Having spent most of yesterday doing ‘desk work’ such as the Government of Nunavut immunization certification - due every three years so I anticipate this will not be repeated, assisting the computer tech working on the shore captain’s laptop, organizing my tax information for the accountant and researching european travel options. Today was eye exam, grocery shopping and baking. I’ve sorted through the oldest grandson’s clothes for our trip (details to follow) and am now wrapping up the day with an update.
My last post finished as I exited from the six week public health contract in Clyde River and made my way ‘home’. As a buddy said “why do you keep that house? you’re never in it”. My flight from Iqaluit to Ottawa was as uneventful as an airplane packed with a youth hockey team can be. At the baggage carousel in Ottawa, I ran into a nurse who had been in Clyde River earlier in my stay and was now heading home from Hall Beach - I’d given her a contact with a former boss and she was moving on - gotta keep that networking going. Shuttle to the hotel and (yet again) no preauthorization from HR for my room so awaited reimbursement. Daughter #1 arrived and we looked at some Valentine’s supper options, finally settling on a Vietnamese restaurant in the same strip mall as the Italian eatery on the travel in. We were thrilled with our choice and will visit again. The sleepovers are always too short (will plan to extend my travel one of these journeys out) and the morning alarm sent the daughter off to work and me back on the airport shuttle. In the spirit of ‘hurry up and wait’ I sat at the gate with a man travelling to Nova Scotia to film a documentary for CNIB in a haunted house in Elmsdale. I offered to fetch him coffee while I picked up tea and he requested 8 sugars and lots of milk - that’s a milkshake not a coffee! He explained he had developed the braille pads for elevators, was a former farmer, was now selling 3D printers and did podcasts for the visually impaired. He told me that he was often paired with newly blind people doing rehab as blind since birth / having attended school for the blind he was a good example living a full life (wife, grandchild, career etc). He told me the toughest patient was a 22 year old accident victim, an engineer who drove a race car - their whole world had just been turned upside down. Our plane arrived and was promptly delayed for mechanical reasons so we grabbed some breakfast as we waited. As my friend says “at this stage in our lives, the adventure is all about the wonderful food you eat and the great people you meet along the way”. Short flight home and taxi to my nursing school classmate who stores my car, even took time to enjoy a cup of epicure tumeric and ginger tea (sounds bad, tastes great) with her. Stopped to pick up the grandson for the weekend and headed home, thus beginning a very busy few days before leaving again.
If you’ll recall from the previous post…the shore captain had left for Cuba 10 days previously without departure supervision and it showed. As I worked my way through the weekend, the list of ‘didn’t dos’ grew. A cup of coffee on the sideboard, expired food in the fridge, dead houseplants as he didn’t water, a note from the cleaner saying he hadn’t left her pay, electronics plugged in, security camera on his desk not the driveway and no ink in the printer. The travel clothes he couldn’t find were exactly where he’d left them and he didn’t pack his coffee press. The biggest ‘situation’ was that he had installed a new floor in the kitchen, dining room and hallway. Something we’d planned for the future as the original had opened up leaving large cracks but there it was….complete with bumps of edging to the other rooms, not to mention the upheaval of moving furniture and decor out and back. My ‘not amused’ face was only modified by the grandson’s presence.
In an effort to distract myself from the disruption, I chose to book my RBC Reward points which were expiring in March as I'd cancelled the credit card. After discussion with the grandson "Nanak you could take me to Ireland" and his spinning of the globe, we decided that Vancouver the end of April would be a great way to use the 70,000 points, enjoy some warmer weather and explore the west coast. When online research indicated you could 'breakfast with the bears' after taking the gondola to Grouse Mountain to visit rescued grizzlies, it was a done deal. I found flights through Montreal April 18, returning the 25th with fees totalling $393.30 (vs $1400+ airfare) and attempted to book on the website (refusing to pay $30 per ticket through the call centre) but there were technical issues with the site. In the morning I booked the travel, although I couldn't print the confirmation without a new ink cartridge. I planned to book accommodation upon my return from Cuba.
