Miami September 2012
Well as expected the trip from Santa Marta to Miami worsened! We were delayed for around an hour which cut my transit time from 2 and 3/4 hours to 1 and 3/4. Sounds like enough but when you then sit on the Tarmac for another 30 minutes, disembark and wait 30 minutes to pick up the luggage, catch another bus to the international terminal, go through immigration and security again and then walk what seemed for ever to find the boarding gate, the time has gone. But one thing that you seem to be able to rely on at the moment is that every flight is late!! This exit from Colombia was nerve wracking and I had palpitations, terrible feeling so anxious! But it could only go one way and you would think that was up, but no! Check in sent me to another counter to get a tax exemption form then when I returned I was told that there wasn't a seat allocated for me and I would have to wait at the gate for a seat!!! I was concerned about missing out and had to choose between going to the bathroom or checking out the shops to use the last of my pesos. I discovered Bogota international terminal has one ladies bathroom with 3 toilets and 20 women in front of me!!! Hence no souvenirs and 60000 pesos in my purse, around $25. The whole plane boarded except for 3 of us and we were then given a seat! It was most strange and a test of my metal!!! Needless to say, it boarded late and then we say there for an hour, a queue for takeoff!
I arrived in Miami
at 7 pm instead of
6 pm. They did manage to make up 30 minutes on a 3 hour flight. It then took an hour and a half to get through immigration. I had enouh time to do a. Calculation and there were about 300 people in front of me and after an hour half of the officers closed their counters with about 100 in front of me and another 200 behind.
As I have been coming and going a bit I now seem to be a person of interest. Where have you been, what were you doing there, what are you here for, where are you staying, who with, how do you know them, where do they come from, how long have you known them, when was the last time you were here, how long are you staying, it went on and on! Heavens knows what it is going to be like after this next leg!
Eventually I got through, spent another 30 minutes getting luggage and then suffered an unbelievably rude taxi driver who obviously didn't want to drive me to Hialeah, told me it was full of Cuban Mafia and I had to watch out for guns!!! Yara and Jesus think that is hilarious and tell everyone they see now!!!
I eventually got to their place
around 9.30 - 10pm and was so pleased to be there!
Since leaving Colombia I have been searching for something that I may feel that I miss about the place and there is nothing. On a positive note it met my criteria for Spanish lessons, I experienced something different and saw how other volunteer organizations (don't) work.
I have had a very pleasant time with Yara and Jesus this week, we have been to Hollywood beach for the day, south beach Miami for the day, visited an extraordinary flea market that sells everything and anything, visited friends and family, cooked together and swum in their pool. They are such lovely people to be with. Also have had an evening with Barbra and her family eating authentic home cooked Cuban food which was very good! Ropa vieja which translated literally means old clothes! Actually beef slow cooked in tomato and red capsicum served with tomales which is a slow cooked ground corn, yum!!!!
As mentioned previously going to the beach with Yara and Jesus is a very organized affair with lunch and drinks in the esky, 2 umbrellas, a little table and 3 low reclining each chairs, all neatly stacked in the back of the car and in the right order to unload into the beach trolley which is similar to a wide wheeled golf buggy with a big mesh bag.
Wednesday morning quickly arrived and I am on my way early in the morning to the airport for my flight to Cuba. Very excited about the prospect of teaching.
This time I have found flights that head out of Miami to Nassau in the Bahamas, only 45 minutes. The plane is like a toy, I think called a Dakota, only sat around 50 people and no sooner had we taken off that it was preparing to land. A very easy and on time trip. This flight connected with the flight from Nassau to Cuba with the mandatory 2 hour break in between. Lucky we had this time as the airport official misdirected a group of us and sent us off on the wrong bus to the wrong international terminal. It was really hot and a bit frustrating because when we finally found the right place it was the entry next to where we had got off the previous plane. But what a warm welcome when we arrived in the Bahamas. The staff were so helpful and so friendly, I wanted to stay when I saw all the adverts for the hotels and beaches that were around the airport. It must be a thriving place as there is a new international terminal opening in October and it is pretty big.
The flight from Nassau to Cuba was on a similar sized plane, around 40 seats and only 30 passengers. 2 seats to myself and a 90 minute flight. This is an easier way to get to Cuba as no massive airports to deal with, friendly people, no mad rush ( unless you go to the wrong terminal) and half the price that I have paid previously.
The arrival at Cuba was similar, must be a good time to arrive as the place wasn't too busy, the agents had my vouchers for Varadero, arranged a share taxi for me and off I went to Havana.
