Days 1 - 4 - California, Cancun & Havana

The start of this trip was definitely filled with ups and downs, but of course, everything worked itself out with time, patience, money and sleep.

I've had a strong interest in socialism and communism for many decades (not as an advocate). So this particular trip was more than a little fascinating to me, Cuba is one of the last true Communist holdouts, and the only true model I'll likely be able to see in action (China and Vietnam seemed very capitalist to me, our visit to Laos was too short, and a visit to North Korea is never happening).

Cubans still receive free food vouchers, housing, utilities, education and healthcare, but as a result, the average monthly wage is around $30 US. So I was very interested to see socialism in action. I knew better than to try and engage locals in lengthy political discussions on such a short trip to such an urban area (people are listening/watching). Plus, there's that little matter of my not being able to speak Spanish...but I still hoped to get a better idea of what it was like to live in such a social/political dynamic.

I know there are many people who would never dream of stepping foot in Cuba due to human rights issues, because they are *gasp* Communists, or because of our tumultuous (American) history with them. But it's been quite a number of decades since we've seen Cubans fleeing on rafts from starvation, or since the nuclear showdown or seizure of American assets...so I did not feel any strong internal conflict about going. There are human rights violations in every country, including ours. Perhaps I'm being ignorant here, but Cuba has not been on my "Not now, not ever" list (which includes such lovely locales as N. Korea, Sierra Leone, Iraq, etc). I have no grudge against the Cuban people, nor do they seem to have any with me/us. In fact, in a conversation I had with a resident there...he stated that it is only our governments that have issues...not the people. I also tend to believe that by traveling there, we can only help spending our money to help casa particulares owners, food servers, taxi drivers, privately owned businesses, etc.). Furthermore, in sharing little gifts with them, I can only hope it helps to extend goodwill and works to dispel the myth that 'all' Americans are to be untrustworthy (our official visa was for a humanitarian visit, so we brought over items like food, toys, candies, reusable bags, etc).

So needless to say, with only four Communist countries left in the world (Cuba, Vietnam, Laos & N. Korea), I was very, very curious about what we'd see. I had read a couple of books on modern-day Cuba prior to the trip, and read dozens of webpages, but I still had almost no idea of what to expect. I only knew that it wouldn't look anything like China and Vietnam (the former seems so western, and the later is rapidly becoming that way). I also had no idea if we would be barely tolerated or warmly received. If stores would be well stocked or half empty. If we'd get to ride in modern Chinese vehicles or rambling American classics. There were far more questions than expectations.

The trip started out with a family caravan over to the airport before separating to two different gates. Ryan, his cousins and my parents flew off to Orlando, followed by a few more days in Washington DC (before meeting up with us in New York City). A few minutes later after they boarded, Rich and I headed to another gate to fly to California. The primary reason for going there was to attend an intimate family service/memorial for Rich's dad. We spent our first night in LA, and the second in Oceanside at our friend's new, gorgeous beach house (the pics below are from a walk through their 'hood with my friend). While there, we also managed to fit in a few stops at two of our favorite places- Chipotle and Trader Joe's. ;-)

From LA, we then flew south to Cancun. Not surprisingly, we appeared to be the only people over the age of 25 on that flight, and quite possibly the only sober people as well. ;-)  Unfortunately, once we landed in Cancun, we found out that unlike most other countries, Mexico requires you to formally enter and exit the country even though you're in transit (which we were). At that point, we came to the upsetting realization that we wouldn't have enough time for our return Cancun to NYC flight (if we had to go through immigration/customs). So despite only having had 2-3 hours of sleep on the red-eye flight with the young, boisterous, half-drunk Spring Break kids...we quickly had to shorten our Cuba trip by a day, cancel a night at our Havana digs, book a night at a hotel in Cancun instead, throw away our return tickets and buy a new set that would get us into Mexico a day earlier. No bueno.

We also had to change our dollars into pesos so we could buy bottled water and internet time to be able to do all this schedule shuffling and re-booking, as well as buy our Cuban entry visas.* Needless to say, I was feeling very frustrated and increasingly broke before the trip had even really started. We'd already spent a long day traveling to Los Angeles on two separate flights (we didn't land until 10pm and only slept 5-6 hours) and two whirlwind days there with family and friends- our fourth day was turning out to be far from restful.

*Obtaining a Cuban visa as a US citizen is a process in and of itself...as was buying the air tickets to get there. Nearly all of the flights that to Cuba are routed through Mexico or Canada (since direct flights have not been allowed). I've heard that American airlines are now going to be allowed to fly directly there in the near future, but when we booked our tickets 6-9 months ago, that was not the case.

