photo courtesy of S. Baran
Went out early
this morning to take some pictures with Barry in Centro Habana. It had rained quite a bit last night so the area was pretty wet...and icky. I thought Habana Vieja was pretty dreary at times but centro habana was worse. The people here seem poorer.
There were piles of garbage, dog shite (can't stand that about this place)...it was like a landmine field....kept having to hop around to avoid them....limping dogs everywhere.....the filth....it was pretty dreary, but through it all we managed to see some beauty in the place and took some amazing photos.
We also gave away a few more of the gifts we had brought. Barry gave away a few pen and dolls to the kids on the street.
We also gave away a few more of the gifts we had brought. Barry gave away a few pen and dolls to the kids on the street.
photo courtesy of S. Baran
Today is "Wifes Day" in Cuba, so lots of people were buying flowers. I noticed though, that they generally like to buy flowers here...every morning we see flower vendors either riding their bikes and calling out for people to but flowers or they set up a quick stand to sell them. And people buy them too, every morning.
We went out for dinner tonight with the Castillos....It was nice to see the family in a different setting. Maria and her husband are really nice and they really go over and above to make us feel welcome and comfortable. We hang out for a bit with the whole crew when we got back and danced salsa with them.
Louisa calls her husband Tutankhamun. He's 45 years old but its hard to place an age. He could bee anywhere from 35 - 55. Its amazing that the average life expectancy here is 75 years with their so-so diet and smoking habits.
I was pretty impressed to see Jose's older 73 year old brother briskly walk up a 6 story flight of stairs, carrying a ladder without being out of breath. All this with a cigarette in his mouth or when Jose himself run up a the same 6 story flight of stairs to bring down the manual elevator that would bring us up....and he's a big smoker too. I had to catch my breath when I went up those stairs and i'm younger and dont smoke....
These are some of the things I've noticed Cubans don't play with:
(at least those here and in Matanzas)
Somehow Maria is ok with us staying till next week Thursday...we thought we had till Sunday to find a new place, but she now says its ok to stay till we leave Havana on Thursday. Hmmmm....strange turn of events but I'm not complaining.
Louisa calls her husband Tutankhamun. He's 45 years old but its hard to place an age. He could bee anywhere from 35 - 55. Its amazing that the average life expectancy here is 75 years with their so-so diet and smoking habits.
I was pretty impressed to see Jose's older 73 year old brother briskly walk up a 6 story flight of stairs, carrying a ladder without being out of breath. All this with a cigarette in his mouth or when Jose himself run up a the same 6 story flight of stairs to bring down the manual elevator that would bring us up....and he's a big smoker too. I had to catch my breath when I went up those stairs and i'm younger and dont smoke....
These are some of the things I've noticed Cubans don't play with:
(at least those here and in Matanzas)
- their 'panne' (bread)
- flowers,
- 'ron' (rum)
- for some strange reason icing cakes...i see people walking around with them everywhere
photo courtesy of S. Baran - baseball
- lastly but most importantly their music, be it 'son', traditional cuban music or reggaeton.....
Somehow Maria is ok with us staying till next week Thursday...we thought we had till Sunday to find a new place, but she now says its ok to stay till we leave Havana on Thursday. Hmmmm....strange turn of events but I'm not complaining.
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