Hello down there from way up here

Obviously I did make it north of 60, as evidenced by the title of this post, so as I am cozily settled on call, meaning I am being compensated for dragging the cell phone around with me for three hrs pay (one hour for each 8 hr segment) over the next 24 hours...let me update you on the past two weeks goings on. 

After my whirlwind ten days at home which included the teacher daughter's graduation and provisioning and packing, the past ten days here have been like one of those corporate retreats in the wilderness. My ticket arrived 36 hours before my departure, meaning that I received it Monday evening and checked in online Tuesday morning. Groceries, a stop to pick up seeds to sprout and bug spray and I was stuffing and weighing my action packer, rolling duffle and a suitcase (not cold enough to split one of those hard sided pieces of luggage in May). Perishables in the fridge for departure and a few hours of restless nap. The usual routine of on the road by 2 am, stop for tea and my taxi is waiting in my nursing classmate's yard and I'm whisked to the airport. Check in is routine and bags are tagged through to Inuvik for the following day. Score! Security with Nexus is a breeze and the usual wait to board. A window seat to nap, watch a Bollywood movie and we're landing in Edmonton to collect luggage, shuttle to the hotel and decompress. A quick lunch, nap, walk, some online chatting, supper, bath and bed for the early departure. 

5 am alarm to start my long travel day, dressed, retrieve the perishables from the cooler, and on the shuttle with all the tradesmen being dropped off at the flight centre. Retrieve the bags from storage, check in / security and down to the gate. Notice a family waiting from a community I've worked in...know the face, can't put a name to it or even which settlement. When I ask which community they are flying in to? Kugluktuk ah yes! It's raining so we appreciate the jet port (unusual to not walk across the tarmac to a northern flight) and a quick hop to Yellowknife. Have a nice chat with seatmates - an older couple who "came north from Prince Albert in 1982 for four years and are still there, retired now and near their grandkids" Ice in the lakes and a bit of snow left in Yellowknife so I opt to remain onboard. The leg from Yellowknife to Inuvik sees a former coworker from Nunavut sit in front of me and we catch up - she's the primary care manager in Inuvik now. The north is large geographically but small people wise. A station stop in Norman Wells and it's sunny but cool so again no exit. Retrieve the bags in Inuvik, head to the Aklak Air counter and greet Melissa who states "I can't check you in, you're on standby, you need to wait over there and I'll let you know if you're getting on today" Whaaaaa? The explanation being....your employer bought the ticket late, the other passengers were all confirmed. Sigh. I make a call to my former job share partner (now NIC or nurse in charge) and advise. Both nurses are scheduled to come out today but if I don't make it in, we both know the 30something CHN who is meeting her German boyfriend and heading to Galapagos is going to be the one getting on the plane not the older nurse heading over to another community to work. My buddy describes the CHN I'll be (hopefully) heading over with as small, long dark hair, young and likely dropped off by the RCMP as she's been working in the ER due to a series of scheduling events which defy description. She arrives, we chat (and yes she is the age of my second daughter) and folks are turned away from check in. There's a delay with departure due to 'no one to read the weather over there' and my coworker texts her RCMP fiance who offers to send a photo of the beauty of a day. Finally (after 500 lb of cargo is not loaded) I'm offered boarding but we are all only guaranteed 30 lb

late spring this year

of freight with us - this includes a packback and the suitcase of perishables in my case. We climb up the small stairs and we're off. It's a gorgeous spring day as we look down on the frozen Beaufort Sea, snow covered cliffs and finally bank on approach to the hamlet. Unusual to see a plane on the ground here but there's been a charter in bringing court. Catch up for a few minutes with the exiting nurses, find my bags piled by the health centre SUV, wrestle the 150 lbs into the vehicle and head down the hill to my home for the next eight weeks. It's -12c and lots more snow than last year this time, so good thing I packed the winter jacket. Drag my stuff up two sets of stairs, put things away, supper and set up my life...humidifier, uniforms, crafts...check. An early bedtime with the oncall phone.

