I'm back from Cuba... :(

I brought back nice tan, fabulous memories, and a new outlook on life.

It was the most amazing thing I've ever experienced.

I woke up to beautiful sunny skies and warm weather every single morning. Being in good spirits made me wake up early to get a head start on the day which consisted of fresh squeezed orange juice, papaya fruit and hitting the beach. I would lie on the sand and soak up the sun and cool off in the turquoise water. While at the beach, I went paddle boating, snorkelling and sailing on catamarans. We met five girls from York at the Toronto airport so we hung out with them quite a bit at the resort. Hanging out in a big group of young girls attracted a lot of attention. The local Cuban boys were hounding us like crazy at the beach parties. I've never experienced anything so uncomfortable before. If we separated from eachother just a little bit, here would be flocks of five guys to one girl. Though the guys didn't know much English, they did know how to say "beautiful lady, wanna dance?" They were very open with staring and making LOUD kissy noises. It was kinda gross. But i have to admit... they could all dance amazingly well. Just watching from afar of course.
What was especially nice and refreshing was meeting two Cuban university students who were interning at the resort. Rigoberto and Ernesto. They were really sweet gentlemans who restored our faith in Cuban boys. They were very polite and well mannered...not shady at all, like they guys at the beach. We met them while my friend was looking for a bandaid for her blisters. The were the only ones who understood us properly and were sweet enough to escort us all the way the International clinic. We ended up being really good friends, and chilled in the evenings, and learned to salsa and merengue with them. Again.. more amazing dancers. I just loved how there were different dance step to each different rhythym. The culture is so fabulous. I loved it.
Rigoberto even took us off of the resort on Friday and gave us a tour around the city of Holguin.
The city was beautiful, and so much different than anything I've ever seen. The streets were crowded with cars from the 60's, military type vehicles, bicycles and motorcycles. The stores were also very different. There were a very limited supply of clothes, electronics, toys, etc. And everything was very expensive. Considering the average Cuban only makes about $40USD a month, I don't understand how they can afford anything. It's very unfortunate. It was a great eye opener to how lucky I am to be living in Canada. What I found really cool about the city was the music ghetto. There was this little community square where all the musicians hang out. There was a circle of guys freestyling in spanish to guitar beats. There was also a music studio where there were instruments and audio mixers. Rigoberto and Ernesto play in a band that is pretty well known in Cuba, so that's where they spend a lot of time. I found it funny that they play in a black metal band. It was very unexpected! We met some of the members from their band, and they were all very friendly and nice.
Another great thing I found about Cuba was the fact that people would open up the windows of their houses and sell Papaya shakes. They were so good.. and you could get one for a peso. Since I didn't have any pesos, Rigoberto traded an American dollar with a friend and we got back 25 pesos. With that much money we were able to buy 3 pizzas, and 3 orange slushies with change to spare! IT was unbelievable. Lunch for 3 for 75 cents!!
On our way back to the resort, the taxi dropped us off at the University so Rigoberto could change for work, I wandered a little around the campus. Aside from more boys making kissy noises, we enjoyed our browse of the grounds. The buildings were a bit run down, but they were still interesting. There were slogans from Fidel Castro all over them about fighting for peace or something.
Leaving the resort was such a good feeling. We got to leave the comfy "Canadianized" Cuba and experience the real thing... and it was a whole new world out there. It was too bad that many of the other tourists weren't that interested in seeing what was really out there.
The resort was pretty amazing though. There were large pools everywhere and lots of bars too, which were all inclusive. There were also lots of activities to do, like Spanish lessons, Latin dance lessons, bingo, darts tournaments, acquafit....etc.
I took Spanish lessons and dance lessons and became quite good friends with my teacher. Here name was Magdelene, and she was very sweet. At the end of our trip, we gave her some of our clothes because she was asking about how we dressed so beautifully. It was such a humbling experience seeing how here face lit up to see how much stuff we were giving away to her. She was sooo excited to get something as simple as a t-shirt. I was so touched by her excitement, that I ended up giving her one of my good dresses. She was so thrilled, and the dress looked better on her anyway. Next time I go to Cuba, I will bring a lot more stuff to give away, becuase I was tempted to just leave all of my luggage behind.
Leaving Cuba was very hard. I was so sad to say goodbye to the friends I had made there, especially Rigoberto who really showed me the heart of Cuban culture, and made our stay so enriching.
I can't wait to go back and visit as soon as I can. If I make enough money over the summer, I hope to return before the school year starts. Travelling to Cuba has only made me so much more curious about what the rest of the world has to offer. I want to see it all.