still here...

Really, I am still here. Havana is still here. Rumour has it that Castro is still here...

I have unposted blog entries at home, which will have to be posted later, so I will try not to ruin any surprises... It is possible that we will have internet at home sometime in the next month or so. Although that is what I believed back in September (who ever thought I was an optimist?). Vamos a ver.

We continue to attempt to eat at restaurants, and continue to be generally disappointed, although last night we had a nice meal at a paladar (family-run, in-home restaurant. No more than 12 chairs - unless you know someone in the government who can grease some wheels...) not far from our house. I think that the trick is to stick with really simple food. Fresh fish. Rice. Cuban beans. Mojitos. How could you go wrong with that? The problem is not the restaurants, it is our expectation and hope that we will find somewhere wonderful and creative. Not yet.

On sunday, our house broke. Saturday night, we were having a small dinner party out in our ranchon (outdoor dining area) while the kids were swimming in the pool. As usual here, the talk turned to politics, and we asked our guests to please speak clearly and directly into the light fixture, as that is where we figure the listening device is... We joked about spies, Cuban and otherwise, and life here, and all of that... And the next day, our house fell apart. Perhaps a "hello" from our listeners? A little nudge that "we are here"? Who knows. But it seems awfully coincidental that the next morning we had no hot water, the dryer didn't work, the light in the kitchen wouldn't turn on and our pool pump stopped working. Either "those guys" did something, or the warranty on our house ran out...

Anyway, everything is fixed. For now...