Cuba – First Impressions

La Habana, Cuba: 10:30PM, 04 September 2006: The Mexicana jet glides down the runway and docks at the airport gate. Only a few planes are visible. Inside the airport, there is little more life, as if arriving to a restaurant 30 minutes past closing, only a few visitors remaining. The customs and luggage collection process, take only a few minutes and before I know it I am aboard the taxi heading for the center of La Habana. Having just paid the equivalent of a 1 month Cuban salary for the 30 minute drive, 15 USD, the sharp contrasts of this dual economy sink in. The streets are equally deserted and it is hard to believe to be in a big city (I almost wonder if the Taxi driver is taking me over back roads).

I arrive at my host family’s apartment. They already await me and after a courteous greeting we spent the next hours conversing on the balcony overlooking the Malecón and the ocean. The next morning I awake early as the city has awoken back to life: buses are honking, trucks with squeaking breaks as if they were next to my bed. After a refreshing shower I return to the balcony to be greeted by the ocean and friendly morning sun. I sit down and relax – my Cuba experience has begun. A few minutes later I have to run for cover as a truck drives by leaving a cloud of smoke that leaves the entire block in mist. My host had warned me – a government program fighting Dengue fever.