Back in Havana, Cuba

(I took this photo in Havana Viejo. There were some really interesting buildings in that part of town)


Day 11 in Cuba


We woke up semi early and got packed up. I went over to Seaman’s place and the family he was staying with was talking to us. They were totally cool and their casa was nice with a nice balcony where you could sit and have drinks. TAD picks us up in the car and as we are waiting for Stu, I happen to see the girl that I originally was going to see the night before. I just didn’t understand what happened to her. She saw us and walked by and she was crying. I suspect that maybe she spent the night in jail or something along those lines. She clearly looked a little scared and didn’t even talk to us this time. Just think that she got into trouble just for talking to us on the street. This is the part of Cuba I didn’t like. I'm all for having fun as long as no one gets hurt but I didn't like the idea of a girl getting in trouble just for TALKING to me. Can you imagine a girl you just brought home with getting 4 years hard labor for spending time with you?

We head back and Stu is deciding if he wants to go to Matanzas with TAD. I could give a rat’s ass what they did. I only requested they drop me off in Havana on their way. Stu told me that he also wanted to head home to Havana. That left TAD stuck in Havana as Stu and I were paying for the rental car. We decided to take the same route we took to get here. It was a shame we couldn’t stop and take photos the first time. The views were amazing driving back once again and this time I took lots of pictures. I just got 5 rolls of film developed and almost every one is great. Cuba is a very photogenic place.

We stopped a few times to try to get bottled water but it was tough finding it. Most places only had carbonated water in the small towns. We finally did find some in one town where TAD and I went in. The funny thing was some Cuban guy in line was apparently trying to impress us with the wad of cash he had. He must have had at least $500 on him. His clothes were soiled, he looked like he hadn’t showered in weeks, his hands and face had dirt on it but somehow he thought he would impress us with his wad. I found it interesting more than anything. He was getting two sodas and first pulled out a $100 bill. The cashier said he had no change so he pulls out a $50 then a $20. Finally he ends up paying for it with two $1 bills. It was kind of comical. We get outside and Stu is in the car talking to some Cuban guys. The guys are trying to ask us if we want girls but after the fiasco with the girl crying that I saw I decided no.

We were on our way to Bahia Honda. We joked around on the way home. Stu and I have bonded on a few trips this year but it was nice that Stu and TAD got along very well too. We were all pretty like minded individuals. Different in our own ways but still had things in common. We arrived at La Palma to eat and have lunch. No restaurants were visible from the main road so we decided to have pizza which we saw everyone eating. There was a line for pizza because they were making it fresh. It’s not the same kind of pizza we have in the US. It’s more like bread made in iron cast molds and a little tomato paste smeared on and lots of cheese. It was actually pretty good. The cost was 5 pesos. (26 pesos = $1 US). I got two pizzas and told her to keep the change because I doubt she would have given me any. She clearly knew the exchange rate though as I told her in Spanish 26:1 and she nodded yes. We walked around a bit and the city had some cute girls. One thing I noticed here is many of the girls had green eyes and were lighter skinned. We went to a grocery store and got some water and some snacks. The people here are all friendly.

We were a novelty as there were no tourists in town. This town is not on the main highway so I doubt many tourists come here. No one has any intention to scam that I noticed. Even when we bought bananas on the street here there were no signs with prices. TAD gave him a 50 cent convertible coin which is equivalent to 50 cents US. We only grabbed a few bananas and they guy looked at the coin and kept trying to give us more bananas. It was funny. Another funny banana moment was in Piñar de Rio after dinner the lady didn’t have dessert but gave us bananas. When we weren’t hungry she tried giving us the bananas to take with us. I joked that we were going to the bar to meet girls and unless the girls liked bananas we had no use for them.

We got back to Havana and called some girls that we met earlier in our trip. It was good to be back to Havana.