Watching Obama's Parting Speech in Cuba

9:00pm ,Tuesday, January 10, 2017 

We  watched the live broadcast of Obama’s parting speech to Americans from Chicago in Cuba!

The last couple of days since we have been in Cuba, we could only get channels and news reports in Spanish and about Spanish speaking countries such as those in South America.

Though we could not get Wifi service while vacationing here,  we were pleasantly surprised that we could get 24 hour reporting of BBC World News, CNN  and CGTN right here in our hotel room in Cuba!  There was no censorship of these programs and Cubans are free to goggle anything they want about any news in which they are interested. 

Obama’s parting speech focused on “ the state of democracy and understand that democracy does not require uniformity.. What it requires is a basic sense of solidarity. The work of democracy has always been hard…… Politics is a battle of ideas.  ……All of us have more work to do on race relations."

He was tearing up when he paid tribute to his wife, his two daughters, and Joe Biden.  

Obama also paid tribute to the young generation of Americans urging them to be involved and participate in the democratic process of electing and being elected as government officials.

I thought I should mention Obama’s parting speech in my blog since it was a historical moment.We missed the nightly entertainment at the resort this evening because of the Obama's speech but it was all worth it!

R.T.

Cuba

Picture Source - BBC World News

A Relaxing Reading Day in Cuba

Day 3 – Cuba

It was a relaxing day as we have planned to stay at the resort to relax rather than sightseeing for the day.

The breakfast buffet was good with a good selection of fresh tropical fruits and freshly made juices.

Our favourites are the papaya juice and the guava juice. We enjoy the fresh, ripe sweet taste of the tropical fruits a lot here. We can buy papayas in Canada, but they are not ripe and sweet like the ones here in Cuba.

This morning we enjoyed the delicious soft cheese sliced off from the two big cheese rounds ourselves.

 

After lunch, we went to relax and did some reading at the café by the ocean. The weather was beautiful hovering around 20 degrees C. 







 


With the ocean breezes caressing my face and the sound of the waves soothing my mind, I felt asleep on the lounge. It was a good nap!

Relaxing and napping by the pool 

There are two free dance lessons daily at the resort

 I  was refreshed after the nap and got some reading done for my assignments. 










There are two daily dance lessons offered at the resort.  

I have been taking advantage of this free lessons and learning how to do salsa and meringue! 

We learned how to do salsa, meringue. It was really fun!

I love it and have made a few friends at the same time at the dance lessons.

I wanted to post my blogs on the internet but I ran into a lot of problem signing onto the internet in the hotel. 

There is no wifi in our room which North American travelers take for granted in our travel.

In the resort where we are staying , guests have to go to the main lobby and use one of the two computers  there.  

For two Cuban pesos, a hotel guest can buy a card for an hour and twenty minutes of  internet service.  Because of the connection and language problem, it took me more than forty minutes before I was connected to my email account. 


However, I managed to get caught up and posted a few blog entries in the last twenty minutes of the time left on my internet card.

 As I am writing this blog now, I have been interrupted by two power outages with each lasted for less about a couple of minutes. The hotel did a good job recovering from the power outages.

R.T.

A Resort Hotel Outside Havana

Cuba

Enjoying the Great Weather on a Cuban Beach!

Great breakfast buffet served at our resort!

We had a really good rest and got up around 8:30am. Cuban time is the same as Canada. There is no jetlag for us to deal with.  The weather – cloudy and around 20 degree C, very comfortable without the sum beating down on us.

We are in Cuba!

After a satisfying buffet breakfast with fresh fruit smoothies and fresh eggs made to order, we went out for a walk and explored the area.
















Walking on the street, smelling the salty ocean water, we felt great!

Beautiful palm trees welcoming us to this tropical island

 I loved the  tall majestic palm trees! The palm trees always does something to me. Whenever I see palm trees, I am relaxed and happy. 



 

We passed by a few restaurants and saw quite a number of hotels catering to tourists. 

The biggest difference I noticed was how few cars there were on the street and how old these cars were.  We thought of our friends who loves vintage cars. They would be in their elements if they were here.

On our way back, we took a different route and walked on the beach bare feet.

 



We saw interesting fossils, rocks and pebbles; we stopped and examine the patterns on them.  

 

 The powerful waves of the Atlantic Ocean washing and polishing the rough edges of rocks, cutting through them making  leaving holes of various shapes in them.

 Since this is Cuba’s winter, the temperature this morning was mild, not hot at all. Consequently, there were few people on the beach. It was very quiet and we only saw two people sunbathing on this lovely beach.

A beachcomber with his metal detector walking on the beach

One activity we did see was a beachcomber walking and working with his metal detector systematically combing a certain area of the beach. 

All of a sudden, we heard someone blowing a whistle , long and sharp, for a few times.

 We turned around and saw a life guard with a whistle pointing at two men who had waded a little too far into the ocean. There were huge waves rolling onto the beach carrying away with them whatever in their paths.

A  life guard appeared out of nowhere warning people from wading into the ocean 

The life guard warned these two men and stopped them from going further into the ocean water.

 We were surprised by the appearance of this lifeguard as we had not noticed anyone on duty during our hour long walk by the ocean.

 
It was a good walk and we got lots of exercises done!

PM – S. and I both took our first Salsa class at the resort and made a couple of friends, Sandra and Ellen, both from Quebec, Canada.

