We took a long walk with our hostess, Izmarie to a little fruit store in someone's house. The walk was about an hour long, but scenic.
Cuba has so much character. Some people say the architecture here is old, dilapidated and falling apart, but i think it adds character. I love the simplicity of life and the quaint cars.
We went for a swim in a little beach, a block from our Villa Azul. It wasn't the blue water, white sandy beach you see in the brochures. It was rocky and the shore was littered with broken bottles, but it was fun all the same.
We stopped by to see Jorge and his wife Izkra.
They have a lovely Casa Particular overlooking the ocean, but it was booked already. There had been a Canadian living in one of the rooms for 3 months and he'd just left but it was already taken.
Izkra explained that my situation with the immigration officials was because I looked Cuban and since Cubans were restricted from leaving the country, they had to make sure I wasn't pulling their leg about being from Canada. It was a little frustrating for me, because without fail anytime I travel, I get called aside and questioned at length. It's been the case at the airports in Ghana, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, the UK and YVR always...I must fit a profile of some suspects they have in their records or something.
I also get stared at a lot when walking the streets here in Matanzas. "People probably think you are a 'jinetera'', Jorge told me. Now a 'jinetera' (pronounced hi-ne-te-ra) is a woman who attaches herself to male foreigners for monetary gain. I should be used to it by now after being called 'ashawo' (prostitute) to my face several times in Ghana...but I don't think I am.
I tried to send an email to friends and family to let them know I was here safe and sound. Apparently people only have access to an intranet not the internet. So they only get mail through outlook express etc...but they can't surf or view browsers. Jorge and his wife were astonished when we told them about google earth. They thought we were making it up at first, when we told them we had seen their house and the whole area on google earth. They kept shaking their heads in amazement. Jorge's monitor broke as I finished writing the mail, so i don't know if it went through.
I should cut down on my food intake here. I'm not eating much, but the food here is pretty greasy. Plantain chips, deep friend chicken and pork....it's all good. I'm just glad I don't have to think about work.
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