Paradise, but not perfect

The setting is idyllic with the turquoise water, swaying palm and banana trees, soft white sand and warm breezes. Yet all is not perfect in paradise.

Of course, no one could expect perfection anywhere. It's often too humid here, we had a giant tropical rainstorm on Thursday night, the food is different, etc. But as they say, you don't go to Cuba for the food.

While the local people working at the resort are wonderful and we've met some new friends (mostly British and French Canadian), I am appalled at the number of smokers. About 80 to 90 percent of the guests here smoke. Are all inclusive resorts magnets for smokers or do non-smokers feel the urge to light up when on an all inclusive holiday. It's a mystery to me. They light up between courses at meals, on the beach, in the lobby, at the outdoor bars, etc. Since it makes me feel very sick with an almost instant headache and rolling stomach to follow, and because it triggers Michael's asthma, we often have to vacate public places when we're not down wind of the smoke.

Heath wise, all is not perfect either. But since I'm recovering from my fight with cancer and still have remaining traces of a cold, it's to be expected. I'm noticing some lingering side effects rearing their ugly heads. I'm sill numb on that patch on the top of my right hand. Obviously, it didn't want to be alone so it convinced my moustache area (the bit of skin between my top lip and my nose) to join the numbness party.

I still get extremely tired, so there's no late night partying planned for this trip (good thing that's really not our style). Because of the humidity, my hot flashes sometimes turn into rivers of sweat cascading down the fuzz growing on my head. We were enjoying an after-dinner drink in the lobby last night when a bad hot flash hit. I had to run to our room to use a cool wash cloth. By the time I arrived, five or six streams of sweat ran down my face and my nose was running. It was disgusting.

The humidity - or the steroid residue - puffs up my feet and ankles like a blow fish. It's not really a hinderance, just annoying when I want to wear a particular pair of shoes to dinner. And I got disgusted with myself when my lack of upper arm strength prevented me from pulling myself out of the pool (for the first time in my life). To top it off, sometimes my stomach can't tolerate the all-you-can-drink portion of the resort. While I'm enjoying my share of drinks, I've only been slightly tipsy once. Perhaps that's because they're spread out over the hours in the day. Perhaps I'll try to remedy that tonight and have a really good drinking night to celebrate.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, just observing. We knew this was going to be a different vacation. One where we take it easier, set the pace a bit slower and chill.

Michael and I always travel to any new destination with a sense of adventure and we have the attitude, "hey, I'm on holiday" so we'll eat when we're hungry, drink when we're dry, sleep when we're tired, swim when we're hot. Besides, who can complain when we can go horseback riding every day. Although my horse seems to have one speed - slow.

Sorry this post is so slow but we ran out of Internet minutes in the middle, then we had to go riding and now I have to go because Michael is waiting for me at the beach. Aaaah, that's the life.

Love from Cuba,
Tina