Energy For Living

It is my first full day in Cuba, and more importantly my first full night. This morning I awoke without knowing the time of day. It was with a purpose that I left my cell phone at home; it won’t work in Cuba. I also left my watch at home; I really don’t need to know what time it is here. I am, after all, on vacation although from what I am not sure. It looks like the rhythm of my days here is falling into place very quickly.

I wake late; both days so far I have missed the breakfast buffet even though it is open until 11:00 AM. No matter, I don’t need the extra calories these days. Actually I supplant one sort with another, having a latte at the 24 hour bar and stuffing a croissant into my mouth while the hot, sweet coffee winds its way into my complaining stomach.

Next, Internet time. There is no Internet in the rooms in the hotel. Instead you come to the Internet Salon where you pay about $8 / hour to go online. I am writing this offline and will simply post it when I am done. I can check email and post to my blog. The view from the window is pure tropical hotel; palm trees wafting in a light ocean breeze, bright sun, manicured gardens with pathways leading from pool to bar to pool to restaurant and all round to the bar again. From the main courtyard it is a short roll down to the ocean restaurant, the Playa Del Sol Cabana. Yesterday I sat, near the sea, listening to the waves and reading on of the five books I brought along for this trip. This works for a routine; I can take it.

The day went by in a slow laze with a long nap that stretched into 8:00 PM. I went down to the buffet for a late dinner then went into Varadero for a bit of night life. After a short cab ride from the hotel the cabbie deposited me at the “Calle 62” bar where I spent about half the evening drinking Mojito’s and watching the salsa dancers of all shapes, forms and sizes writhe and wend their way around the dance floor. Plus there was entertainment too!

I met a couple of very nice young ladies and at about midnight we all decided to go up to the Club Havana, a night club up the street. It was tons of fun and I even got into some chair dancing with the girls. The girls I was with decided to leave and I was about to as well when I was approached by a woman walking with a cane. She was from Belgium, Ypres to be precise, and said she was inspired when she saw that I could have fun, even in my wheelchair. So I stayed, she stayed, and we chair/cane danced the night away.

In the midst of all of this frivolity, out of the blue, a couple of men came over and shook my hand. I had no idea why! When I asked what that was for, one of them said “we think it is amazing that you are out here, living life and having fun”. These men did not know why I was in the wheelchair. They did not know what my disease or condition was nor did they really care. They were simply saying that my energy for living was uplifting to them.

That was the best part of the evening; that and the chair dancing.