Viñales and Other Cuban Adventures

Last Friday, a few other kids from the study abroad group and myself hopped on a bus after class and headed to one of the western-most parts of Cuba: Vinales.

Vinales is a small town in Western Cuba, also home to a UNESCO World Heritage site. The town is nestled within the Valle de Vinales, made up of mountains, tobacco plantations and some of the most natural beauty to be seen in Cuba. To say the least, we had a great time.

Upon arriving, we all split up in pairs to spend two nights in casas particulares (homes where rooms are rented on a nightly basis). I think the best part of that experience was the food: WOW! Not to say that the food at the Residence is lacking, because it’s not, but the food at these casas particulares was so flavorful, you might just start salivating before you even lay eyes on what’s about to be served. Moros, chicken, pork, platanos, tomatoes, juice, you name it. It’s all there and enough to feed a small army!

But despite my love for food, the food wasn’t even the beginning of our experience. That Friday night, Allison (one of the other girls from the group) and I found a man to take us on a hike through the valley the next day and it was quite a hike! We started at 9am and got back to town around 5pm. But the hike itself was breathtaking. Just being in the valley and looking up to see the surrounding mountain range is something incredible. But throughout the valley were animals, farms and various tobacco plantations. We even stopped at one and were given freshly-squeezed sugar cane juice to drink.

However, the best part of our hike, without question, was when our guide and one of the campesinos (term used for a farmer/peasant) took us to a cave on one of the mountain faces. Haha, I think it would be honest to say that we were all a little nervous about climbing inside. We had to use a rope to climb down into the cave and once to the bottom, with a few steps further in, it was pitch black. We wouldn’t have made it more than a few steps without a flashlight, which luckily, we had.

By miracle of the flashlight, some cautious steps and an adventurous spirit, we made it to the very bottom where we found pools of some of the clearest water I’ve ever seen. It was though, without a flashlight, completely dark. Nonetheless, Allison and I jumped in and swam around. Swimming in a pool at the bottom of a deep, dark cave in Cuba is easily one of the coolest things I have ever done.

The next day, with tired legs, Alec, Allison, Drew and I rented a few bikes and went riding through the valley before catching the bus home to Havana. It was the perfect ending to a fantastic weekend.

As for the past few weeks, I’ve been keeping pretty busy with classes and training. Our classes have been requiring more and more reading as of late and while the readings are interesting, it’s sometimes hard to keep up with it all and still find time to explore the country. Still, I’m managing just fine.

My training, all things considered, is actually going pretty well. I get up early every morning to run along the Malecon and about now, I’m averaging 30 miles per week. Tuesdays and Thursdays I swim at the only pool in the city, la Ciudad Deportiva. Coincidentally, it’s also the same place where the Cuban national swim teams practice as well! Overall though, I’m just glad to be able to swim. I made friends with one of the swim coaches there and she lets me come in to train whenever she is there, which is generally late in the afternoon. She also had a few extra athletic shirts with the Cuban flag printed on and sold one to me. At the time I bought it, I didn’t know it was anything terribly special, but when I wore it later that evening, some of our friends from the university kept asking me where I got it. Apparently, only official Cuban athletes have these shirts. How cool is that?

This weekend plans sound like we´re going a little further west on the island (I think it´s the western’most point) to have a beach weekend and get some scuba diving-snorkeling in. It´s supposed to be some of the best diving on the island...I can´t wait!

There's more than one kind of "papaya"

If you’re Cuban, you might already understand the significance of this phrase. I figured that after not writing for quite some time, I would need a fairly interesting blog entry title. I learned that the other day that, in Cuba, there are two different kinds of papaya:

On the days that we only have one class, some of the other girls in the group (Alyssa, Louisa and Alison) and I take the bus to the beach. The ride is about an hour as we ride along the entire route and when we went last week, I brought a bag of dried fruit with me. In the bag was pineapple, mango and papaya and I offered some, in Spanish, to the three other girls. I looked at Alyssa and asked, “Quieres pina, mango o papaya?” She looked at me frankly and said, “You know you just offered me a bag of vagina, right?”

Apparently I hadn’t been present on the day that everyone BUT me learned that in Cuba, the word “papaya” meant “vagina.” The word for the fruit, papaya, is “fruta bomba.”

Well, I suppose just as quickly as I learned this, I soon forgot it. After a few wonderful hours at the beach, we climbed back on the bus to head home. A few rows in front of us was a cute Cuban boy sitting on the floor. In Spanish, I asked him how old he was. He shyly told me that he was 10 years old. Wanting to continue the conversation, I searched in my bag for something I might be able to share. There was the bag of dried fruit, but all that was left was papaya. Before even thinking, I looked at the 10-year-old boy and asked, “Te gusta papaya…”

It had just barely made it out of my mouth when I realized what I had just asked this young boy. He looked confused and all of the teenage boys around him began to laugh. Alyssa, Louisa and Alison could barely contain themselves before beginning to laugh so hard that they started to cry. It takes a lot to embarrass me, and I can honestly say that I was mortified.