Since there is no continuity with the handover, the local clerk is out on the land with her family ice

It needed to be said?

fishing (see neighbouring community notice) and waiting for the geese to arrive, my coworker had a few days orientation a month ago and doesn't know the community and I haven't been here since September....we spend Friday finding our way around as we read notes and try to figure out who is where and doing what. A couple of calls are placed to the NIC in the neighbouring community as I tell her that she can run but she can't hide and she tells me that she's running nonstop as it is BUSY there. In fact she had 40 hrs overtime in the first four days. The long weekend passes without incident, well unless you describe two phone calls...one about a dog (no we can't help) and the other for constipation medicine to take out to the camp (not drinking enough water and no tree to poop behind makes this a common problem) as incidents. It's a lovely way to pass the time doing crafts (more on that later), invited out to supper at my coworkers for spaghetti and muskox meatballs to which I contributed blueberry buckle for dessert, reading - Stories From a Travelling Couch was really good, took a windy and cool walk up to the airport - no wonder there are no geese yet, binge watching season 5 of A Place to Call Home - the Australian series we've been following with the final season being released this summer. Although we'd purchased a used laptop I didn't want to mess with the entertainment system, so asked my former partner for instructions and was told "it's too complicated to explain" so opted to borrow my coworkers laptop. And the holiday bonus was only a four day work week.

Tuesday I answered the health centre phone to hear my manager (young but helpful) say "oh good, there is someone there" meaning that both myself and my coworker were here without a contract - trusting souls that we are, so on paper it looked as if the nursing station wasn't staffed. She apologized for the last minute arrangements and lack of documentation and was suitably unimpressed when I mentioned stand by travel and how that could've turned out. She advised that a contract for me to sign would be out shortly and true to her word it was sent by HR, I promptly signed it and sent it back, all within 10 minutes. Sounds like she's getting things in order.  In fact, she made a return call later in the day where she questioned whether I would be able to extend my present contract? I replied, "Depends on the definition of extension as I have a plan to keep my granddaughter while her parents travel to Iceland" and in case that didn't impress her sufficiently, I added "I have an oncology appointment on July 24" which she quickly agreed I must make. I chose not to disclose that it is very routine and I had already changed the date to suit the trip to the city to pick up my granddaughter - don't play that C card often, only when scheduling is an issue. 

And speaking of contracts and being paid...one of my priorities was receiving my vacation pay of over 58 hrs from last September when I resigned from my job share position. I had asked about in the fall and was told that my resignation was being processed and I would receive my money in due process...never did. My new manager advised me to contact HR again and to let her know if I required her assistance ( a refreshing approach). I received an explanation of how my pay out had fallen through the bureaucratic cracks (who cares how it happened, just give me my money) and an apology but the email wasn't signed. Gotta love HR eh? The only part of the message which interested me was the part about where it was being paid out in my June 1st pay. 

The human / technology interface this past ten days has been to describe it politely... painful. I arrived to find that paper patient charts are no more (except for historical review) since April and we use an electronic medical record (EMR) system now. Arrrghhhh is the usual description but apparently it's something which Telus invented called Wolf EMR. The mental health worker was over for a two day visit from the community we share him with and stress management services were called upon by both nursing staff. I'm unsure who designed or set it up, but I can guarantee it wasn't a nurse in either case. I (as have others before and those after me) have been forced to do hours of training over the phone with an EMR educator - and in an effort to minimize negativity I will not describe this guy. Since we are a remote location with extremely slow connection speed it takes eight minutes for the system to load when you click on the icon....can't you just imagine doing this in the middle of the night emergency as it's the only way to access medical history, allergies etc for a patient? There is some kind of sorcery required to search for patients (my NIC suggested that the first two letters of first and last name worked for a patient I was looking for....and I would know that magic how?) and it's frustrating as in...you know the patient is in the system, they are seen regularly, have only the same name as on their chart. I searched DOB (someone is a birthday twin in Inuvik), healthcard number (nope), first and then last name - getting lists of all but not the patient. Who decided that last name AND date of birth are the combo that would call up her name and why in the two hours of telephone yammering did the EMR educator not share that helpful nugget? Instead he used examples where I was taught to enter a prescription for metformin (diabetes drug) which I'd prescribed. I explained that I don't prescribe it, a Dr does that I use a formularly for urgent drugs. We tried an injection for toradol for pain in the case study and he was stymied by the prn (as needed) concept and wanted to give it once a day. I made silent banging my head on the desk and poking my eye out motions to my coworker at this time. Although I had left voice mail messages on the EMR Helpdesk (very deviously named as they provide limited help) and both 'on call' numbers on the long weekend without receiving a callback at any time, even when work resumed it confirmed to me that the only folks on call especially on weekends are... nurses and police, but I digress. 

