I survived my first week as a student in Cuba! I've had a good time but I'm ready to leave after one more week. I received an email from Flight Centre telling me they couldn't change my Havana to Mexico City flight so I'll have to change it at Cubana Air on Monday. He said there are vacancies so there shouldn't be any problems. I saw Julia preparing food today and noticed the plantain fritters I like so much are slathered in butter before she fries them. There's no hope in hell of me losing weight in Cuba. I'm enjoying my [View Full Entry]

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I got to sleep in til 9am as class started at 10am today. Amelia and Paula didn't get home until 7am. I'm glad I left at 2am, there's no way I'd bounce back from that. After class, I cancelled my salsa class and Paula, Katrin and I caught a truck (the transport the locals cram into) to La Estrella where there is the Castillo del Morro castle and a small beach. We took a bus back home in time for dinner and the weekly weekend planner meeting. Nothing was decided as a group for the weekend, so I'm hopefully going to [View Full Entry]

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I've decided to stay here for only two weeks. I'm enjoying my host family, even though our communication is mostly done through Charades, but I'm not enjoying my Spanish lessons and the creepy local men are giving me the shits. Today my teacher, Clara, barked at me for repeating the question out loud in English so I could translate it in my head. I still had no idea what it said. But when Paula and Amelia talk between themselves in Swedish, it's fine. Some people may be able to learn through total immersion, but I'm obviously not one of them. I [View Full Entry]

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My Spanish class is made up for three students - me, Paula (who is Swedish) and Amelia (who is also Swedish). Amelia's father is Chilean. She said when she was growing up, her father spoke to her in Spanish but she replied to him in Swedish so while she can understand Spanish, she can't speak it properly. The other student, Paula, can speak some Spanish so that just leaves me, the idiot, sitting there scratching my head and asking the girls what it means in English. There is a rule that no English is to be spoken during the lesson so [View Full Entry]

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Spanish class started at 8.30am. It ends at 1.30pm. I have lunch at my casa. It's a huge meal - fruit, salad, rice, beans, some kind of meat and banana fritters for dessert -- there's no way I'm going to lose kgs here. And it's mangos mangos everywhere! I'm loving it! I have dance lessons at 4.00pm where I'm learning 'Casino Salsa' which is the Cuban form of salsa and apparently different from other forms of salsa danced around the world. I suck at it but at least I'm giving it a go. My dance teacher's name is Ramon. My host [View Full Entry]

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It was a 4am rise to catch my flight to Santiago de Cuba. The plane was so dodgy, I had to carry my hand luggage on my lap because there was no room in the overhead storage or under the seat in front of me. I arrived at my host family's house at 8am after two attempts at the address by the unofficial taxi driver. His passenger door flew open twice on the journey. Good thing I ride in the back. My casa is located near a hotel so I caught up on my emails in the afternoon. This week is [View Full Entry]

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Today we: - Walked around Chinatown, got swindled by some hustlers and taken to a bar full of westerners with Cuban 'guides'. It was bound to happen at least once. - More coctails at El Floridita - Lunch at Hanoi restaurant - Heatstroke in Coppelia Park - Dinner at El Aljibe [View Full Entry]

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Today we spent the day visiting: - Revolution Museum (again) - Drinks at Hotel Ambos Mundos (another Hemingway haunt) - Walked around Ospiso & O'Reilly Streets - Relocated the hidden park in Ospiso Street - Parque Ecologio Eseucla - Took photos of anti-imperialist signs along the Malecon - Dinner at the Nacional Hotel - amazing fresh daiquiri de Mango! - Walked along and sat on the Malecon until after midnight [View Full Entry]

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Note to self: Don't attempt to extend a tourist visa in Habana. Immigration is a nightmare. After three hours of waiting in a stuffed room with no direction or signs, I decided to sort it out in Santiago de Cuba. My friend from LA arrived at 5pm. We spent the evening drinking mango daiquiri's at El Floridita, another bar made famous by Hemingway. [View Full Entry]

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After a 5am pick up from the Plaza Hotel, I was on my way out of Havana and to the island of Cayo Largo. I was checked in and eating breakfast by 10am. I'm here for three days and it's all inclusive -- all food AND cocktails! The beach is beautiful but the water is too warm. It's like a warm bath, so what's the point in swimming? The pool is the same temperature. The hotel reminds me of Dirty Dancing -- there's an 'entertainment team' of twenty-somethings who come out to the pool every few hours and do dances like [View Full Entry]

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