Hours later I realized how funny it actually was.

Still, I can confidently say that my Cuban adventures have involved less verbal errors. Last weekend, Alyssa and I tried to take the Hershey train (a famous American-made train brought to Cuba in 1913) to Matanzas, a city about an hour-and-a-half drive east of Havana. However, after seeing some of the guys in our group depart the train looking as though they had returned from hell (and that the line to Matanzas was broken), Alyssa and I opted to take the bus. Originally we were heading to Matanzas, but everyone else on the bus seemed to be heading to Varadero, a beautiful beach town, and so we changed our minds and went with them.

Upon arriving in Varadero, we needed to find a place to stay. After much walking and searching for over two hours, we ended up deciding upon a hotel instead of a casa particular (renting a room in someone’s house). Actually, what we thought was a hotel turned out to be a resort and I’m not sure which of you reading this have seen the movie “Cocoon,” but that’s exactly what I thought of as we began to walk around the report. Everyone was at least 30 years older than us and Canadian, gathered around the pool soaking in the last bits of sun. It was funny, but a great time overall and once having arrived in Varadero, it proved to be a very relaxing weekend at some of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.

This past weekend was really fun as well. One of my best friends from high school, Greg, used his dual-citizenship (he was born in Poland) to come visit me in Havana. What a weekend, trying to show him even just Havana in a mere two days! We walked along the Malecon, through Centro Havana and through Havana Vieja, the historic district of the city. Yesterday we went to the Plaza de la Revolucion and saw the famous picture of Che Guevara as well as the Jose Marti Memorial. I also took Greg to take some pictures on the front steps of la Universidad de la Habana and introduced him to all of the people in my study abroad group here. I told him that if he brought a bag of candy with him that they would love him. He really didn’t believe me until he got here and had instant friends.

Showing Greg around this past weekend made me realize how familiar I’ve become with Havana and also, how much of Cuba I still want to see. Luckily, I have over two months left for some great adventures.

Hace Frio en la Habana!

While the weather here is in no way comparable to what's going on in the U.S., Havana is experiencing what Cubans refer to as "los dias mas frio del ano" (the coldest days of the year). And make no mistake: to American kids who brought primarily shorts and tank-tops, it is a bit chilly.

But aside from the weather, I think this week has been the best yet. Last week was primarily settling in, which really kept us on our toes and left us somewhat confused as to what was actually going on in our study abroad program. We still managed to have fun though. We've all been out for drinks (and while I've gone, I've still yet to taste Cuban rum!), we've chatted to locals at every opportunity and we even went to a rave just off campus a few nights ago. Talk about an eye-opening experience!

Our time in Cuba has also left a lot of time for self-reflection as well, and I often find myself sitting on the Malecon, jotting down at least one of innumerable thoughts. Good thoughts, but thoughts that leave me wondering where each subsequent adventure will lead me and what my actual plans are for post-graduation. Luckily I still have another year and a half, but strangely I think being in Cuba might help to answer some questions, even if the answers have nothing to do with Cuba itself.

And on an exciting note, I finally met with the CNN Havana Bureau producer the other day. At this point, after sending emails since October and not receiving much response, I assumed that she was just going to have coffee with me to humor me. But instead, she actually explained that she and Morgan Neil (Havana's Bureau Chief) had been looking into the possibilites for taking on an intern. While I feel like my chances are slim, she promised that it wouldn't be too much trouble to take a look into OFAC regulations and see what might be done. She asked if I knew how to edit using Final Cut Pro and if I was interested in learning about producing. I could barely contain my excitement.

Vivimos en Cuba por cuatro meses!

It’s true.

The rest of the study abroad group (Rose, Allison, Casey, Nick, Drew, Alec, Alex, Louisa, Alyssa, Adam, John, Sarah and Brittany) and myself have been living in Vedado (in Havana) since this past Sunday. I think the fact that we’re in Cuba took a few days to sink in.

It’s been an adventure thus far, exploring Havana Vieja (the historic district), la Universidad de la Habana (where we will be taking classes) and preparing to celebrate the birth of Jose Marti with torches in a march.

The adventure wasn’t too fun for me the first few days, having a nasty ear/sinus infection and an ever-present fever. I’m just now beginning to feel better and I can’t wait to experience the nightlife that Havana has to offer!

We have some in the group who love to salsa, others who want to learn to box and…me? I’m still trying to figure out what it is that is authentically “Cuban” that I want to take away from this. Plenty of time to figure that out though. This is simply the introduction to an eye-opening four months.

"Bahamas for Obama!"