My coworker spent several hours two days last week with a laptop which was shipped to us, sitting in the server room aka surplus exam room, on a stool keying in information and reading off the screen to an IT dude in Yellowknife who was doing his level best to NOT travel here to tweak the system. In conclusion he admitted that the entire situation was due to something on their end to do with an IP address. Nice, really nice. 

And since we're on a technology bashing theme here, just let me say that interfering with a nurses pay will cause an outburst quicker than anything else I can think of. We use a system called PeopleSoft to enter our time, check on our pay and print the pay advice of the deposit which we'll (hopefully) receive. In order to do this we must first be entered into the system and then activated - for those of us toing and froing and moving from staff to casual, this can be a challenge. When I asked HR on Thursday (Friday being the cutoff to enter time and have it approved by the manager for this pay) I was told that 'it takes time to be entered into the system and you only returned your signed contract on Tuesday' I have to admit that a younger me would've have had something to say about how to return something you were yet to receive...instead I hit delete. On Friday morning with an hour to time entry deadline, I found myself with an icon to enter time on a program that had completely changed since I last used it in September. It now requires a Masters degree (at a minimum) to use. I struggled through with the attitude of positive time reporting everything including the stat holiday pay which I have to have worked 15 days previously to receive, so not sure if I'm entitled. Thinking 'if it's not allowed she won't approve it'.  Within 10 minutes, the manager had approved my time (without quibbling) ending that painful experience with hopefully a pay deposit on Friday. 

And (bear with me here, it's part of a theme) as the local IT offered those of us in the more remote locations of the region with hateful phone lines (those of us who hear an echo of our voice when calling long distance or have to use the cell phone to call one particular health center in our region as the two landlines are mortal enemies) the opportunity to have eFax installed. I've used it years ago in my home office and the concept is great - scan papers to your computer and they're converted to a fax document and sent. All I can say is that with the installation and then trouble shooting, that's an hour of my life I won't get back. At one point the tech says in his Kenyan (British colonial) accent, I'll just pop down to medical travel to see if there's something wrong with the fax machine there. He calls me back to state that "the travel clerk thinks she may have deleted the fax by mistake" (spoiler alert - it never left this computer due to gremlins) and I say "clearly, not a nurse as we do not offer up front to take blame until it is proven we are at fault" He agreed and is calling the vendor...good let me know how that works out for you. Moving along. 

Good thing that it's been a very slow time in the community as myself and the coworker find our way around. She's very keen, has 10 yrs ER and CHN experience in Nunavut, sensible old soul sort and we have had a LOT of laughs already. Her counterpart who took my job share position is known as the young nurse vs the old nurse (moi) and she fits the same descriptor. I never tire of the "welcome back" greeting here. Life is good.

I've made a couple of treks to the COOP and am gradually settling in to the prices, limited selection (although there were escargot and escargot seasoning mix - go figure) and state of the produce. When I asked the clerk if they had frozen orange juice she looked at me as if I've asked for fresh frozen plasma so I feel a food mail order to Stantons coming on. And speaking of food....

