Hey Everybody! I have arrived in Cuba safe and sound. I have been here since early in the morning last Friday. I arrived on the fastest flight ever. It only took 5 hours to reach Varadero from Edmonton and the plane arrived earlier than expected. I was at the aeroport, in the dark, and I chose not to have anyone meet me there. I wanted the adventure and challenge of making my way inland to visit my friends and family here. So I negociated a bus ride into Varadero and then accepted the bus driver’s advice to take a taxi because it was “safer”. I knew I wasn’t going to take a taxi and started walking across the bridge here to the local point that you grab a cuban bus. I managed to get on the local bus for $5 because I didn’t have change and normally it would have only cost $1. The other option… The taxi would normally be about $30-$40. I was very proud of myself and made it the house of Marifé & Vaniel by about 7:00 am. My time here has been great but it is very cold at night. Around 1-3 degrees. We are at the beach today and I have already made one trip inland in a rental car with Liuba to visit her family. Tomorrow we go for our second trip inland to visit the families and friends of Marifé and Vaniel.
I only have 2 mins left so I will wrap this up. I am doing well, I am safe and I will return to Canada on Friday afternoon. *HUGS* to everyone! Lots of Love, Neil
PS I am half way through the 4th Twilight book “Breaking Dawn” LOL
What an impressive run Canada had this year in the Olympics! I am super crazy slammed lately getting ready for Cuba but I wanted to quickly share with you the following video and my “Where were you for the Gold Medal Game?” story.
You all know that I was in Fernie skiing, and it was AWESOME conditions. The game was playing on my last day of skiing and I couldn’t bear to drag myself off the slopes. Especially when everyone else left the hill at noon to get ready to watch the game. I had all 5 mountains to myself basically. We had a great afternoon skiing and I came down the hill into the Griz Pub for the last 30 seconds of the game. Turns out I hadn’t missed anything. I saw that last goal where the game tied up, then I got to watch the 5 mins of overtime where Canada took home the gold! The energy in the room was CRAZY! At first I was worried I would miss the bus home because we were supposed to all be on the bus by that point. However I noticed the bus driver in the pub watching the TV with everyone else so I knew I was OK.
The video you are about to watch is the sound that came off of Vancouver when the Gold winning goal was made. Similar to what the pub, ski hill, and parking lot in Fernie sounded like but on a much BIGGER SCALE!
Yes it is true… I am off to Fernie for a weekend of Yoga & Skiing! SNOGA is the event name and I am very excited! I am all packed but I am leaving my cell phone, the internet, the blog, Facebook, and yes FARMVILLE behind.
I am bring my spirit and my camera with me so I should return with some good stories, refreshed and maybe some pictures to share with you.
See you all on Monday it will be a busy week for sure gettng ready for Cuba!
If you need to reach me “Ohm” or “Namaste” really loud and I might “Ohm Shanti Ohm, Peace, Peace, Peace” back at you! *HUGS*
If you are on Facebook you may have seen that recently they had Doppelgänger week. A doppelgänger is another word for your look-a-like. You were supposed to change your profile picture to someone famous that you have been told looks like you. Well I didn’t want to do it on my Facebook but I decided to do it on my blog. There are a few people I get told I look like but the only one that I sometimes can see the resemblance to is Jon from S Club 7.
What do you guys think? Close, sorta, not at all? Do you have a celebrity doppelgänger?
WOW! I just booked a trip to Cuba! Many of you know that I try my best to visit Cuba once each year. What makes this trip unique is I leave 1 WEEK FROM TODAY!
I really didn’t think I would be able to swing the trip this year but at the last minute the perfect flight and time became available so I jumped on it. The families that I stay with and visit in Cuba don’t even know I am coming. I didn’t want to get their hopes up and now with it only being a week away I decided to surprise them. (This also adds some complexity to my trip and excitement for me!)
Many of you (friends and co-workers) have already provided me with your donations of clothes, eye glasses, toys, and extra supplies throughout the year that I take down with me and spread among the 100 people I know in central rural Cuba. THEY THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I plan to head home and organize my supplies tonight and see what I might be missing for this trip.
For those of you that ask me for a list of items I might need like toothpaste, Ibuprofen, Acetaminophen, etc. after taking inventory I will know how much room I have left in my luggage and what I might be short on. Alternatively because this is short notice I am trying something new. I have the option to accept monetary donations securely via paypal. Don’t feel obligated to donate by any means.
Here is a list of things that your donation could support: (Even small donations of $1-$2 make a difference)
$1.00 buys 12 pens or pencils
$1.00 buys any number of needed items from a dollar store
$1.25 buys a tube of toothpaste
$3.50 pays for a spare bike tire tube
$4.00 buys a pack of razors
$5.00 buys a teenage boy a good T-shirt
$5.27 buys Tylenol for 3-4 families
$5.97 buys Advil for 3-4 families
$10.00 buys a teenage boy a quality reusable lego toy (I already have lots of girl toys)
$20.00 pays for 10 kg of extra luggage
$30.00 pays for an extra bike I have to be sent down with me
