Sin Lio! Puro Cubano

---

One goes to Cuba thinking your normal spanish will get you by, not! Cubans took spanish to a whole new level; with their own gestures and meanings a native spanish speaker will be impossible to understand. As we coast along the city of Habana, our guide was nice enough to teach me a few here and there. Sin Lio - which means No problem / everything's good or your regular O.K. was the only thing that stuck in my head. Everytime I came across a person asking how I was doing. I just say Sin Lio and we'll be smiling and laughing in the next few minutes.

Habana by itself is a combination of your rustic, colonial and common blend of touristic spots. The thing that I wasn't prepared for; you basically/most oftenly have to pay folks to take pictures. That was definitely the first for us. Most of the city is surrounded by murals supporting the revolution that took place decades ago. I guess this serves as a reminder for everyone how things were during the years the U.S. had a huge stake in the place.

What blew me away is safety of travelling. As odd as it is; I felt more safe in Cuba than other places I've travelled too. We even managed to venture into side streets and felt nothing to be afraid off. Weeding through communist controlled countries, the least you'd expect is to walk around safe and free from crime. But that's exactly what we've experienced. Probably because locals know the difficult life of being jailed in Cuba.

Among other things, Cubans are proud people that despite economic hardships, accepted the realities and forged different ways to live amongst us in this ever changing world. It will be interesting to see how things will change in the succeeding years knowing that Castro's regime is nearing its end. Nevertheless, were happy we got a glimpse of the real Cuba before change comes knocking on the door.

---