Alberta egg on top

As promised, more information about the crafts I'm pursing...such are

bacon & tomato sammich

the activities of a Nanak with time on her hands. I've been (with the assistance of Pinterest and free online patterns) creating crochet play food for the grandkids They are kind of an addiction as you just want to do one more to    'see what the _ _ _ _ will turn out like' and so I've taken myself downstairs to the computer to post this. I'll have quite a food collection by the time I head home mid Julyish. It's a good use of scrap yarn and artistic creativity and my audience is pretty non critical so an enjoyable past time. As I hit publish I am back to food creation. Maybe some cranberry muffins into the oven first and then some....crochet apples I think. Later.

Settle in...this is a looonggg post

As I settled in with a cup of tea to begin a blog update, I discovered that I was two vacations behind in posting, meaning.....you haven't heard about the Upper Canada March Break adventure or the past six weeks in Cuba. So here goes:

Ripleys Aquarium 

The grandson and myself flew to Ontario, stopping first in Ottawa to pick up his auntie. When she took the seat next to him the look on his face was priceless as he thought she was waiting for us in Toronto.  Short hop over to Billy Bishop Airport and I must say that is a much more convenient way to arrive in Toronto. After a quick shuttle to the subway which took us to our AirBnB and an excursion to the neighbourhood grocery store we put a pizza in to bake and settled in. We spent Saturday as downtown tourists after buying a city pass (good deal if you're going to see a few attractions) and visited Ripleys Aquarium (as did every other child in Canada it seemed) for a few hrs then the boy and his auntie did a tour of the CN Tower (while I
enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate and some downtime in the cafe) and then we headed over to Little Italy. We explored a bit and found a restaurant where we enjoyed a great pasta supper, including an unexpected twist.

In 1972 I had participated in a school trip (total cost $400) which included flights to England/Italy for a Mediterranean cruise on the SS Nevasa with students from our high school, Saint John, NB, St. Johns, Nfld and Birmingham, UK. One of the Newfoundland students and I corresponded for a few yrs and reconnected on FaceBook a couple of yrs back (she having recently retired as a Disney manager and heading to China on a trade mission this spring). When I posted a photo from Toronto I received a message from her saying she lived in Port Credit, would meet us somewhere and quickly made her way to the restaurant so.....after 45 yrs we had a great catchup. We both agreed that the cruises we take now are decidedly upscale compared to a WWII troop carrier with dormitories and trays of unidentifiable food in the cafeteria. A lovely bonus included her driving us back to the AirBnB. 

Toronto Zoo 

On Sunday we surprised the boy with a trip to the Toronto Zoo. It's a bit of an expedition on the subway/bus system but that was part of the fun (well except for the large numbers of mentally unwell on the subway in the early am). Although it was brisk and some of the exhibits were not available, the animals which are sluggish in the summer heat (especially the Canadian ones) were really putting on a great show. I have to say that I was surprised to see that polar bears eat lettuce - who knew? Not a diet staple in any northerners diet, bears or otherwise. We were thrilled to see the panda family before they headed off to the Vancouver Zoo the following week. Hard to choose a favourite animal but...the orangutangs and chimpanzees were great performers and the large cats did not disappoint.  It was a lot of walking and the wind was chilly but a good time was had by all. We picked up sharwma and baklava in the neighbourhood for a delicious supper. 

Monday we packed up, took the subway downtown, stored the bags at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and joined the hordes of kids spending March Break there. So many levels, so little time. Everything from dinosaurs, ancient civilizations, climate change...you name it. Days would be required to do it justice. By 2 pm we had to retrieve the bags and take the subway back to the VIA rail station for our commute to Ottawa. A relaxing trip as we rolled past industrial cities, farms and lakes while the steward served us sandwiches and drinks. Nice to have legroom and be able to move a bit vs plane seats. In Ottawa by evening and a quick Uber ride took us to the daughter's apartment in Gatineau. We weren't long calling it a day. 

