[Backstory: Shay was my travel buddy for the first 3 months of the year I spent traveling in South and Central America. Follow these links to read about our past adventures climbing Machu Picchu, eating guinea pig, and much more. She is also the one who took me scuba diving for the first time.]
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| Me, Shay, and Pepe Lucho in Peru |
In no particular order, here's 6 thoughts about my upcoming trip.
1. Traveling makes you learn things and it's fantastic.
Somehow through high school the only things I managed to learn and retain about Cuba is that Fidel Castro was in charge and the US didn't like him, and something happened at the Bay of Pigs where the US tried to invade, but I couldn't really tell you any details. Since I didn't want to land in Havana completely ignorant, I decided to find some reading material. Google led me to a history of Cuba as told from the perspective of the Bacardi rum company. Since basically all the Bacardi family was involved in politics and government on the island, the book is a fascinating mix of rum making history and revolutionary history. And since I have a vested interest in actually learning it this time, I think it'll stick.
2. I'm really curious to learn the realities of how their currency works.
They have two types of currency in Cuba. Tourists use the Convertible Peso and it is tied to the US dollar. The Cuban Peso is local currency, is something like 24 to the dollar, and officially tourists are not allowed to use it. From what the internet and various travel blogs (and common sense) tell me, that law is not really enforced. Some places will accept local currency from you, some will not. When you are able to use the local currency though, things become much cheaper. It will be interesting to see how easy it is to get and spend local currency, and how people will respond to each type of money. Everything also warns tourists to watch out for people trying to rip you off by giving change in local Pesos when you paid in convertibles, and I want to see what kinds of problems we run into with it.
3. Cuban Spanish.
How is it going to compare to the accents and dialects I've come across in South and Central America? I know the Caribbean has a reputation for more heavily accented Spanish, and will I have any difficulties communicating because of it?
4. All of the classic cars.
I'm not at all a car buff, but I am excited to see all the classic cars, which I'm assuming (maybe wrongly) will be everywhere. From an aesthetic standpoint, I think it will be fun. Also it will be interesting to see if the stereotype of classic cars everywhere is exaggerated, and by how much.
5. Is the food really as boring as the tour books make it sound?
All the tour guides I've found pretty much agree that Cuban food is nothing to write home about. However, since I'm not going into it expecting gourmet cuisine every night, and I'm interested to try authentic, local food, I'm hoping I'll be pleasantly surprised at what I find. And I'm wondering what my new favorite dish/candy/flavor/etc will be when I leave.
6. It's great not worrying about trip details.
After traveling last year and taking countless buses to find hostels in new cities, those kinds of details just don't worry me anymore. The big things are covered: our visas have arrived, we have all our diving confirmed, and we'll pre-book our first night in Havana, but exactly what bus we're taking to Matanzas and where we're going to stay in Trinidad are bridges we can cross when we come to it. I know many of those details would be more of a pain to try to nail down beforehand anyway, and I'm confidant that it'll work out. Plus we'll have wiggle room for spontaneous changes, taking local advice, or checking out a place before committing to staying there. The peace of mind is amazing.
So there you have it. Six thoughts.
It goes without saying that I'm beyond excited to go diving again. We have four days of diving booked, two on the north side of the island in the Atlantic, and two on the south side in the Caribbean, including in the Bay of Pigs. We'll stay in a small fishing village while diving, explore the historic cities of Cienfuegos and Trinidad, and round it all out with a couple nights in Havana at the end of the trip before flying back home. I'm so excited for the music and the scenery, and to dance Cuban salsa!
And soon I'll be able to confirm or deny if Cuba is really like in the photos.