A leap into unknown - my trip to Cuba

by Nermina Nalic (Bosnia & Herzegovina)

A leap into the unknown Bosnia & Herzegovina

It's been It’s been my lifelong dream to visit Cuba. Seemed like Cuba had it all – warm weather, sea, communism. I decided to treat myself with a trip to Cuba for my 30th birthday – I was single, had a good job to afford it and felt like that birthday is some kind of a crossroad in life. So I found the agency, made all the arrangements, and after a brief 36 hours journey with one 7 hour transfer I was finally there. I couldn’t really sleep in the plane from excitement (note to self – take a sleeping pill), I was tired and suddenly overwhelmed with what I only can describe as humid heat. I wore too much clothes as it was winter in Europe, had a heavy suitcase and just wanted to get to my room. However, the next day, the magic started. It was like a leap into the past. This was happening in 2005, the streets were not only filled with the cars from the 50’s and a lot of Russian Ladas, but also buses they called ‘camels’, huge monsters consisting of two connected bus parts. My tourist group was still one of rare ones, the country just started opening for tourism. Then, surprise number two – a country with two currencies, two different pesos – one for visitors and one for locals, and a much larger fee if you exchange dollars (nice move, communist brothers). Havana itself beautiful, unexpected, lovely. Old buildings, some ruined, some renovated, clashing with newly built hotels. People wondering around, there was a woman yelling at her child from a window (aaaah, feels like home), tourist groups gathering at touristy spots - Che’s portrait, Bodegita del media, favorite Hemingway’s café. Surprise number three – there was a special traffic police, stopping people driving alone in the car, so they pick up people waiting for the bus – no wasting of fuel in my communist heaven (good one). What reminded me of my childhood were schoolchildren dressed in uniforms with red or scarfs around their little necks, we had the same when becoming pioneers – a statewide organization in Yugoslavia, connecting children with the ideology of the country. Surprise number four – they had school classes in every building – dedication to education is uncanny. Cuba is a country with a largest number of doctors, which often go to help as humanitarians. Education is free and easily accessible. As well as healthcare – there was a doctor in every hotel, treating even tourists for free. People I met wondering around were friendly and willing to communicate even when they did not speak English. When you go out at night, at the restaurants not yet completely filled with tourists, people would just leave their dinner and started dancing when they would feel like it (well, people from the Balkans would have to get quite drunk to start dancing like that). It seemed to me that every single person dances incredibly, moving like a dancing stars, they had incredible feeling for the rhythm even when they were just sitting and shaking their shoulders while seated. Surprise number five – food. Given the mix of cultures and influence of different cuisines, I expected spicy and hot food, but it was actually very mild and tasty, somehow in contrast to the passionate people I could see around me. I visited Cuba 5 years later, and many things have changed – tourism blossomed, but also affected Havana that I remembered. No ‘camels’, no traffic police in yellow uniforms, travel agencies everywhere, ‘hop on –hop off’ busses, souvenirs markets aimed at tourist appeared. It was nice, but I felt happy to be able to experience Cuba before all these changes. And yes, visit Cuba, it is still amazing.