Cuba (2022)
Inhalt/Content
Havana – Vedado
On Grisel’s recommendation, we had arranged accommodation in Vedado, the modern part of Havana. Finally, at the accommodation, there was even breakfast! We stayed in a hotel that seemed to be only partially legal. From the inside, it looked clean and well-maintained, but from the outside, there was no sign or anything indicating the existence of this hotel, which made it a bit challenging to find. Thanks to Matanzas, the power outages had now reached Havana, so our hotel had no electricity when we arrived. Exhausted, we settled into our dark room and were just grateful to have arrived. I had planned to go out again, but by now, it was a bit too late, so instead, we went to a nearby restaurant to eat. Before that, we organized a transfer to the airport for the next day, set aside the cash needed for it, and were pleasantly surprised at how much money was still left. We had lived extremely frugally. Kevin ordered lasagna, and I had chicken curry. Both dishes were not as we had expected. Kevin’s lasagna was more like a burger, and there was actually a bun hidden in the lasagna (probably due to the shortage of pasta, they had run out of lasagna sheets), and my chicken curry consisted mostly of chicken with a tiny bit of curry sauce. Additionally, there were fresh pineapple and papaya juices, and the juices were truly delicious. Around 8:00 PM, the electricity came back in our hotel.
The next morning, we were a bit disappointed when the included breakfast at the hotel turned out to be meager. It consisted of a cup of tea, a small glass of juice, a slice of toast with butter, and Kevin got an omelette. I received a salad after explaining that I am allergic to eggs. Additional bread toppings, fruits, or more juice would have cost extra. Since our flight was scheduled for the evening, I wanted to make the most of the day to explore Vedado on my own. Kevin wasn’t interested in joining. He was already looking forward to the end of our trip.
So, I set out alone, heading to John Lennon Park and then to Plaza de la Revolución, which is well-known for its large Che Guevara mural on one of the building facades. A few tourists arrived in vintage cars and took photos. I wondered how long they would stay in Cuba and if they would encounter similar issues as we did. At the beginning of our journey, we were still filled with anticipation and optimism. We got what we wanted: a chance to see the country as it truly is, not as it pretends to be. What we saw didn’t please us.
I returned to the hotel. We checked out and were driven to the airport by our arranged driver. During the security checks, I felt a surge of anger towards all the package tourists. Most of them had received lunchboxes with water bottles for the journey, which they now casually discarded before the security checks. All of this while Tony and Grisel were sitting in their house without water! I wanted to scream at these people, tell them to be ashamed, but it wouldn’t change anything. Their ignorance stemmed from a lack of awareness, a state intentionally created by the Cuban regime.
The plane had a layover in Montego Bay. Even though we could only observe it from the airplane windows, despite being not even an hour away, it felt like a completely different world. There were advertisements, beautiful houses in the distance, and my phone even detected the airport’s Wi-Fi. After taking off from Montego Bay, we finally received our dinner. Never had airplane food tasted so good.
