Cuba Travels - Trinidad

Milagros_pineda63@yahoo.es

Jose Martin #416-4

Fidel Claro y Santiago Escobar

Trinidad S.S. Cuba

After taking the 6 hour bus from Havana to Trinidad we arrived in a more chilled, sleepy town which was a much needed sea change from our two days in Havana.

Melagros, our host in the Casa Particulares we would stay for the next few nights welcomed us with open arms allowing us to eat, sleep and breathe in the experience of Cuban life.

Our perceptions of the sleepy town quickly dissipated as we realised our time in Trinidad coincided with an annual week of culture – where the main squares transformed into open-air theatres and lively performances.

However the open-air salsa dancing by the locals in the plazas was definitely the real cultural experience. The squares became jam packed around 3am with the moving gyrating bodies of the locals. Trying to keep up with their salsa was impossible for us mere mortals, but the experience was thrilling.

The next day we went with Javier – the son of the owner of the Casa Particulares for a 3 km trek to a waterfall called ‘Cascada Javira”. The freshwater waterfall was spectacular. Javier, being the native Latin daredevil coaxed all three of us into doing a 12-metre jump into the waterfall. Usually, I would be the first to step down, but the mix of the Latin spirit and sheer adrenalin allowed me to jump into the waterfall without any fear or regret. A completely gratifying experience.

On our return to Mexico from Cuba a very funny thing happened. The sight of lights, Burger King, pharmacies and commercialism made us feel totally overwhelmed. Cuba had let an impressionable impact on how we viewed the world that American tourists and the trimmings of our supposed “progressive” lifestyle felt contrived and excessive. Cuba had left us questioning our own comforts and what we were accustomed to.

On our last day in Cuba, our goodbyes to both Milagros and Javier were heart felt goodbyes to a family we had become a part of. But the beauty of the Spanish language makes it possible to transcend the reality of parting in its phrase used to communicate goodbye;

“Hasta luego” meaning ‘until we meet again ‘. 

This phrase completely sums up my connection with Cuba leaving the impression that your return to the country is one of many.  

Cuba Travels - Havana

Calle San Lazaro, #1018, Entre Espada y Hospital, Centro Habana

From the get go, I knew we weren't in Kansas anymore when we arrived in Havana. A city of intrigue, grit and very colourful characters. 

A rough, vibrant city like Havana is something you have to swallow in one gulp and the ability to have no access to the outside world makes it very obvious that you have entered a form of twilight zone. 

The first night was filled with restless sleep, first from Olga - the owner of the Casa Particulares I was staying at  - who had an assortment of Cuckoo clocks chiming every hour, alongside waking to the chaotic horns and breaks in the traffic and a man throwing up in the alley beside my bedroom window. 

Havana is a rude awakening in every which sense of the word. 

The second day was more inviting in Havana. More accustomed to the town we decided to do a guided tour of the city. We learned of the various invasions from the Spanish, English and American, the perspective of its modern history of revolution and learnt of the cities idiosyncrasies - its love of baseball against the backdrop of revolution and 900 terrorist attacks in its socialist history. 

I learnt so much about the Cuban people that day. My preconceptions of a gritty, dirty and rough city replaced with a more empathetic understanding of its people and their tough exterior. I very much felt like an outsider and their were no reservations made as we walked the streets and were stared at time after time by the locals.

However looking back, how do I come to understand a country that could never have freedom or the choice to leave?