Tuesday meant the daughter became a working girl again, heading across the bridge to the restoration of Parliament Hill project she is hired for. The out of town guests enjoyed a leisurely morning then navigated the bus system over to Ontario, toured the (free) Bank of Canada museum and were joined

Parliament Hill 

after work by the hostess. A wander across Parliament Hill (even saw a motorcade) past the eternal flame, through Byward Market and supper at a BBQ restaurant completed our day. Wednesday the lad and I figured out the bus system and made our way across Ottawa to the Museum of Science &Technology as did throngs of families. It was a looonnngggg day but an extremely interesting one. I was a tad disturbed to find exhibits from my childhood (black & white TVs, crank party line telephones etc) representing vintage topics though. Thursday was sunny and milder (first day it didn't snow) and we walked to the Museum of Canadian History in Gatineau which is a fantastic place - really worth a visit if you find yourself in the capital. The large exhibition hall of totem poles overlooks the river and parliament buildings. We spent the entire morning in the Kids Museum - creating and

Kids Museum 

starring in a play, travelling the globe, stamping our passports, unloading a ship "nah Nanak, I don't want to swab the deck, I'm the captain" he says from the bridge :) pretending to cook/serve food in the restaurant, jumping in the activity room, learning to juggle and be a clown with the circus instructors, checking out the first nations displays,  finally stopping for lunch. We made our way through the special exhibit about the Franklin Expedition which was very well done as well as the Dreamworks interactive exhibit. We wandered through the national exhibit hall (wonderful etchings) and briefly toured some of the Canadiana exhibits before stopping at a Peruvian restaurant for supper - yum! Friday morning we did a tour of Parliament Hill and were suitably impressed with the Peace Tower and Memorial Chamber (sad to think of need for such large books to record all those fallen soldiers) As the bells rang out at noon and O Canada was played my grandson and I sang the anthem on the steps and I have never felt more patriotic. The afternoon took us to the Canadian Nature Museum which is housed in a gorgeous historic building and contains some amazing displays. I especially enjoyed the arctic exhibit. Saturday was a road trip and we drove an hour towards Montreal and Parc Omega in Montebello which is a 12 km safari park of Canadian wildlife. You can feed deer, elk, goats, wild boars, turkeys etc from your vehicle and watch more dangerous animals such as bears, wolves, coyotes in fenced areas. There were signs to not feed the bison (clearly ignored as they were NOT

Parc Omega

impressed to be deprived of carrots) and even muskox! The hoofed animals would put their heads into the car, lick your hair and slobber on the vehicle as they chomped carrots - definitely need a post visit car wash. It took at least five hours to make our way through the roads and additional time for visiting the sugar shack to have a maple candy treat / hot chocolate, a visit to the trappers cabin and courier du bois display, a stop for grilled cheese sandwiches / carrot soup for lunch at the cafe, visiting the lodge with play area, decoy display, gift shop and we could've stayed longer but they were closing the gates. A good plan would be to arrive as the gates open at 10 am as the animals are looking for carrots and there aren't many vehicles. A stop in Chinatown for takeout noodles completed a perfect day. Sunday morning our hostess made us a great breakfast and dropped us at the airport for our trip home and yes...there were a few tears. What a wonderful time we all had!

There were only four days separating the Ontario trip and departing for Cuba, good thing the wardrobes were significantly different. Especially as I came home to find that the sewage pipe was blocked, thus the washer had flooded the mudroom, no plumber was available and if the septic tank needed pumping the weight restriction on the roads would prevent their visit. I was unable to do laundry (including the mountains of soaked towels from cleaning the flood) run the dishwasher, take a shower, drain the tub etc. Monday involved the shore captain excavating the lid of the septic tank, borrowing a snake from the pumping service, asking me to drain water then yelling "whoa, whoa" as it came up through the drain in the bedroom closet and mudroom. I was not impressed! Although he managed to free the blockage, I was two days getting the mess cleaned up before I could think of packing. And then...we had a major snowstorm on March 22nd as we were heading to the airport which changed the plan from taking the car without snow tires to the 4wheel drive. What an awful drive it was! Certainly made us appreciate heading to the warm. 

