Joyous trip to Miami airport this morning, but our plane was to take off for Havana at 2PM, and it hasn’t even arrived yet!

Four bags of ballet gear will be in the hold of the plane!

More from Havana later!

The travelers are all busy packing their bags for tomorrow’s flight to Miami. We will all meet up at the Crowne Plaza Miami Airport Hotel and then have dinner at the Catch of the Day, our traditional dinner spot the night before the flight to Havana.

The photo above was taken at the ProDanza Ballet Academy in November, 2015 during our first visit as Team ProDanza.

Going to Cuba differs from most trips in that everything has to be paid in cash, and there is no place to buy anything that one might inadvertently forgotten.  This causes a slight degree of anxiety, and makes one tend to overpack.  We are also taking some things for our trusty guides Cecily, Nestor and Alain.  Francesca has some costumes for little ones that were donated by Lynn Welters of the New School of Dance in DC.  I have a whole suitcase filled with ballet shoes, leotards, tights, etc.

Saying goodbye to my Chickpea, the dancing dog!

Feel free to donate as little as you want! All will be appreciated! We can purchase a pair of ballet slippers for as little as $20! Planning to go back with more get in the next year!

Introducing the Kiwis!

Anne and Ken  Sullivan are my next door neighbors, and not only are they smart and fun, but they have been my saviors many times!  Ken, when he is in the country, is my tech support, the guy who gets into the outdoor sump pump in the middle of a torrential downpour and a great bartender on his deck (pronounced like Dick with a New Zealand accent).

Anne is a gardener extraordinaire and makes the best jams and chutneys. It was Anne that I went to when I needed some ballet skirts to take to ProDanza for a photo shoot. Little did I know what a fantastic job she would do.

Last week Ken’s sister Lynette arrived from Auckland, New Zealand and dove right in to help with the ballet skirts!  I have never seen such enthusiasm – she was even talking about starting a cottage industry. Sounds great to me, but not so much to Anne.

They are such great sports that they came out to the yard for a few photographs, and Ken joined in to help toss the scarves, which as you will see, didn’t turn out exactly as we expected.  Ken, being an ingenious sort of fellow, came up with an idea involving a chair and a rake.

It seemed promising, but…

This is the best that we could do! Hopefully, things will be smoother in Havana!

Even though we leave on Tuesday, if more funds come in we will be able to purchase a ceiling fan or two while in Havana! No air conditioning at the Academy!