Cuba Wrap Up: Interrogation In, Interrogation Out!

I hopped on the noon bus from Varadero to Havana. The 2+ hour bus ride dropped me off at Havana Vieja vs. the Viazul (bus station) office which meant I wouldn't have to spent CUC10 getting myself back to Vieja..sweet! Karolina's Casa Nena was full for the night so she arranged for me to stay at her neighbor Alain's spot, Casa D'Rocha a few doors down. I walked in the building and walked back out because I didn't know which apartment it was and as I walked out, timing would have it that Nuides was walking to Casa Nena's. "Hola Yi! Aqui!" So I followed her to Casa Nena while she calls Alain to let him know I'm here. Karolina did not tell me that Alain's casa required a out 40 flights of steps!

My last evening in Havana and Cuba for that matter, I met Caroline, Levi and Mike at Jardin de Orient for a locals priced meal. Don't let the name fool you, there's nothing orient about the spot. Turns out Mike and Levi both grew up in San Francisco as well! After dinner, I talked them into walking the malecón with me. Hanging out with them was so nice..I wasn't getting hassled as much but as soon as I step about 10 feet away, it starts up! We all turned in pretty early driven by the heat exhaustion and early cab wake up call. The timing had nothing to do with the sorta strange guy who was chatting us up..an American from Saudi Arabia.

It's 2:39am and I hear a knock on the door..it's Pepe..Karolina's taxi guy.. these taxi folks are always early! He was on the phone then gives me the phone and it's Alain explaining he wasn't going to be here to check me out but make sure to lock everything and leave the keys. Apparently, everyone knows everyone in this side of town! I explained to Pepe with some key broken Spanish words that we needed to drop by 611 Calle Cuba to pick up my friends. In his ritzy old school car we rolled. 

We arrived at the airport, checked in, exchanged my leftover money back to euros (I brought $700 euros with me and exchanged $640 of it but used only $600 of it.) and made our way to immigration. The immigration guy looked like he was about to stamp me but nope..I was denied along with Levi and Carolina and was sent back to the red line to wait. Here we go again..we knew the drill. 

Mr. Immigration Interrogation guy made his way towards us and took us into the office one by one for questioning. I was second to go, Levi was up first. The office left little to desire...two desks..some fake flowers and a dozing coworker in the background. He started his questioning by asking me where I've been and the addresses of where I stayed. Good thing I kept all that with me! Taxi drivers I used and then it was during the background questioning portion that I noticed he is writing on the bottom portion of the same piece of paper the lady who interrogated me entering Havana was writing on! He was cross checking. The best might have been..what is The Gap? I took my hoodie out and showed him the label. Actually, maybe it was when he asked if I came with Levi and Caroline and I said "No, we met in Havana" and he said, "Aqui? Beautiful!" I thought.. beautiful is letting us through and on the flight! Anyway, he led us back to the immigration counter, stamped, scanned and we made it! 

I followed Levi in buying a last minute trinket, a baseball bat keychain with Cuba colors on it. The lady only wanted American dollars. How backwards was that?! In a country where the U.S. dollar isn't king and she wants dollars. 

Coming to Cuba, the only expectation I had was to see throngs of classic old school cars. There were plenty of them but not as many as I had thought. Because of their relations with the Chinese, there are actually a lot more modern cars than I thought there would be and I've even spotted two Audi's. Point being.. if you want a piece of old Cuba before it's too late and old classic cars become a tourist thing vs a local means, get here soon! You can spend thousands of dollars and go with education tour groups or you can spend $1500 ($900 total air and $600 food, casa, transport, trinkets) and do it yourself. Cuba is special in the sense that it's still somewhat time locked and a bunch of stuff is backwards. However, take the intrigue away of it being a "regulated" country to visit for those holding a U.S. Passport and it's kinda like any other country in this region, except for the cars, cigars and rum, in my opinion anyway. It doesn't take away the cool factor though of a Cuba stamp in the passport! Except, I don't think he was supposed to stamp my passport.

The most common question I've had asked, outside of pick up ones have been, how did I arrive here? Folks seem disappointed when I respond with Mexico City. They're eager for the abundance of folks from the U.S. to fund the tourism here! Maybe a Starbucks? Maybe a Hard Rock Cafe? Maybe an Ironman race? Maybe wifi and internet?!

Next up: 48 hours in Mexico City before back to SFO!