There are two biggest challenges that really make me get out of my comfort zone: buying and riding. It involves taking to local strangers to get places and to eat. On my second day of living in Havana, I took a public transportation and bought a loaf of bread in a National Cuban Bakery! ATACA!!!! PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION It’s the most challenging system in Central and Latin America. There are rarely schedules or exact routes. YOU JUST HAVE TO ASK. In Cuba, the buses are overloaded with crowds and you have to ask where they go. The best way is to take one of those old Chevrolets for 10 pesos. I just love it! When I climb one of those I feel like back in the days when we had old cars. I am not sure how ... read more

There is much more to say about Cuba than old cars, cigars, salsa, Che, Fidel, Raul and socialism. I LOVED CUBA. It’s not all that scary, oppressed, and poor as some media, blogs, and tourists make it seem. It was very save and I could actually walk on the streets in the middle of the night. I don’t have to lock three doors and hide the keys in my bra like I did it in Costa Rica. It all reminded me of Ukraine: apartments, old architecture, theatres, Lada cars, white chock walls, collection of empty perfume bottles, gas stoves, and water on schedule. Instead of “Coca-Cola,” “Samsung,” “AT&T” you can see “Socialism Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow,” “Live Fidel,” and “Revolution.” Kids wear uniform with little red scarves. People wash bags from milk and reuse them. There ... read more

This one will be more about pictures and less about writing. On Friday night the girls came over to go out dancing. YES! We finally went out to a local club Pepper’s and danced. FOR REAL! There were guys who could dance, there was a life band that played cool songs and the place that could support it all. We danced till 2:30am and left with a satisfied soul full alegria. Why does dancing make me so happy??? The girls spent the night in the house. In the morning we had coffee and bread with sour cream. Why sour cream? Because I thought I was buying Cheese Cream but accidently bought Sour Cream. The cream it was! Than we took a bus to Teatro National to take another one from there to Irazu at 8am. That ... read more

After meeting this really cool Haitian girl Christela at Volcano Poás last weekend we decided to take a weekend trip to Cahuita, the Caribbean town on the Atlantic side. She planned and reserved everything. All I had to do was say “Yes, I am coming!” With a bunch of sweets, bread, and chips in our backpacks a super nice Mexican girl Mar, her mom Marta, and an American girl Ksenya occupied the back row of a bus. Five hours later there we were – in CAHUITA! When we arrived to the bus stop a huge painting of Bob Marley inside a barber shop caught my attention. Red, green, and yellow colors dominated in the town. Foreigners and locals were riding bicycles. A light breeze of sea, smoked fish, and marihuana were flying in the air. And ... read more

If you saw my huge burn on my back from a recent trip to the beach you would be speechless. I am as red as a lobster with a huge blister all across my back. I can barely sleep, move, dress up, lean on the back of a chair, or bend down. I have to literally stand still like a Queen's Guard at the royal residence to feel good. On Saturday I thought I will be fine without sunscreen, on Sunday I put the sun screen on but thought I should be fine on the beach for 5 hours, on Monday I bought a tube of Aloe Vera and today I had to go the pharmacy for medicine. When I arrived a very nice guy asked what he can help with and I told him that ... read more