Santiago de Cuba

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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 Carnival time in SCU (Santiago de Cuba) to mark the anniversary of the Revolution. The streets are closed off with stalls and there are people everywhere. I hate crowds so I'll just have to suck it up.

I went to bed early but got dragged out at 10pm to go to the house of the Spanish language course co-ordinator. I met the other students - they're all in their early twenties except for one who is my age - and from various European countries. They were all tarted up to attend Carnival. I had no money, no house keys and was so tired after only three hours sleep so I excused myself and went back home to bed.

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