We caught a charter flight to Holguin with a plane full of all inclusive guests (only six of us non reseort passengers) had a nap enroute then were quickly processed on the ground. We were met by (as arranged by our son-in-law) a host in a taxi and after a quick stop at the cadeca (money exchange) we were off to our casa particular which was located near the city centre, had a great breakfast and was immaculately clean. We spent a couple of days enjoying the city as we visited the museum, ate great BBQ, spent an hour in line to buy wifi cards, hung out in the square online, and took a day trip to Gibara (a small fishing town) in a 1948 Oldsmobile - imagine travelling in a car older than us! Lovely museum, cathedral, square, male con and friendly people. We met some NS tourists there and they recommended a great paladar (restaurant) called La Perla where we shared a terrace lunch with our cabbie. Gibara would be a nice spot to spend a couple of days. A cab over to the Viazul bus station and we made our way to Camaguey. 

courtyard

resident feline

Our Holguin host recommended a casa there and our hostess sent a cab to meet us at the bus station. We really enjoyed the city and wandered the pedestrian streets enjoying great meals, drinks, icecream and people watching. Visited the museum, cathedrals, squares and
enjoyed being tourists. The casa was a lovely colonial home with a wonderful courtyard, large rooms, a friendly family, great backyard for doing laundry and fantastic breakfast (fruit plates, yogurt, ham/cheese paninis, eggs as you ordered, bread, natural juices, and coffee) for $3 and best of all kitties! One little fellow made himself right at home, forgetting completely that kitties are not allowed on the furniture here! We were sad to leave in a cab to the bus station.

The overnight bus from Camaguey to Havana was (as are most red eyes) manageable with a pillow and headphones. Stops along the way but a quiet group of passengers and we arrived early am in La Habana. A cab to Habana Vieja, but after being welcomed and offered coffee at our recommended historic casa, we were delivered in an elderly Lada to a casa a few blocks away. Turned out to be a good spot to spend the night as a few blocks from the Malecon where we watched the vintage cars cruise, quiet, exceptional breakfast and a recommendation for a great local supper. 

A 50s cab to the airport - thankfully the shore captain riding shotgun managed to yell “WHOA” at the cabbie looking at chicas in a vintage convertible, before we rear ended a truck! Whew. A full bus of tourists out to Pinar del Rio / Vinales for the two hour trip. On the bus full of foreigners we were the only two passengers exiting at Pinar del Rio and were approached by a man asking if we needed a casa and escorted to a great bungalow where we actually stayed three days vs the one we’d planned. Great host with exceptional English, large room/bath, huge/delicious supper available for $8. Pinar del Rio is an historic, less touristy area than Vinales and we had a great cab driver (Rodolfo who was retired military intelligence) for a few days. He expertly transported us to the Hector Luis tobacco

tobacco in the barn

farm where Cohibas are made, took us to see the fishing fleet, checked out the beautiful beaches, shared lunches with us and delivered us to Vinales. We stopped at a lookout at Los Jazmines which has a view of the mogotes in Vinales (the classic hills/valley you see on postcards) and it was complete with tour buses of foreigners with guides, a band playing salsa music, a brahma bull to pose with for a photo and souvenirs for sale - standard tourist stop. There was an attractive, petite, fit senior lady from Montreal enjoying the view and when I commented that it was amazing, she agreed. I said “I take it this isn’t your first trip to this country?” and she smiled and said “I’ve been coming to Cuba for over 50 yrs” and I said “15?” but she clarified that she had “first visited when Batista was here, was only 24 yrs old and didn’t know that you could lose in the casino” and I said “bet you found out quickly you could” and she smiled again and said “oh no, in those days you just paid the croupier

Cueva Santo Tomaso

and always won”. I commented that she must’ve seen a lot of changes over the years and she said “the more things change the more they stay the same”. I agreed when she told me that “you leave a piece of your heart here” and told her we’d been visiting since 1997, had a daughter who attended Universidad de Oriente, now had a Cuban son-in-law and shared her love of the country and its people. How wonderful to still be travelling at age 88! We stayed at a great casa in Vinales which was almost a small hotel as it had five rooms. Lovely breakfast, great supper and amazing views of the mogotes. We took a cab out to the prehistoric mural (painted in 1960 - go figure) and hiked the hill then headed to the Cueva Santo Tomaso (caves) and a two hour tour complete with helmets with headlamps and a guide. Striking formations, large rooms, dark and cool, big eyed toads, bats etc. Vinales itself is a tourist town with more foreigners than locals so not much reason to return. An early morning walk to the bus and we were off to Cienfuegos.