I'd travelled home just behind a major snowstorm in both Ottawa and Nova Scotia, although roads were clear by my arrival. Monday brought lots of snow and the roads were still slippery when I put the grandson on the bus Tuesday morning and ran errands. Since I had an appointment early Thursday in Bridgewater, with a storm forecast, I elected to drive down Wednesday pm and overnight. When I awoke to 25cm of snow in the am, I was pleased with my decision. The roads were somewhat clearer as I made my way in to the city to visit the grandkids and friends. By Friday I'd had enough of winter and was pleased to drop my vehicle off at my classmate's (they were skiing) and take a cab to the airport for my flight to Holguin and instant summer, leaving the additional March snowstorms behind.
Joining a charter full of resort passengers (several I knew from school or work) I was transported to the land of sun and fun. Met by Hector the prearranged taxi driver, I was deposited at a large colonial casa particular room (apartment really) for the night and slept soundly. Breakfast in the morning and off to locate the cadeca (money exchange) to exchange Canadian dollars to Cuban convertible pesos and ETESCA (phone office) to purchase wi-fi cards. I strolled to the park, connected with home online, explored the shops and restaurants and eventually made my way home to pick up my things and be dropped at the Viazul bus station for the trip to Santiago de Cuba. Lots of Asian tourists now in Cuba (as the remainder of the world) Europeans as always but not many Canadians travel outside the all inclusive circuit. Into the Santiago station about 9:30 pm and negotiated a 1952 Dodge cab (same model we had when I was a kid) from $10 down to $5 vs a motorcycle taxi with my backpack. Deposited at my casa and welcomed by all, we caught up on the news and I crashed into bed.
Sunday I got myself organized for the school week, adjusted to the heat / humidity and reacquainted myself with the neighbourhood of sueno. Monday was back to class and (of course) if you don't practice you will lose the language. After regrouping and discussion, my professor advised that she'd "figured me out" which is quite a statement as many haven't. With the 'holes' in my Spanish grammar, Instead of working through the language with large lists of verbs to be conjugated and tenses to be studied which students beginning at the beginning do, she instead proposed that we would 'chat' and as she picked up my mistakes, she'd make notes and 'correct' me. "It is time for you to stop that now" is a frequent statement in class. While a former student and myself enjoyed a delicious supper she'd cooked of cerdo asado (roast pork) congris (rice and beans) malanga (fritters like hasbrowns) ensalada (salad) and flan for dessert, my professor explained to Nic that I'd learned my Spanish 'in the street' in a tone that suggested I was a streetwalker. Always more work to repair vs construct. The week flew by as I studied, enjoyed the company of daughter #1 and her hubby and quickly reacclimatized to my Cuban lifestyle.
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| Cacti |
Monday morning my 9am taxi (ancient Lada) arrived at 11am (Cuban time - stuff happens) and I was whisked to Chivirico to spend a week with family. Daughter #2, husband and grandchildren arrived that afternoon and we spent a busy but fun filled week visiting, swimming, eating, and enjoying the warm. We were treated to a great pig roast with the Cuban son in law's family (a sort of farewell get together as he'll hopefully be heading to Canada this summer). The grandkids took the trip in stride as the two year old said "this is our home now" upon arriving and although the baby wasn't a fan of the tropical temperatures, only wearing a diaper helped. Great place for kids as Cubans are very family orientated. As they headed back to the airport in Holguin, we shared a taxi with them as far as Santiago de Cuba and spent two nights there in a casa with a great rooftop cactus garden. We connected with a friend we hadn't seen in over 15 years (her son recognized us in the park and put us in touch), Had some nice meals with our daughter/Cuban son in law and discovered an area of the city we weren't as familiar with.
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| chocolate school |
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| Hostal Maria |
Leaving in the 6am darkness, we made our way over terrible roads from Baracoa to Holguin by collectivo (Willy jeep which has been modified to cram lots of people in and has a diesel engine now) containing two Koreans, us two Canadians, a Swiss and an Italian and three Cubans - United Nations. We were dusty and jumbled when we switched vehicles in Moa to an Americano (large 50s car fitted with an extra backseat - think mafia and you won't be far off). Dropped off at the collectivo lot we grabbled a taxi - a lovely 50s Buick with fins like my grandfather owned - to Gibara. We lucked into a room at Hostal Maria with a beautiful casa and fantastic cook. Pop. 20,000 Gibara is a fishing town, not overly touristy, nice restaurants, friendly but not pushy folks and cool ocean breezes. We enjoyed the beach, explored the cave formations, wandered the town and ate our way through the four days.
