So I got up at dawn and went for a 6 mile run.  Yesterday it was late and I only got to do 4 miles.  The air was cooler than last night, but the humidity made me sweat just setting the GPS on my watch.  I ran along the seawall which is pretty much a crumbling mess of a sidewalk because of the years and years of salt water splashing onto the wall and sidewalk, along with 60 years of no maintenance.  They used a large aggregate for the stone in the concrete, which protrudes out of what is left of the concrete, so sharp rocks is what you were running on instead of a flat smooth surface.  If you ever fell it would not be hamburger, it would be pulled pork.

Surprisingly, the water is very clear and easy to see the bottom.  There were a lot of people fishing and there were more people still partying.  Sitting on the seawall were many people still drinking and listening to Cuban music.

After breakfast, we were introduced to 2 Cuban Olympic athletes from the 80’s and 90’s.  Using an interpreter, they told the story of their trips to places all over the world.  I am pretty sure the gentlemen still hold the high jump record over 8’-0”.  The other athlete was a woman who won the 400 and 800 meter races and told a great story of how during the height of her career she was burned on 40% of her body and survived after 28 surgeries…and then went on to race again.  She told us that one of her reasons for a speedy recovery was the daily visits to her hospital from Fidel Castro.

We then went to El Aljibe for lunch – which is a government owed restaurant – that was at one point owned by two brothers.  The government took all the businesses over and ran it for about 40 years and then brought back private business to operate it for them.  So you have two types of restaurants – ones that are government owned and others that are privately owned called “paladares”.  I was surprised that the government owned restaurant was very good.

After lunch we went to visit a college for ballerinas.  The Cuban government takes education and all careers seriously.  These student study in the mornings, and then spend the afternoon practicing for the dance portion of their education.  Students are tested in both general education and their specialty and can fail out if they do not do well in both.

Tonight we are going to a small paladares on our own.

I have brought with me some “salt pills” and will try running with some in the morning to see if I can reduce the sweating and hopefully the dehydration.