece of electronics, or some other self explanatory item that has directions written not only in English but 5 other languages. The one time I need the "Other" languages its not there. So I came back to "g" (remember that company that rhymes with "oogle" but is a client of E&Y) the directions and realize there is nothing online either in English. I took matters into my own hands and typed the whole directions into "g" translate. Problem solved. That wasn't so hard right?