Day 9 - Playa Santa Maria

Cuba is more than a beach. ~ Susan Lord

Okay, so today was a whirlwind of emotion. After breakfast, a few of us grabbed an early taxi so we could go to the absolutely gorgeous Playa Santa Maria (Santa Maria Beach) for the entire day. The weather was beautiful and the hot sun beating down definitely signified a great day at the beach. The taxi ride there was a bit awkward, because our cabbie got pulled over once for speeding and we all watched in amazement as he forcefully argued over the ticket with the policeman (even tapping him on the arm repeatedly!). Jeez, in Canada if you so much as brushed against a police officer you will probably get arrested right then and there. Anyway, in a move of defiance, the cabbie jumped back in the car and slammed his foot on the gas, causing the car to rocket away from the speed check area. We all thought we were going to be pursued by a cop car, but none ever came. Then, about ten minutes later, just as we were nearing the beach, our cabbie got pulled over AGAIN for speeding! This time, he didn’t get a ticket, but he was pissed off, you could tell. We felt bad for the guy, but couldn’t help but snicker quietly to ourselves because he was being such an idiot.

We have arrived alive to the Santa Maria beach! It was already so incredibly crowded with Cubans everywhere! It was the perfect beach day though, the hot sun made the white sand insanely warm to the touch and the gorgeous crystal clear water was warm, but refreshing nonetheless. I got a bit sunburned throughout the day, but nothing majorly painful. I had yet another Hawaiian Pizza for lunch (haha don’t judge me!), so the only real negative thing about the beach was that we saw a lot of fat middle-aged white men in overly revealing speedos (ew).

Fact: Paying (and tipping) for a small wad of toilet paper whenever you go to a public bathroom is a very annoying process.

After lounging around on the beach for five hours or so, we decided to head back because, of course, the afternoon thundershower was closing in fast. It seemed like every single person on the beach had the same idea as us, as trying to find a cab was a nightmare with all of the people around. Eventually, a man approached us and asked if we needed a cab. We said ‘Yes!’ and followed him across a field over to his car. I remember whispering to Hayley as we climbed in the backseat and saw an empty beer bottle on the floor, “Is this a real cab?” And as I would come to discover, NO, IT WAS NOT! Hahaha. So, he sped off towards Havana, reggaeton music blasting in our ears, weaving in and out of cars on the highway, beeping his horn and cursing as much as possible. I was absolutely dying in the backseat, thinking to myself, “I am going to die in this car," especially because there were no seatbelts. Of course, in typical idiot fashion, our driver got pulled over by the cops and was given a speeding ticket (I was about to jump out of the car and hitchhike back to Havana myself), but he seemed to slow down after that. Looking back, it was absolutely hilarious that I started tearing up because I thought I was going to die, but at the time it was actually really frightening for me. Fast (and illegal) taxi drivers, a full day of sun, and loud reggaeton music in your ear does not a relaxing mood make.

Later in the evening, after dinner, a bunch of us went for an evening walk along the Malecon. It’s the place for couples to go to make out after dark or for friends to meet up and play music, so it was definitely an interesting walk. But now it’s time for bed because we’re back to our usual early morning three-hour lectures tomorrow…

Hasta luego!

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Part of trip: Havana, Cuba

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