Thankfully, things turned around a bit when our lengthy 7+-hour layover in Cancun became much shorter when Aeromexico kindly allowed us to hop onto a much earlier, direct, full flight for no charge to Havana. (Take note US airlines- it's an airline not out to nickle and dime their customers to death!) Originally they said it would cost $850, but ended up waiving the entire fee. We thanked them profusely and gave the staff nearly every Girl Scout cookie box we had (we'd just bought some in CA). Thank you Lemonades and Thin Mints!

Flying over Cuba, my first thoughts were that the entire country was very green (not surprising, given it's geographic location only about 90 miles south of Miami) and very small. It's hard to imagine having to be so self sufficient with such a limited land mass.

Once we landed at the Jose Marti International Airport, we had to spend a stressful hour or so there changing currency. We brought over Japanese yen to buy the Cuban CUC**, since the penalty for using US dollars was steep and still in effect. We'd tried to be bring Euro, but our savvy bank in Hawaii claimed that was too difficult (I wouldn't dream of naming them, so I'll just refer to them as "Birst  Bawaiian Bank").

** There are two different currencies there, once for foreigners (CUC), and one for residents (pesos, or Moneda Nacional). To make matters even more confusing, foreigners can only exchange currency for CUC. However, they can also obtain MN by exchanging their CUC at CADECAs (cash exchange centers) since you'll need it to use at small, local businesses that only accept MN. There are totally different exchange rates, and each has its own set of bank notes and coins...so it takes some time and effort figuring things out. Some businesses post prices in CUC, others in MN, and some in both CUC and MN. 

Once that was done, we haggled a bit trying to get a decent price for the 35-40-minute cab ride into Havana ($25 US...which is the standard fare when leaving an airport and you're clearly a foreigner). I later learned that getting out of the airport in under 2-3 hours is apparently unusual, as it often takes a minimum of 2-3 hours (and sometimes even 5+) to claim your checked baggage (we had none), as the airport/staff is not equipped to handle the amount of increased arrivals each day.

The drive from the airport was an immediate eye opener, and exactly what this avid history buff secretly hoped for- ancient American and Russian automobiles and the occasional socialist/communist propaganda/billboards. It was very clearly evident that the country, because of well, so very many political and economic reasons...was trapped in time.

Our room was booked via AirBnB, which is one of the more recent economic developments of opening up the Cuban economy to the outside world. I'd read that despite raising fees by 30%, the state-run hotels are still ill-equipped to meet visitor demand. By allowing residents to open their homes (these rooms and homes are referred to as 'casa particulares' there), it has helped bridge the gap and is also profitable for the residents. The nicer, state-run hotels in Havana that we ran into were also pretty expensive (Hotel Florida, Ambos Mundos, Iberostar, etc.). I think they run about $175-300 on average per night for fairly basic services/amenities. That's still way above our price range, so AirBnb to the rescue again! :-) Thanks to them, we paid a fraction of that and had a newly renovated 1/1 smack dab in the center of Old Havana (literally, steps away from the 'main' cathedral/plaza there).

If you turned left from our doorway, you could see the Plaza de Catedral (about 50-75 yards away).

If you turned right, about five steps away was the always packed, boisterous bar of La Bodeguita Del Medio. Apparently every tourist heads there to check out Ernest Hemingway's favorite bar and sips the mojitos he once did.

The Plaza de Catedral faced the main plaza and El Patio, considered by many to be the country's 'finest' restaurant. I think you could eat like a king there (think appetizers, lobster, dessert and drinks) for under $100 for a couple...extravagant there, but inexpensive compared to most international cities.

Because we spent an hour or so chatting with the apartment's owners (Luis & Rosario), it was after 6pm by the time we left our apartment. We were very sleep deprived at that point, so all we had the time and energy to do was find a nearby restaurant for dinner.

Nearly all the streets in Old Havana are cobblestone and pedestrian-only...heaven!

We only had to wander a few hundred yards before we stumbled across this outdoor cafe, where we paid exactly $3.85 and $3.90, respectively, for our grilled chicken (me) and pork (Rich) dishes, served with the standard beans and rice and veggies. This was on the lower end of the price range for the state-run restaurants.

We would eat beans and rice for nearly every single lunch and dinner that we were in Havana. I'm a huge fan of beans and rice, but after the sixth or seventh time in 4-5 days, I'll admit my eyes started to cross a little. I've been told that Cubans are used to the redundancy and simplicity of the cuisine there (due to the limited supply and variety), and are used to eating the same meals day after day. I'm sure given the circumstances, I would adapt too (as clearly, this girl does not starve herself). But on our last day, I admit we had Italian food just to skip the beans and rice!

That night we passed out for 9 hours (me) and nearly 11 (Rich). I may have 'accidentally' woken Rich up with a cup of the finest, freshly brewed coffee available (freeze-dried, instant Nescafe from Target) so we could get moving the next morning before noon. Because I was dying to see more!