We were well treated by the people of the city, had lovely casas with a great chef who made us fantastic suppers and enjoyed a jeep excursion to the botanical garden and beach at Rancha Luna but…..the city of Cienfuegos is really dirty! Garbage everywhere, smelly, open sewers in the streets and really grubby! No intention to return there either. Deposited by 1958 jeep at the bus station and a  quick trip to Trinidad was next. 

Trinidad is a Unesco world heritage site and we were met at the bus station by a bicitaxi sent by our hostess so we bumped along the cobblestones to our casa. Our hostess was a dentist who welcomed us with perfect English, advised we could access the wifi in the house with our tourist card and suggested a restaurant a few doors down. We had a wonderful supper (so good we returned the second night) at a courtyard restaurant / casa - a five course meal and even a glass of Chilean camenere to accompany it. We explored the city and it was historic, clean, had lovely parks, cafes and friendly people. We opted for a cab to Playa Ancon to spend the day and it was a beautiful beach, with palapas, exceptionally warm ocean, bar with chair delivery and only a handful of European tourists (Luxembourg and Germany next to us). Ahhh. An early morning walk to the bus station and we began our day long trip to Santiago de Cuba. 

The regional buses in Cuba make meal break stops (the drivers get fed even if you don’t want to eat) but it was long day as we made our way through Sancti Spiritus, Las Tunas and then finally on  

Got any peppers?

through Bayamo. Along the road heading out of the city, although we were over an hour behind schedule, both drivers got off the bus to shop for peppers at an ox cart with vegetables. And….a little further along, a guy is standing by the side of the road holding up two bottles of salsa so of course we stop, he hops on with the sauce, drives to the next bus stop about 10 minutes away and gets off, leaving the salsa as payment. A wild thunder and lightning storm developed with torrential downpour as we made our way through the hills, finally arriving in Santiago de Cuba in the dark. Our son-in-law met us at the station in his father’s green WWII motorcycle with sidecar and whisked us off to a friend’s house to spend the night and we caught up on the news.

We took a cab down to Chivirico the next afternoon and settled into Cayo Damas for the remaining three weeks. The furthest we travelled was in to Chivirico to use the wifi in the park and visit friends and family. Swimming every day, great drinks and meals, enjoying the seven puppies on the island which were all given away by our final week, practicing Spanish with a plan to do some more in-depth studies - yes after all these years! Investigating the possibility of doing four weeks of languages at university in Santiago de Cuba this November, finding a room within walking distance, heading down to Chivirico on the weekends for a visit and a friend has already raised the possibility of coming along. Must be meant to be. 

Not TUMS!

The final half of our vacation sped by and we were soon getting ready for the drive to the airport in a vintage Chev refitted with a diesel engine. We were sharing surplus (easily replaceable in Canada) goodies with our son-in-law such as super glue, shaving gel, t-shirts etc and he was thrilled. I was gifting him a package of those compressed towels which expand when liquid is applied. I asked if he knew what they were and he said “medicine for your stomach?” oops, not Tums! I showed him how they worked at the sink and made him promise not to share them without demonstrating. Am thinking you’d be lucky to retrieve a swallowed one with a scope, likely abdominal surgery! I was thrilled that my Cuban nurse friend (despite an Air France strike) managed to make it back from Algeria the evening before we left and we had a brief visit. Grateful that my son-in-law was visiting and transported me on his uncle’s motorcycle as I hung on in the dark and desperately hoped there were no goats in the road. Made it back five minutes before a cloudburst. Whew!

