Summer 2005 and I’m at the Habana airport. It’s like a dream coming true! Jose Marti international is a small airport. When I entered I was selected for a secondary and they kept me waiting for almost 2 hours in the airport. The lady asked me many questions. I was shocked. I thought this is the only country where officials would not look at my passport suspiciously. Oh well!
I took a taxi from the airport. Looking around I noticed that everything is named after the revolutionaries. Streets are full of the pictures and quotes of Fidel, Che Guevara and Jose Marti. I think by the end of the journey to downtown I saw the name of Jose Marti for about 100 Times. When somebody repeats something again and again, it always annoying like if I’m saying “water” again and again it makes you either want to pee or punch me on the face.
I tried to talk to the taxi driver with my broken Spanish. He was a middle age man. He complained about the economy and he was blaming US for their misfortunes. I finally reached the Casa particular I had booked for the night in Havana Vieja, meeting Jodi, my travelmate, we went for a walk. Interesting architecture but streets are very dirty. Many people hassle tourists in a place where shockingly to can make more in a day in a busy street with European tourists than you make in a month teaching in university of Havana.
Habana Vieja
In the evening when Jodi was checking her emails I tried to talk to the owner of the casa particular we were staying at. She is a pretty woman in her 30s who is very angry with life here. She has an illegal satellite dish and watches Cuban channels based in Miami. They are Very similar to Iranian TV channels in LA. Poor Cubans and poor Iranians, our national TVs are full of shit and the foreign alternative is just as ridiculous. With the introduction of tourism many young people who have never experienced the life before the revolution and see Europeans or Canadians cannot possibly come into terms with this.
Santa Clara, Trinidad & Cienfuegos
We got the Viazul bus early in the morning and headed to Santa Clara.The bus driver stopped in a beautiful small restaurant for lunch. An amazing band consisting of 4 old men about 60 years old was playing! Street music is fantastic.
When we reached Santa Clara we walked to the Che’s monument. It is a massive place with a big statue of the El Commandante . The most famous song of Carlos Pueblo (Hasta Siempre) plays in the background. The atmosphere is very emotional. It helps you picture the time that Che entered this city with the army of beardy guerrillas. Later on we went to the lonely planet’s recommended casa. In the casa there was also a politics student from Germany. I had a very long and interesting conversation with him about Socialism, Capitalism and Cuba. This revolution was supposed to be a nice dream; I was hoping I’m not going to find it an ugly reality.
We went to a dodgy nightclub late in the night. The atmosphere was great. Everyone was dancing with everyone and so did I. Perhaps more than finding a revolution I found liberation in dance. Dance and dance, even in the sun and sweat of a midday Havana.
Next day we headed to Trinidad. When we reached there, many people were trying to convince us to go to their place to stay. After dumping our stuff in the Casa particular we went to a restaurant with another slow and inefficient service. Then we went to an internet café access with a massive price tag and the worst possible dial up internet. There was a small souvenir shop nearby where I bought Che’s beret and asked for a postcard with the picture of Che and Camilo together. The lady loved it when I asked for Camilo’s picture. People here like Camilo as a hero and talk about his unforgettable smile and his cheerful personality if they are old enough.
You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.
We went to Casa De La Musica later. An amazing band was playing. Some great performers were dancing and I felt embarrassed to dance. Some guy who noticed my interest came and asked my nationality. He told me that he is a Salsa instructor and I set up a class for the day after with him. We met a British traveller and his sister and invited them for tomorrow’s salsa class as well.
After a hike, we went for the Salsa class. Curi is a good teacher and also a good businessman. He dances in tourist areas to attract customers. For dinner we went back to our casa particular. Meal was a massive fish and very tasty. I think it was our first good meal in Cuba. For the night the plan was Casa De La Musica again. This time it was full of locals. Two local men invited me to sit with them. First they asked me to give them my watch then offered me women. They were complaining about their situation in Cuba all the time. Once again I meet young people who are complaining! Young girls were all there for business so I went and asked an old Cuban lady to dance. Her hands were rough having worked long hours in the field. I asked her about the revolution but I’m not sure how much of her response I could understand. She preferred to change the topic.
Later we went to a disco in cave. It was amazing. We went down the stairs and entered the dance hall. DJ was somewhere up on the walls of the case. The morning after we rented two bicycles from the bus station and started our ride, it was extremely hot and sun was directly aiming at our head. It was a beautiful ride. We rode across beautiful swamps with a beautiful view of mountains.
