11 days...

...since I last touched a computer.

Toto, I have a feeling we aren't in Tokyo anymore...

Things are certainly different here. Beautiful, different. It is a much, much, much smaller place, with much more life. Vida. People seem generally happier, and there is music all over the place. I think I have heard Air Supply on the radio twice already. What????

Our house is truly lovely, and has space for guests. But, those guests will be requested (required?) to bring with them some things that we just can't find in Cuba. So far, that would be English books. There is, in fact, toilet paper here. I guess Cubans DO go to the bathroom...

Actually, there are more President's Choice and No Name products (these are basic Canadian brands, for my non-Canadian readers) here than I could ever imagine. And we even had a SALAD last night, with actual LETTUCE!!!!

wow....

what's up?

so, here we are (Sam and I) surviving in the heat and humidity of Ontario, staying with Steve's family... Things are fine out here, but I am eager to get to Havana.

Steve arrived there on Sunday after a 3.5 hour flight from Toronto (yahoo, no more 10 hour flights!), and has been at work for a couple of days now. I gather that things are a little interesting there now, as Castro has handed over power to his brother for the first time ever... I suspect that we will have a very interesting time in Havana.

Apparently, we have 2 kinds of bananas, oranges, mandarin oranges, mangos and avacados growing in our back yard! Yum! The pool looks lovely, and the house seems quite big, but inhabited by the typical foreign affairs furniture - some of it in fairly rough shape. Oh well - we can live by the pool.

There is a garden, and the gardener says he can grow anything, so I am off to buy seeds next week, for tropical sorts of things (are carrots tropical?). Oh, and we have a cat. Fox will be so pleased.