Evening – We went to the evening entertainment after watching the Obama´s parting speech in our hotel room. A busy and fun day at the resort!

R.T.
Cuba

Flying on a Sunwing flight to Cuba

Our first vacation with Sunwing!

After riding on the TTC subway and on the Airport bus for about an hour and half we got off at Terminal 3 where the Sunwing  check in counters located.  

We had never taken any Sunwing flight before; this was our first time. 

Leaving Toronto in the evening for our holiday

The plane took off at 6pm from Toronto and we arrived at Varadero, Cuba  after a two and half hour flight. It took us much longer to travel to the western or eastern part of Canada than it does to Cuba! No wonder there are so many Canadians visiting Cuba!

Toronto from the sky at night

Just two days before we boarded the Sunwing flight, there was a report on CTV national evening news showing a drunk Sunwing pilot going through the customs at the Toronto airport. 

Subsequently, he was fired by the company. 






I don’t think we were the only ones worrying a bit about our Sunwing flight.  After our plane touched the ground on the Varadero Airport making a safe landing, all the passengers on board broke out in a spontaneous applause!

 We have flown numerous times within North America and internationally but applause like this from passengers rarely happens.  It was evident that the safety concern was on a lot of the minds of the Sunwing passengers on the day we traveled to Cuba.

We grabbed a bite to eat and went to bed - Day 1, Cuba

After going through customs, we were met by a Sunwing representative outside the Varadero Airport. He directed us to catch the tour bus waiting to take us to our hotel.  After about two hours we finally arrived at our hotel!

Having checked in and grabbed a bite to eat at the hotel bar, we went to sleep and had a good rest ready for the next day!

R.T.
Cuba

Taking the Toronto Subway (TTC) to the Toronto Pearson International Airport.

Week of January 8, 2017 

We are going on holiday, finally!  We have always wanted to visit this particular tropical country for a number of years. For some reason, there was always an excuse or some incidents that prevented us from going there. After a busy start in 2017, we look forward to spending a few days on a tropical island in the coming week.

Our first day was a travel day. Traveling light and with our flight departing in later afternoon,  we took the TTC – Toronto’s public transit system to the Pearson International Airport. It was pretty easy and comfortable! 

With just one token each ($ 3.25), we went from the Victoria Park subway station to the Kipling station, the last station on the Bloor Subway Line, about a forty minute ride.  From the Kipling Station, we transferred to Number 192 bus, a 20 minute ride to the airport ( no extra charge for this ride!).  A total of about 25km, how cheap was that! 

We rarely use the Toronto public transit system for our airport trips.  The fare was very reasonable and the ride was not bad at all!

R.T. 
Pearson International Airport 
Toronto

A Busy Beginning to 2017!

It has been a busy start since of the year we welcome 2017.
The day after our new year holiday, I started another course at the seminary and went to my lectures every day for the whole week.

 Enjoying my seminary study at the Toronto Seminary

 This was an intensive one week course with classes starting at 9 am and ending in the late afternoon.

The lecture hall where I attended the lectures

 I enjoyed taking the course and learning together with some forty ministers and lay people from churches of various denominations. 

The seminary cafeteria has become my study hall

The dining hall is a great place to study!

I am always excited about learning and going to school. The lecture part is just finished now but the challenging part is to complete all the readings and assignments within the next four weeks. 









I will be up to the challenge and aim to get all the reading and assignments completed on time!

Nice salad from the campus cafeteria

Good thing I don't mind eating cafeteria food as I will be spending a lot of time reading and doing assignments on campus.

I felt great as I went to Waterloo last Sunday and applied to the congregation there what I have learned about small group ministry.


 I did an exercise with them on the Prayer of Examen and gave them an opportunity to practice the questions right there. I hope they have learned something!

R.T.

Toronto

Honest Ed Store, Part of Toronto's History; We Will Miss You!

 

On the last day of 2016, we went downtown to mark the end of an era. December 31, 2016 was the last day of Honest Ed Store. The store was located at the corner of Bathurst Street and Bloor Street  in downtown Toronto.   



 










It was a bargain store that sold house ware items ranged from pots and pans to children’s clothing.  It served the residents of Toronto for over 60 years, especially new arrivals to the country looking to buy things for the families at affordable prices.

Ed Marvish was the store’s founder and was known for his flamboyant personality and creative marketing techniques.   For example, self deprecating sayings such as the following were illuminated  brightly and hung outside his store for decades:

Honest Ed is a freak. “He has bargains coming of his ears.”

Honest Ed attracts squirrel. “ At these prices, they think he is a nut.”

Honest Ed never goes out but his prices keep saying good bye.

Honest Ed’s embarrassed. He’s caught with his prices down.

The Honest Ed building has been a well known and beloved landmark in Toronto for more than half a century. 

Unfortunately,  this building has been sold to a developer  who would tear it down to build new condos. Many people wanted to have a piece of the store as a souvenir.


 On its last day, hundreds, might be thousands of people showed up at the store to buy a price sign or a poster or something. The price sign was priced at $9.00 each right to the last hour of the store closing.

 With many willing to pay that price, there were huge lines ups at the cashier.

We were glad that we got down to the store to mark this historic closing. We also got a piece of its history - a poster ! Honest Ed Store, you will be missed by Toronto!

R.T.

Toronto