Photos I Took In Cuba....

And this is link to the rest of the photos I took in Cuba! En-Joy!

Doing Something Differently (plus a lesson learned from a broken finger)

It's Friday, July 9, 2016...and since my post about "deviate from routine".....well, Life has/is giving me ample opportunities to "deviate from routine".  At least one planned and one un-planned....

All Good! say I.

Traveling gives ample opportunities to "deviate from routine".  And my planned trip last month to Cuba (June 5 to June 18) was no exception.  The cultural program through City College of San Francisco was great.  And I highly recommend it.  Greg Landau the program instructor was fabulous.  He is a wealth of Cuban and Latin American history.  Plus his personal stories from traveling to Cuba since he was 6 as well as playing and producing music are interesting to hear.  The music I heard, the dancing I saw, the people I met along the way.  All memorable and wonderful!  And it was a joy to take a break from cooking.  From eating what I eat at home.  From making the bed.  From cleaning.  To have others serve me.  To have others offer to help me.  It also mixes the brain up....to hear a different language being spoken around me.  To see different things.  See my other post for the essay I turned in for my assignment.

Breaking a bone gives ample opportunities to "deviate from routine".  And I did that by accident - because no one I have heard of, intentionally breaks a bone :-)  On the evening of June 9 in Cienfuegos, Cuba, the toe of my shoe caught the lip of a driveway.  In an instant, I went from talking with a travel colleague to face-down on the sidewalk.  No slo-mo on this fall.  When I fell forward, my forehead landed on the left open-palmed hand which in turn landed on the concrete sidewalk.  At the moment, I believed I sprained my ring and little finger.  An x-ray a few hours later showed what I had hoped was not  - a fractured ring finger bone --the break was just above the knuckle.  Grateful then and now that my fingers took the fall instead of my forehead and my teeth.  Regardless, having my fingers and hand in a cast gives ample opportunities to "deviate from routine".  Asking for help with carrying something.  Or cutting up food.  Or preparing something to eat.  Or opening a jar.  Definitely got me out of my routine of wearing pants, leggings, or underwear (all too difficult when having to use the bathroom).  I know....TMPI.  Meanwhile, dressing in dresses, especially ones that have no zippers, has been different for me.  And I have to admit....FUN. 

And I have come away from these "deviations from routine" (trip to Cuba and broken bone) with doing or being or thinking differently.  And for me that is a great thing.

Update.......
I saw the Kaiser orthopedic physician assistant on Tuesday, July 12.  The bone is healing beautifully per the x-ray.  Thank you bone and body for the amazing job you do!  They removed the cast.

Time to free the ring and pinkie fingers.  These 2 have been constant companions in stillness and immobility, in a cast of one form or another for 32 days.

What I learned from these two after the cast was removed.....If You Don't Use It, You'll Lose It!  So these two have inspired me to keep my body and brain moving.  These two came out of stillness and immobility....stiff, puffy, swollen, afraid to move, not wanting to move, hurting when they did move.  And the thumb, index, and middle fingers are encouraging them to follow the physical therapist instructions.  Telling them they can regain their mobility and flexibility.  And my experience knows this "for sure"!

Stay tuned for my photos from Cuba.  And a left hand with five flexible, mobile fingers.

Meanwhile...I hear the physical therapist's voice in my head....going through the instructions.  Thank goodness, I have done one of the 3 to 5 times for today.

My Cuba Essay 27 June 2016

As part of the 2016 Cuba program, the participants' assignment was to write a 5-page essay or equivalent about my experience or some aspect of my Cuban experience that made an impact on me.

Aquí está....

Disfruta...