The hotel in Havana is called the Telegrafo, I stayed here previously on my cycle tour. It is clean, very spacious, decent bathroom and good air conditioning and in a very good spot. It is situated at the end of the Prado which is a lovely walk on a promenade through the centre of a very wide street that leads to the Malecon. It is opposite parque central and very close to the historical part of the city and near the Gran Teatro. I was hoping there would be a show on as I have seen some good dance and music performances here in past visits at very good prices, but no luck this time, nothing on.
I arrived at the hotel mid afternoon, ate a very ordinary toasted sandwich at the cafe and headed into town to have a look around. This sandwich was a sign of things to come with the hotel food because I ate dinner there in the evening if you can call one mouthful that took 10 minutes to swallow, as dinner! It was hideous and I was scared I was going to get food poisoning from it! Breakfast was pretty similar and even the toast is unpalatable as there is so much sugar in the bread, the fruit tasteless which is so strange for a Caribbean country and the staff surly and unhelpful! Nothing much changes in Havana!!!!
What seems to have changed though is the vibe in Havana. It seemed a bit more upbeat. I may be imagining things but the people seem to be better dressed, a bit more money, infrastructure work happening ( streets being dug up for cabling) and more shops opening with more product in them. The infrastructure thing though gave me a laugh as this work is going on in the middle of busy streets. There are big channels dug and you have to balance across planks to get into the shops and back onto the pavement. So much for occ health and safety here! The pits are then back filled, they pour hand mixed cement into them, score the surface pretending that the street paving has been replaced, then have to keep chasing the dogs away as their paw prints are everywhere in the concrete!
I have decided to eat out after my walk and whilst it is still light feel perfectly safe although I am pestered by a couple of men, which is very common here as they all think an unaccompanied white woman is an east target to hit for a donation to the family fund. But one man I couldn't get rid of. Do I like the music, would I like to hear some more? Would I
Like to go dancing? Where do you come from? How long are you here? I was beginning to think that I was back in the USA immigration line. Then of course, would I like to feed his starving children? Tug on the heart strings stuff but NO, please leave me alone and I retreat to the hotel very quickly. Hence my horrible meal there!
I was hungry, TV was terrible and so had a very early night! I had a room with an internal window to the courtyard and was a bit annoyed to be woken so early with all the hotel noise, that was until I checked my watch and discovered it was
9.30 am!!!! Mad rush down to the very unfortunate breakfast with incredibly in attentive staff. I ate a bit of fruit, left my juice on the table, got up to get some toast and when I returned the table had been completely cleared and the waiter told very me rudely that I couldn't sit there because the table hadn't been laid! I was furious with the way he spoke to me and sat down telling him that I had been sitting there and was going to continue doing so and he had better lay it now. Could be why the next morning I was completely ignored!
The hotel is part of a group called Habanuex or something like that, it is to do with restoration. The outcome being that there is free entry to a variety of small museums and Casas that housed important people from the Cuban history. I took advantage of this and spent the morning at the Museum of Africa which was very interesting looking at the artifacts and historical pieces from the African slaves. I then visited the house of Simon Bolivar who is actually a Colombian who spent his last years in Santa Marta and he was instrumental in freeing much of the Caribbean and South America from the dreaded Europeans.
Lunch time, not hungry as I can't see anywhere decent to eat and don't know what to eat, so a liquid lunch of shandy as it was so bloody hot! I find a very pleasant place, new, nice service, ,friendly staff and decide to return for an early dinner as the food coming out looks edible. I want to eat early and get back to the hotel before dark before the molestation begins! Molestar in Spanish is the verb to annoy or irritate and I didn't want to experience that again. In the afternoon I head back out again for a walk along the Prado, down to the Malecon but it was impossible to walk in the sun, it was scorching and I thought madness so spent an hour and a whole one dollar in a cafe drinking a big bottle of very cold water and watching the world go by! Never a dull moment, the kids were all coming out of school so a lot of activity and noise. They all hang around the prado sitting on the benches under the shade of the trees and say I can take a photo but when I do they all put their books in front of their faces and scream with laughter! Sadly I am molested by a man who tells me he is a history teacher at their school and was I interested in seeing the music festival that night as it was being held at the venue where the Buena Vista social club was filmed. They never give up!!! Well if I wasn't interested in that would I give some money for the poor woman to buy milk for her baby, it wasn't for him!! Come on, that is a world wide ruse!!! I am turning into a woman with a very hard heart!
So I return to the nice little place for dinner. The food is edible, the desert of flan delicious and the frozen daiquiris very good! I am back at the hotel before dark. In bed early as I am being picked up by the hotel to hotel bus for the drive to Varadero
at 9am.
