Kenzie’s first swim meet
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Fire Training at Brooks
Yesterday was training day at the fire tower in Brooks. I think we all had a great time playing with fire. P.S. Kids, don’t play with fire…unless you have a couple of fire engines handy and at the ready.
Fun Meet
Kenzie’s first meet for fun and she did great!
Freestyle 25 – 20 (2nd)
Backstroke 25 – 31 (3rd)
Butterfly 25 – 38.21 (4th)
Last day in Cuba and time to go home…flights #116 & 117
For the last day in Cuba, Kenzie wanted to stay on the ship in the kids club, so Jodi and I headed out on our own for a walk around Havana. We were looking for some gifts to bring back (including some cigars) and ended up chatting with some people along the sea wall walk. They suggested a little place off the beaten path where we could get a great deal. This was definitely not the “government store”, but we were feeling adventurous. 🙂
We were told to go was down this neighborhood street, make a right at the yellow building (all the buildings were yellow), then look for the alley on the right. What could go wrong? So off we went, and before we knew it we found these 3 nice (and very large) gentleman monitoring the entrance to an alleyway and they escorted us down through a corridor, and eventually into some lady’s living room.
As promised, there was a wide selection of fine cigars. What a country! I was not about to take any pictures, but I did happen to leave my GoPro running on my shoulder so I managed to pull a few shots of the experience from it. Definitely, an experience to remember!
First day in Cuba!
For our first day in Cuba we arranged a tour with a local company that had a great reputation. It was an all-day tour in one of the old classic cars.
Classic cars are definitely a real thing and not just on the tourist brochures here, they are everywhere. Just amazing what great condition they are in and that they have managed to keep the running for 50+ years! Ours was the chassis of a 50’s American car, but apparently the engine had long since given and so it was actually running on a diesel engine robbed from a Russian truck.
We saw all the popular sights and spent a lot of time talking to the guide about communism, what daily life is like, and how the black market works for getting the things that the government is not able to provide. It was fascinating! Even Kenzie had questions really good questions (some of which probably shouldn’t have been asked in a communist regime, but you can get away with a lot when you are 7 years old…)
The guide explained the black market like this. Let’s say we all work at a government-run hotel (everything is owned by the government), and we’re “working together”. One in the bar, one in housekeeping, and one at the restaurant. As the bartender I’m given 12 bottles of rum at the start of the day. I’m supposed to pour 200ml in each drink I serve. But I only pour 180ml. So at the end of the night, my receipts show that I used all of the alcohol. But really, I have a spare bottle of two which make their way into my bag and out of the hotel. Everyone else does the same thing (with the soap from the housekeeping cart and meat from the kitchen), and now we all have products which are not on any government record and not part of our monthly rations. So when I need meat, I call my friend who works with me and he grabs some extra pork that day, which I trade him for some rum. Now when I need something that none of us have (say a shirt), that’s when you call the taxi driver. Because the taxi driver is the guy who knows everyone. He’s the man who can broker a deal and knows the guy with a shirt, who wants some pork, which you can provide via your friend working in the restaurant, in exchange for you giving him a bottle of rum. All that so you can get yourself a shirt. And the taxi driver, of course, gets a cut of the action for making it all happen.
My head was spinning trying to keep up with the complexity, time, and energy involved with just getting a shirt.
Another interesting moment was when we sat down for lunch and instead of the waitress reading off the daily specials, she instead read what was NOT on the menu that day as a result of the government grocery store being out. No beef that day (which meant no Ropa Vieja…I have to admit I was slightly crushed having come all the way to Havana only to find no Ropa Vieja, but I’ll survive…). Our guide explained that beef was pretty rare in Cuba because years ago the government determined that the cattle population was low. So they announced that all cattle now belonged to the government and now they control how many are slaughtered for meat. Farmers could raise a cow, but it belongs to the government and when it comes time to slaughter, the government slaughters it and then releases it for sale to the people. If your cow gets sick, you call a government veterinarian who comes to check out the cow, and if necessary, calls a government truck to pick it up and dispose of it. And if your cow goes missing, good luck to you, because you now owe the government 1200 pounds worth of beef.
Pretty fascinating to hear what it’s like day to day here. The bad, and in some cases the good too. As an example, for the most part, there is really no homelessness. You may not live in the place you want to live, but the government does provide housing to everyone.
A very interesting day visiting someplace so different from home!
Key West
As we departed Florida we had to take care of all of the travel visa paperwork, and Kenzie did her own visa application. She’s turning into such a big kid! And I’m sure the immigration officers appreciated the hearts over the “i”‘s.
The first stop was Key West. We took the “World Famous Conch Train” to tour the city and along the way saw Hemingways Key West home, the southernmost point of the continental United States, the butterfly conservatory, lots of chickens and roosters roaming the streets, toured a retired coast guard ship, and a little shopping too. And of course Key Lime Pie (on a stick). Yum!
Havana, Cuba!
We wanted to visit Cuba soon, before new tourism changes things too much. So we are off to see Havana! But first is a day in Ft Lauderdale on the way.
We didn’t have much of a plan for this day, and so we decided to just drive to Everglades National Park and look for animals. And we found them!
Alligators just sitting by the side of the road (and lots of them). We took some pictures (looking very closely before getting out of the car). And then went for a swamp buggy ride in a nature preserve with lots of other non-native animals. For Kenzie, any day looking at animals is a good day!
Flight 114 PDX to Seattle, Flight 115 Seattle to FLL!
Short trip before our long overnight flight to Fort Lauderdale, Florida! 
Flight 113 home from OC
We had a great time but looking forward to going home!