After 20km ride we came back to Trinidad got a taxi and went to the beach. The next day I decided to walk to the Cubano waterfall. After walking about 5 km I reached a stable, Talked to the owner and he agreed to take me back to the town with his horse after visiting the waterfall, for about 5 dollars. 10 minutes walk and I reached a bar and restaurant. I had a Mojito and continued the walk. After 3km of the most beautiful hike I reached the waterfall. It was simply gorgeous. I went up a rock and jumped in the pond. The pleasant cold water after a sweaty day was the best of the best. That’s so wonderful!
Going back to the restaurant, I had a very bad pork steak. After another drink, I found my way back to the stable and started my journey to the town. Tourists were taking pictures of me and this guy thinking I’m a Cuban. I talked to the horse master. He told me about their economical difficulties but he said he is happy that his daughter can go to school and get medical attention with no fees. Entering the town again, I took some more pics and went back to the casa. Salsa classes followed by awesome fish at Rafael’s. What an evening it was !
We went to Trinidad’s bus station early in the morning. They offered us a mini van to Cienfuegos. Cienfuegos looks like a modern and clean city. The problem was was that there were no tourists around so nothing was fully functioning. We went to take the boat to the beach two times without any success. Casa De La Musica was very empty and bad. The bay at La Punta was very beautiful. Young people and lovers hang around the bay and enjoyed the fresh air from the sea with a beautiful view. The only cool thing we did in this city was renting a motorcycle without having any experience and ride to the Jardin Botanico outside the city.
After the Botanic garden and a hectic ride we went to club Cienfuegos and spent a lovely time at the sunset of a beautiful balcony.
Havana
We did not last very long in Cienfuegos as there was nothing to do. We got a taxi back to Havana from the bus station. Taxis normally take passengers to Cienfuegos and desperately looking for passengers for their way back. We paid 20 dollars each for our drive with 3 more people.
Saturday night we took a coco taxi to go to the Casa De La Musica. The driver wanted to show of and we crashed. Upside down! I was scared because it was on Jodi’s side and I was scared if something had happened to her. “Fucking idiot”, Jodi was swearing to the driver. Dangerous but that was still a fun experience.
Sunday was my last day of traveling. We walked around Vedado and Malecon for a while and Plaza anti-imperialist where the US interest section is. They set up many black flags in from the electronic board on the body of the special interest section. All around the plaza was full of the anti American posters. We were starving so we went to a lonely planet recommended restaurant called Decameron. It is a lovely little restaurant with amazing food.
On Monday 19th of June I went to the hotel as I was told by the spanish class organizers. The bus was empty; it was me, a Czech guy called Martin and a woman from Martinique Island who could hardly speak English. Sergio, our guide, took us to the school and explained everything. The school is a nice and small house with friendly staff. A group of teachers interviewed me to find out my level of Spanish. My classmates were all about 40 years old, a Dutch , a Belgium and a Swiss. Teacher was a very nice old little woman in no way able to speak or understand English. During the break we had a very nice Salsa show. I tried to dance with one of the performance but I wasn’t good at all. Same afternoon I started my first Salsa class. School was a good mix of different nationalities. I got a good chance to learn about other countries.
For dinner I joined the other students and we went to a restaurant called Mulata. It’s a very nice restaurant in someone’s house with beautiful decoration. I tried very hard to speak to the restaurant owner about the situation in Cuba and as far as I understood he was very angry about the tax system. Same as everyone else. Bertus, a young dutch who was studying in London, joined the conversation. His Shakespearean style, vast knowledge of literature and his passion for free trade and libertarianism influenced me up to this day. I hope I can find his drunk ass again some day and talk politics in a dingy cafe. Something I have not done since I came to the new world.
Bertus if I ever find you and send you this. I wanted to remind you that I beat your ass in a Tennis match beat him 6–1 6–1 in an afternoon in hotel Melia.
Mabel
Mabel was my dance teacher. She teaches mechanical engineering in university of Havana and also . She speaks an excellent English and is learning German. What an amazing woman she is. I never forget an evening of dancing, Mabel and her partner Oscar asked us to go with them to a Copella . Only I and Gary, a swedish man, wanted to go. I didn’t want to let him but Oscar paid for us. I refused the bottled water and had water in a cup which Oscar told me even locals refuse. Mabel told me I’m going to get really sick. I survived, I guess my stomach is hardcore enough. Oscar told me you are a Cuban in nature.
