Dorktastic Oddments: Farewell Sweet Cuba!

Earlier on in the week we caught a few of the shows, which varied widely in the quality of entertainment. We were especially impressed with the acrobats, but the boys went back to the rooms to play a board game.

At the end of every show the performers would do the "Iberostar Dance", which was actually quite catchy. It's kind of fun to yell, "One, two, three, TOMA!" and kick your leg in the air, especially when, for all you know, you could be yelling, "Nosehair!" or "Pinch me!" or "Hot Sauce!" (Okay, I googled it. The free Spanish to English translator says it means "It takes", which makes no sense. I'd rather be yelling, "Hot sauce!")

We spent as much time as humanly possible playing in the ocean waves. The last couple of days it was very windy and the waves were enormous and incredibly fun.

I am having the time of my life here. I love the ocean!

Paul and I decided that we wanted a photo of the two of us jumping up into a huge wave. We waited carefully for a good one and jumped for it. It turned out to be a much bigger wave than we'd anticipated and it tumbled us both head over heels through the water for a pretty good distance. When I came to a stop my legs and arms were out of the water, my head was underwater and I was sitting on something solid. I was just starting to get my bearings when something poked me rather insistently in the right hip. It turns out that I had come to a stop on top of Paul's head! The resulting photo:

One day we decided to go into Varadero and visit the Art Market. We got instructions for the big red double-decker bus but a passing taxi driver convinced us to go with him for the same price and half the time. We didn't realize that half the time was double the speed! (I have made this mistake before. "Earl's size" does not mean double the glass size.) The limit was 60 mph and he turned off his spedometer (yes, turned off, along with all other accessories) at 120 mph while passing a bus in oncoming traffic. I just gave up and closed my eyes. We bought some paintings, Paul got a shirt, I got a bandana, and we all bought Che hats and many gifts for our families. Unfortunately, but as planned, our cabbie came back to retrieve us. There are no photos as I was busy staring in horror at the speedskater on the road roughly an inch ahead of our bumper.

I adore this carving of salsa dancers. Later that night Paul and I did some salsa dancing at the disco (I love that they call it "The Disco").

Kristy gets a little closer to Juan Alberto.

There were SWINGS at the disco! That would never happen in Canada.

I went up to get a drink and suddenly two people came dancing down the bar, followed by two more. The lead guy stopped in front of me and, still gyrating to the music, took off his shirt. The bartender handed me my drink between his legs. They danced up there for a while then partied back down the bar and hopped off.