Cuba - A final stay in Havana

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After the cold and rain of the Andes, I decided to finish my trip with a month of sun, salsa and partying in Cuba. The flights worked out the same price to fly to the UK via Cuba or from La Paz directly.

When I arrived in Havana airport the difference to South America was very noticeable. At midnight the air was humid and the temperature was still in the high 20s. We took a taxi in a 1950s Buick to a soundtrack of salsa with an extroverted afro-cuban taxi driver who flirted outrageously with the two Danish girls I had met in the impossibly slow immigration queue. Despite that it took me several days to organise the paperwork and a morning to obtain the visa, the officials didn't ask me to produce any of the required documents - onward ticket, hotel booking, health insurance... Yet it still took hours.

I had arranged to stay with a friend of a friend and my first day in Cuba went well... Lunch cooked by my host's mother with Diane and Frauke (two other backpackers also staying there) followed by an afternoon drinking Mojitos and dancing Salsa in the flat. That evening we went to the Casa de la Musica for live, famous salsa band Pacho Alonso y sus Pachucos.

The Casa de la Musica is the most popular venue for live salsa in Havana, and all the famous bands play there. I went a number of times and my favourite was Manolito Simonet y su Trabuco - a band DJs had played all over Latin America.

Most days in Havana followed a similar pattern. Waking up late at around 10-11am, grabbing breakfast of a roll and a juice from a hole-in-the-wall cafeteria, two hours of salsa classes, lunch of chicken/pork beans and rice from another cafeteria, and two hours more salsa later in the afternoon. I'd spend most of the day until around 6pm loitering at my teachers' house, drinking coffee, watching dance videos, copying music, and chatting. I would then return to the house for a short rest and then head out to meet friends, have a few drinks, and dance.

I also took Salsa classes with Silvia and Raymond ([e-mail]) the last time I was in Havana. They are very good, technically precise teachers who explain the techniques very clearly, and focussed on controlled clean movements and clear leading. With them I learnt Salsa, and the basics of Son, Rumba, and Cha Cha Cha. I also followed a daily rehearsal of the gyrations of hips and shoulders used in the above, Timba, and Reggaeton.

By the end of the month I was dancing fluidly, cleanly, confidently, and with reasonably Cuban movement. Well, I still didn't look Cuban; although, as one Cuban dancer put it, I dance very well for a foreigner. The Cubans, however, are born to dance and, even if they have little technical knowledge of Salsa, they exude style and charisma. Attached is a video of one of my practice videos with Silvia.

Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons - being overseas, family problems, contact problems - I didn't see much of the friends I had made on my last trip to Cuba. I became closest to Silvia and Raymond and their friends - Manuel, Togui (not sure if that's how you spell his name), and Geisa. Manuel and Togui, who were renovating the house, were there everyday and we had good banter. Geisa worked as an assistant dance teacher for larger groups of students. I went out dancing quite a few times with them and also with a number of the students. I went out a number of times with Edgar and Shimona - two Australian Salsa enthusiasts that were spending a good few weeks in Havana taking classes. And also with a Canadian girl called Veronica.

I also went some parties at the houses of my host's meditation group, which meet at his house every Friday, and a party at the house of the sister of a couchsurfing friend from my last stay, David. I also hung out with a few other foreign couch surfers - Sofia, Mattia, and Dorletta.

Several weeks into my stay I finally managed to get in contact with Felix, a friend from my last trip. We went out in the posh suburb of Miramar with his girlfriend Camilla and her friend Ninette. I hit it off with Ninette, a beautiful Mulatta (Afro-Spanish) who teaches Ballet at the prestigious National Academy. For the rest of my stay we spent a lot of time together. Unsurprisingly, she is an excellent salsa dancer so also made a great dance partner. We had great fun together.

At the end of the month, with mixed feelings, I boarded my plane to the UK. I arrived in Gatwick at midday to be greeted by freezing cold and grey skies. As I made my way across London and by train up to Lincoln everything felt very surreal. The cleanliness, order, quietness, lack of people, and the courtesy seemed very strange. Public transport was like something from the future - clean, modern, punctual, quiet, wifi, plug sockets... and unbelievably expensive. It cost me £60 to make the 3 hour journey to Lincoln!!

My mother picked me up at the train and took me back to the house. It seemed like luxury: working showers, hot water, uncontaminated tap water, flushing toilets that take paper, electronic gadgets, washing machine.... The lifestyle I had taken for granted now seemed very comfortable.

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Photos

Bodeguita del Medio
The famous bar where Hemmingway drank Mojitos

Dinner at Salsa Teachers' House
L2R - Manuel, Raymond, Silvia, Paula, Ninette, Me, Geisa

Comments

[Lesley Stableford]

welcome home
Luckily the sun came out the day after you got home and it's been wonderfully summery here since. Thank goodness..... x