I hear that these days Mabel has moved with her husband to Toronto. I’m so happy for you and wish to see you again mi profesora.
Vinales
After searching all the car companies we found a Toyota and started our trip to Vinales with Martin, Bertus and Melli. It took us 2 hours to find our way and get out the city. All the roads suffer from the lack of signs. We stopped by a beautiful hotel. The view was amazing!
Vinales, a tiny beautiful village, reminded me of Caspian coast. When we were there I found out that I had forgotten my passport. Casa owners did not want to let me in as the government is very strict about it. Finally someone agreed to give me a room for 20 dollars. 10 dollars more expensive than a normal room but maybe it’s a good experience to stay in an all cuban place illegally. When the other guys dumped their stuff we headed to a famous ave. There was too much mosquitoes and I was just looking forward to get back to my illegal place of stay without an air conditioning in an out of village slum.
When we got back I went to my illegal casa, everyone was playing Domino outside. People hang out outside. They don’t have much material except a nice smile and crazy domino skills.
Tango
Despite it’s Argentinian nature, Tango can be appreciated in this part of the world too. I found an Argentinian lady to teach me in the school yard after usual salsa classes set by school. She was around 40, almost 6' tall, full figure, pointy nose and a beautiful smile on a beautiful face. I can easily claim that experience with Tango broke even the slightest connection I had to a moral structure that touch is bad, laughing is bad, being sexy is bad, sex is bad and even living is bad seeing this life as a road to an after life which has to be paved not only by cruelty of nature, but also by cruelty of the organisms living in it. “Look into my eyes, look into my eyes, keep your face close to mine” she kept repeating when her large breast were pressing against my chest. You just have to let go !
Last Week
It was my last week and I had 3 hours of salsa every day. Now I could can say I was a decent Salsa dancer. A new crowd joined the Spanish school. There was a whole new group of students from everywhere in the world.
We went to Café Cantante in the evening. The club was very busy and the tickets were sold out. I used my Iranian experience and bribed the bouncer and he let us in. I did hope that I had impressed the new tall Swiss girl. The band did not perform as good as before. I found the tall girl standing in the corner siping on her drink. I asked her for a dance. She liked dancing and we danced and danced. I got a little bit drunk this time. We had a fun night and after the club we went to a Chinese restaurant run by local brown chinese cubans. I Love this culture siempre Bailar and Siempre Cantar.
In last day in school, It is hard to say goodbye to lovely Georgina my Spanish teacher. She said uno chico Irani con caracteristico special. I loved it and 15 years later I can remember her face like it is today! Mabel could not make it to the restaurant we were about to go to that evening. That is so sad I have to leave without saying goodbye.
After Casa De La Musica we went to a cheap restaurant near Malecon. My Cuban friends had bought me a Che Guevara postcard and wrote “whenever you want to come back Cuba, it’s your home and …” It is one the nicest gift I have ever gotten.
After the restaurant we went to Malecon to drink. We met the 2 Cuban rappers that had performed for us another night again. The pretty tall Swiss girl has an English guy constantly attached to her desperate to get her attention! Finally I got a chance to talk to her again. I asked her to meet me at 8pm at the hotel restaurant. She said “no”, telling me her friend is going for a trip with her parents and she was going to join them.
Martin came to say goodbye because he was leaving to Varadero. He gave me his keys to stay in his room because I had to check out the very same day. Thanks to him I did not spend more money.
In the evening I went to the hotel to where I had told Julia to come expecting that I would be dining by myself. She came after all! We went to the pool bar with few other people we met with at the hotel that evening. Me, Sarah, Julia, Gary and Olga went to El Chebereh Otra Vez.
Later, after the night clubs, we sat at the hotel bar. Julia and I, both patiently waited until all her suitors were disappointed enough to leave and we were finally alone together. Julia changed my perspective during the time I came to know her.
End of The Trip
This trip confused me. It emotionally shook the foundation of those moral codes that I had refuted logically long time ago but were still being manifested as an instinct. One day I will be back and take Salsa lessons again. Maybe I even dare to look into her eyes and dance with her. I will always miss my dearest Cuban friends, I will miss you Salsa and I will miss you all. Goodbye my country, Ciao my amor!