The bus is very prompt , we pick up a few more passengers and eventually leave Havana around 9.30. We stop for a happy stop on the way and arrive in Varadero at midday. Marcos and Lina are waiting for me. They have arrived
at 11 am after a four hour trip which entailed 4 local taxis as they will all only take the passengers to the next town and only when the taxi is full! These are the really old cars that you see in the posters of Cuba. Only Cubans are allowed to use them though as it is very cheap transport. The trip has cost $16 for the both of them. Our room is available and we are allowed to check in early. We have a large room at the front of the hotel which doesn't have the best view but is on the cooler side during the day and we have a big balcony with a mini clothes line on the wall. perfect!!!
Down to the poolside restaurant ( this is an all inclusive hotel so eat and I drink until you drop) a reasonable selection, better than Havana!!! Marcos likes the pool but luckily Lina, like me, prefers the beach so we find ourselves a big thatched umbrella with beach lounges and settle in for the afternoon. The beach is lovely, soft silver sand, beautiful clear blue water, a real beach at last! This is what the Caribbean should be like! The afternoon is spent between the shade, the sun, the sea and the beach side bar acquiring refreshments.
Dinner is am improved affair at the inside restaurant, good selection of grills, local foods, pastas, decent salads and lots of fried crap for all the fat British and European tourists who load their plates, eat like pigs and get their monies worth. Watching them actually makes me eat less and spend my selection time at the salad bar. Sometimes it is like watching pigs at the trough. It must be really difficult for a lot of the Cubans who work at these resorts to see so much food, so many fat over fed people then spend 1 and a half hours traveling back to their homes to an empty table and have very little money to buy food. To leave a dollar or so on the table at each meal as a small tip is very gratefully received and certainly rewards you with a big smile and good drink service! Though I must say that here that the staff are really good and so friendly and so willing to assist. No complaints at all. The hotel is a little shabby in parts but kept very clean, beds are comfy, Linen crisp and clean, big towels, water, 2 cans of soft drink and 2 beers put in the fridge every day. There was a big power outage for a couple of hours on the first night but I was very happy as it meant that I could go to bed early!! Luckily we are on the 5 th Floor and not the 14th so the walk up wasn't so bad!!
Saturday and Sunday more of the same, sun and swimming and a paddle in the sea kayak followed by some time in the paddle boat, but a bit of bad news for me from Lina. The school where I am meant to be teaching has been closed, as have been all the schools in Santa Clara. There is a very big outbreak of Dengue fever and although transmitted initially by Mosquitos it then becomes a person to person viral infection and is rampant. The schools have been closed for a week already and probably closed for the next 2 weeks. I am so disappointed as no teaching and I have extended my stay here until the 30th! This school where Lina works is actually a
Monday to Friday boarding school but most of the staff live out.
The political side of this is that this outbreak has not been reported and kept very quiet by the authorities and nobody is talking about it but kids have been hospitalized. Marcos tells me that at the school they share drinking cups etc and that the food and facilities aren't good so no wonder there is cross infection.
There is no way I will be allowed to teach now and don't really know how I am going to deal with this. Lina only speaks Spanish, Marcos has very limited English and my Spanish is getting stretched! I have to say though that after 3 days we are communicating pretty well, strained at times but my ability to hear and hold a conversation is improving. After 3 weeks I am sure there will be a vast improvement but I'm not going to stay. I don't want to expose myself for too long to the infection and I don't want to die from boredom either. There is very little to do or see in Santa Clara and it is over an hour from the beach. I was just going there to teach as it is known as an educational centre in Cuba and would have been a great experience for me.
The plan is that
tomorrow morning ( Monday) we will head to Santa Clara by bus. My accommodation is arranged and I will stay there for this week whilst Lina organizes some more Spanish lessons for me. There is a Bahamas air office in the town and I will try to rearrange my flights yet again! I had already changed them to stay here longer following my disappointing teaching episode in Colombia! I can then get WoW Cuba to change my other flight from here to the Bahamas. I have extended my stay in the USA to accommodate these Cuba changes so will rethink my plans and hopefully be able to visit Marcia in Vermont now I have the time. What a bloody mess!
I have got over my initial upset and anxiety and decide to enjoy the time here at the beach. In the evenings there is always a show. I actually find them all quite amusing even though they aren't meant to be but they are so corny!
Saturday night was a water dancing event at the pool, boring as all get out but a cool spot to sit for an hour or so! The routines are corny and the costumes , well, I don't know how to describe them! Those who have been here will have a pretty good idea! Tacky, revealing, Gordy in colour, everything that you would expect to see 50 years ago! Sunday nights show was a Cuban dance extravaganza, that was how it was described! Same sort of costumes but on dry land, out of step dancing and we left half way through!
It is
3 am here and I haven't slept
tonight, it is very hot even though we have air conditioning and my 2 room mates are snoring like trains so not good sleeping conditions! I put on my miners head lamp, have adjusted the controls so I think it is a bit cooler and will try to to get a bit of sleep in as we have to get up in 2 and a half for our early bus!
Bueno viaje, chao!
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