Early morning run to Holguin with the only stop being to buy bananas all around from an old guy holding a bunch up on the side of the road near Palma Soriano. Early check in, although the travel partner lost his scissors (he was warned) and razor blades. I noticed a familiar face in the downstairs departure lounge and realized it was the Sun Life agent who handles the shore captain’s investments. I tried to convince him to go upstairs and tell him that he’d had to come in person to advise the portfolio had disappeared. He was horrified and firmly stated “that is NOT going to happen” apparently money isn’t a joking matter. They were heading home from a last minute getaway. Uneventful flight and as I told the shore captain “we had  more turbulence on the drive to the airport”. On the ground for supper with the city family (granddaughter is getting very grownup and able to say Gwamp well, but still working on Nanak) a bit of a visit, then on the road. 

Returning to a cool house as we'd turned the infloor heating off (the cats have fur coats after all) we added some extra quilts and crawled into our own bed. Ahhh. Picked up the grandson the next morning and it was sure good to have him for the weekend. I did loads of laundry while he ‘helped’ his grandfather in the barn. I noticed them practicing archery at the edge of the driveway and when they came down for lunch the shore captain shared the ‘situation’ that had occurred. Apparently the lad lost his arrows and chose not to search because of the ‘bushes’ so his grandfather was searching unsuccessfully in the underbrush and called back “go over there and show me where you shot it” and he hears the whistle of an arrow going by his ear as the archer took the instructions literally! I called him William Tell, and reminded him of the various ER arrivals I’d seen over the years, but he was not amused. I said “I would have to explain to the Sun Life rep that apparently the claim was because to quote the grandson ’he told me to shoot an arrow at him’ highlighting the need for clear communication”. We spent some time playing Northopoly (a northern version of monopoly that I got with Canadian North points) and he was most impressed to find a square of paper with Asian characters. I suspected it was an inspected by #4 in Mandarin slips as everything is made in China now isn’t it? However, the grandson insisted that he’d won a trip to Japan and offered to take me, since he was so generous I quickly agreed. His math skills with the finances of the game were good for grade 2 but as he disclosed to his Grawmp “my favourite things in school are gym, recess and snack and I can do math ok” so I’m pretty sure there’s a genetic component carried on those Y chromosomes down that family lineage. He visited his great grandmother and after eating multiple pieces of apple pie and cookies, still managed to eat supper before ball practice - must be that hollow leg. On Monday morning we went to the bus stop at our old house, where new owners last summer with school aged children brought the stop back to walking distance. I had a nice chat with the lady of the house about the history of the property. original owner and some of the grounds etc. They love the house the way we did and it was a wonderful deja vu moment reminding me of raising our kids there. 

Nice to get back into the home routine (if only briefly) and I walked in the spring sunshine to the mailbox and caught up with neighbours along the way. Picked up a few refundables but will have to remember a Sobeys bag in my pocket next time, what a mess in the ditches….people are such slobs! A friend and I ‘did lunch’ and then walked the beach in the warm sunshine, even ran into a nursing school classmate to catch up. First BBQ of the season for supper so getting all the spring activities in. I am supposedly heading back to work (in the community I did the job share in) for an eight week contract on Wednesday, but my ticket hasn’t arrived yet. I’m told that things are very different with casuals (apparently as I always had my ticket a few weeks before heading back) but regardless, it’s a fly in community so….at the moment I am using it as an excuse to procrastinate from packing although I have lined up a few things which can’t be procured at the very last minute. Showing my priorities that includes supplies to do crochet play food for the grandchildren and my Spanish books to study. Dragging the northern gear out of the barn and provisioning groceries next week will finish the project. Now, whether the announcement of the new regional manager as having a Master’s of Science  in Space Studies from the International Space University, Strasbourg (France) and being the project and logistics manager for the Mars Institute has anything to do with it is up for discussion.  Stay tuned. 

The teacher daughter’s convocation for her Master of Education is being held on Saturday and I’m pretty pumped to be watching her head across the stage again. Lots of hard work, especially as the studies were en francais! Wasn’t going to miss that by being away. 

So…..going to hit post as I’ve subjected you to a much longer than usual post. Looking forward to avoiding the ticks in NS, the foggy/rainy weather and seeing some old friends so the next update will likely be from north of 60.