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Published: June 23rd 2017
mi novia en La Habana
My lovely girl... Her entire family is soo sweetGeo: 23.1168, -82.3886
landed with my favorite no-frill flight...Jetairfly from Europe is only EUR 149 to Varadero...
There we go...arrival in Varadero was smooth...I booked ahead with a Cuban friend of mine in Havana...I wanted to ensure I have the entire apartment to myself right in the center of town...
Well, in the center of town it certainly was...The entire apartment to myself...check!
So my wonderful time in La Habana can go ahead...Now as I knew that I had the place to myself I can also bring friends home without the secret police watching you...
That night I went around the rundown districto Centro...The night ended eventless, I was still tired from the trip and went to sleep.
The second day was something else...Funny enough...My headline says "Havana...me encanta"... The reason certainly wasn't for what happened on the second night but rather for every night afterwards.
So...let's come to this memorable Day 02...fast forward to the evening...I should experience a true hardcore mugging against me... Apparently that wasn't clear at all...Only the 3 of them knew that it will happen later that night...Afterwards...looking back...I knew it was carefully planned out...every move was a move towards a mugging that almost cost me my life...serious!
That evening I just went to
one of those numerous "hole in the wall" cafeterias that sell all sort of drinks...I actually just planned to buy a can of beer...A guy behind me, eagerly after my money, suggested otherwise...I am not naive nor stupid...I have traveled the world and had been in numerous muggings and can smell a crime against me from a mile away...
I put my nose up into the air, trying to catch the smell...Nope...Nada...None at all. So it went on...I bought a bottle of Havana club for the 4 of us...One guy was truly muscle packed...the other 2 were taller than me and black...The muscle guy was Caucasian like me and almost the only one talking...His befriending went way beyond the ordinary "Jinteros approach"...
There were in fact truly friendly...I have been to many situations in Brazil or Colombia, where people are simply poor...which definitely applies to Cuba as well. We took the bottle down to the Malecon and drunk a liter of pure, prime Cuban rum...Time went by...it turned 2 AM and I bought a second but smaller bottle for them to share among themselves...I know when it's time to stop...Apparently that rum is stronger than I imagined and kicked-in a bit
later...The one guy suggested we all go to a disco in Centro for the Chicas...Yes, the disco is open till 6 AM...
So off we went...In front of the disco their was a girl "remembering me from last week"...Haha, little did she know I just arrived 2 days ago...Sure, a beautiful girl talks to you...why would I say no, I don't know you...I went along with her stupid approach...She suggested we go back home...little did I know that she was truly not involved in the crime that is just about to happen...She was just talking to me at the wrong time in the wrong location...Basically I left the guys and went off with the girl...The guys were quiet pissed that I simply want to leave...They had planned to keep drinking...which is only possible if a stranger takes care of the tap...They simply had no penny in their pockets...So let's call it crime out of opportunity...I took the girl towards my apartment and she decided to take me through a shortcut...An entirely unlit street...Off we went into this pitch black alleyway...
It was 4AM in the morning, I just checked the time on my Samsung Galaxy phone...There it happened...I was quiet dizzy from
the rum...still...There the muscle guy came up from behind in a split second and choked me...choked me hard...He saw I did not pass out but rather kick him...There the other two guys came up from the front and punched me hard into the stomach, while the other freak trying to empty my pockets...I had secret pockets in my pants, which didn't make it any easier...He basically ripped out my entire pants into pieces...There am I in my boxer shorts...He simply took the pants with everything inside along...Ooh yes, did I mention, he is still choking me, he was standing there until I passed completely... From the police later did I learn that he planned to kill me, he thought I was dead for good and left...How do I know that? Keep reading...
I woke up only 2 hours later with extreme pain in my throat...I was dizzy and couldn't see a thing...I went up the to the main road and right away some Cubans knew, something bad happened to me...They went up to me and carried me into a taxi to the police...No, they did not ask for money...I had nothing anyway...They carried me into the police station...It suddenly become clear
to me what all I have lost to them...That very day I took my passport with me in order to change money...They got my passport, 200EUR, 100CUC and my Samsung Galaxy Phone (the data were more important to me than the phone itself...
NO...the time where crime against tourist were severely punished is gone...However, they assigned a guy from the secret police to me and the head office of the immigration department brought me home...The assigned secret police officer was living in the US previously but the American government put him on the "Persona Non Grata" list and expelled him back to Cuba.
It happens to many...In Miami, most muggings, the Cuban immigrants are the perpetrators...Anyway...Can you believe it, this dumpster actually took advantage of me and stole another 40CUC out of my home...Than I decided to kick him out...
Still the secret police knew the guy who was mugging me, I have identified him on a photo...They knew where he lives and plain cloths secret police were waiting in front of his home for 72 hours...Only than it dawned me...They won't find him...Forget the valuables I have lost...Those are long gone...It's personal...He planned to kill me (that's what the police told me
as he killed tourist before)...I made it my job to find him...The head of secret police gave me his personal phone and told me to call him on sight...
That evening I ventured off into the same area...96 hours have passed and he felt secure enough to show up again...I called the police and they came with 6 cars to corner him...I suddenly let him see me and yelled at him..."I gotcha...crime doesn't pay"... off he run into the direction away from me...only to run right into the police arms...He is serving a very long jail term for previous muggings.
The head of secret police become my very personal friend now and makes Cuba a worthwhile destination for me...
Ok...Let's put this aside now...Let's get back to the headline saying "...La Habana, me encanta..."
It's almost like Havana wants to compensate me for what happened...Only wonderful things followed...Truly wonderful things...Nowadays I can truly say...Ciudad de la habana..El Capital...me encanta mucho!
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