sorry, sorry, sorry

I know, it 's been ages. I blame it on life. Life in Cuba, really. In between almost non-stop guests between New Year's and oh, next week, things have been busy. I've seen lots more of Havana, what with touring people around (or, being toured around, more likely) and the need to FIND things.

And I've been working on and off. Luckily, mostly off for the 4 months of visitors (nothing like living somewhere hot and generally accessable to generate interest). I had a job briefly in January, but it was so boring that I quit after 4 weeks. On the up side, I was working during the PTA elections, so managed to dodge that bullet - but still managed to get volunteered for the upcoming "international food fair" this weekend. Canadian food? Right... hmmmm....

Now, I am working again, for 8 weeks part time at the Canadian Embassy - don't ask what, at least not on the blog. I shudder to think... And I am working as an editor for the UNDP - starting last week while we were in Mexico for 5 days. I know lots more now about drought patterns and relief than I did a week ago...

I have to say, I was tootling along just fine here in Havana, scrounging yellow peppers here and frozen spinach there, with the odd exciting moment (feta cheese! a new skirt!), and feeling pretty good about things. And then I left the island. For Playa del Carmen. Oops.

Turns out that visiting Mexico (a mere 40-minute flight away) has had a much more serious impact on my impression of Cuba than say, visiting Ottawa in December. Go figure. Damn, that Mexico is a place that WORKS. With restaurants. And taxis. And stores. We went to a grocery store and it had actual groceries.