I got to Nassau, Bahamas yesterday around 2pm and as I walked around the streets near the hotel, signs on storefronts read "Bahamas for Obama!"

Clearly, everyone is excited about the inauguration.

I'm excited as well, but by the time Tuesday comes around, the rest of the study abroad group and myself will have been in Cuba for a few days. Our flight leaves for Havana this afternoon and I don't think any of us can really believe it's happening.

But while Cuba is just on the horizon, this is my first time in the Bahamas as well and it is BEAUTIFUL! I cannot believe how crystal-clear the water is and the tropical atmosphere is intoxicating. It reminds me a lot of Key West.

I think we're all going to walk around, explore and maybe visit a beach or two before leaving. And then it's off to Cuba...

I Swam with Sharks on My 21st Birthday!

I did, I really did.

It was a surprise though. Morgan has done a few different stories with a particular shark-diving company and, without me knowing, arranged for the two of us to dive with them on my birthday this past Monday. It was FANTASTIC! We were out in the Indian Ocean for the better part of the day when we first dove in to swim with about 30 or 40 dolphins and later, about that many blacktip sharks. Two tiger sharks also showed up a bit later, but by that time I was passed out on the boat with the color completely drained from my face.

...I get seasick.

Despite feeling terrible, I found my nausea almost funny. That WOULD happen to me when Morgan planned a great surprise and that WOULD happen to me on my birthday, with my head hung over the side of the boat while everyone else threw on their gear to jump in the water. Still, it was an amazing experience. No cages, no harnesses, nothing. Just swimming alongside tens of curious sharks.

One of the women working our particular dive was an American who is doing field work in South Africa as a shark conservationist. We learned quite a bit of valuable information not only about sharks, but about the particular organization which she started up: Shark Savers. For more information, I believe her website is: www.sharksavers.org.

Also, as predicted in my last post, I did have a South African braii for my 21st birthday. Friends from eTV (where I interned last summer) came, some of Morgan's good friends that I've since met and various members of Morgan's family. I have to say that for a 21st birthday far away from home and old friends, it was was wonderful. Morgan and his family prepared everything, down to decorating a little chair for me to sit in. I really couldn't thank them enough.

And now, after having spent an amazing month back in South Africa, I am little more than a week away from leaving for Havana, Cuba where I will live for the next four months. I leave for the the States on Monday, get back on Tuesday and that Saturday I fly out. When this realization hit me last night, it made me somewhat sad. I love South Africa and I think it's a beautiful country. I also won't see Morgan until I run my Ironman in Cozumel this November. However, I think that the best situation to feel sad in is when you're going from one exciting adventure to another.

A South African New Year

First things first: I suck at blogs. My entries are always weeks, if not months, apart. Still, I'm going to keep at it.

So: A lot has happened since my last entry. I made it to South Africa just fine, after two days of grueling flights. It occurred to me as I was walking down the passageway from the airplane, having had my passport stamped and wondering which line to stand in (there were only two: one said "RSA citizens" and the sign for the other line read "all other African citizens") that it had been quite a while since I had seen my boyfriend, Morgan. As I continued to walk, all of the weight of our cross-continental relatiionship seemed to overwhelm me and I was just about to turn when I saw a huge smiling face, clad in a faded UNC shirt, pushing through the crowd. While I was still pretty nervous about seeing him, the weight seemed to lift and right then I figured out what I had worked so hard for throughout the semester.

Since then, I've been living quite a fun (and MUCH more relaxing) life. For the first time in months, I'm sleeping in past 7am and enjoying the morning - and not lacing up my running shoes as frequently as I probably should. We've been keeping busy, though.

Morgan arranged a great surprise for me last week. He is a TV reporter for eTV, one of the national TV stations here, so he made use of some connections and I got to go to the Sea World in Durban and see the world's largest dolphin (he looked more like a miniature whale!) and it's 3-week-old baby. Very cool. We also went snorkeling with some fish native to the region and opted to later drop down into a pool of sharks. It was a FANTASTIC day!

I've also been meeting a lot of people. I visited the Zulu family in Cato Manor that I lived with this summer and dropped off some Christmas presents with them that I'm hoping they enjoy. I've been meeting a lot of Morgan's friends as well. I went to my first official braii (*South African version of a BBQ, very popular) and also went to a friend's 21st birthday celebration. It's funny how the legal drinking age here in RSA is 18, but the 21st birthday is still quite the big deal. My 21st is on January 5th (4 days!!!) and I'm pretty excited myself. I think we're going to have a braii...

As far as New Year's celebration, it was great. We scored complimentary tickets to a rooftop party at a hotel followed by dancing at a bar nearby. I must admit though, I did truly miss seeing the ball drop. BUT I don't think I'll have another South African New Year's anytime soon, (or at least not next year) so I soaked up every minute.