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| Cayo Damas |
An early morning taxi to Holguin, Viazul bus to Santiago de Cuba, met by our taxi and back on the island by 2 pm. Couldn't travel any smoother in a developed country. A week of beach holiday for complete relaxation was the most down time I'd had for the trip. We had friends over for lunch, they hosted a pig roast for us, there was a wedding, we took the local bus to Chivirico and attended a birthday supper....a full week.
The end of March brought a sad message that a lifelong friend had passed away from the brain tumour she'd battled for over two years, having been diagnosed as I was finishing my chemo. Always that survivor guilt, as well as never being ready to lose a good friend. Hers was the description of a life well lived, loved by many with not enough years to see her grandchildren grow. Tough to be out of the country at times like this.
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| Miracles of the Virgin |
I arranged a taxi to the city for my final 10 days and attended daily Spanish classes. Found some time to take the reacquainted friend's daughter (now a 4th year medical student, she was 7yrs old when we last visited) and boyfriend to supper, spent an evening catching up with her mother, went on an excursion to El Cobre and the cathedral of the Virgin de Caridad, explored the neighbourhood and was joined by the shore captain (he arrived while I attended my final class and was a bit overwhelmed at the NO English spoken in the casa situation). I showed him around the area, we took the professor and our son in law out to supper on the rooftop at San Francisco. The final day we relaxed in the park and readied for our after lunch exit. An uneventful (if you can call traveling with badly behaved Ontarian resort tourists that) flight to Toronto, overnight and next day commute home. Located my car in the Park n Fly as my nursing classmate had left it for us.
Arriving home Thursday evening to sort the mail, vacuum cat fur, unpack, do laundry and crawl into bed. Friday was a great day to hang laundry on the line, walk to the mailbox while enjoying the mild temperatures and....book a hotel for Vancouver. I began by looking up the flight confirmation, or should I say attempting to look up the reservation as it had vanished, the credit card was cancelled, points expired after 90 days and I later discovered no payment of flight fees to be found in my online banking. I remembered it was Air Canada through Montreal and the dates/times. I phoned the RBC Rewards centre and there was no record of my transaction. I was instructed to call Air Canada and was informed that we didn't have tickets on those flights. As I told the shore captain "I am NOT telling the grandson the trip is off, I'll take him to see his auntie". Sounds easy enough right? Nope. The two hour Halifax to Ottawa return flights booked last minute just before a holiday weekend cost $950+ for each ticket! No way. I checked out Aeroplan and Air Miles but they used lots of miles AND cost as much. I researched Via rail to Montreal and flight returning from Ottawa and was satisfied with the compromise although the train only departed on Good Friday, arriving in Montreal on Saturday morning. The added adventure of a sleeper cabin on the train, eating in the dining room, visiting a new city and seeing the auntie were sure to be a hit. In the morning I spent over an hour on the phone with RBC Rewards and the short story is - the points were gone due to a 'glitch', no reservation could be found but in the end the points (without expiry now) were applied to my life partner's card - as close as they came to admitting their error. I checked with the daughter hostess, received clearance from the grandson's mom for the change in plans, booked rail and air and began investigating tourist options such as the Biosphere and underground mall - not opting for wrestling match tickets as per the grandson's suggestion. When I discussed the situation with the grandson he said "no Vancouver?" and was then onto the new plan. I described the train cabin with steward and chocolates on the pillow (similar to cruise ships) he said "will there be swans?" He explained he was referencing the towel animals left on your bed. I was pleased to discover that the sleeper car fare includes all meals (3 course each) 24 hr snacks and hot beverages, you can purchase adult beverages and bring your own to consume in your cabin - as long as you don't get rowdy. Kids movies are shown during the day and evening.
Tomorrow I have a haircut appointment and plan to hit up Frenchys as the grandson has taken a sudden growth spurt. Daughter #2 arrives with the grandkids for the weekend in the afternoon. Thursday morning an appointment for my back injection and the grandson will get off the bus here after school. Good Friday the adventure will begin....
