By telling us your country of residence we are able to provide you with the most relevant travel insurance information.
Please note that not all content is translated or available to residents of all countries. Contact us for full details.
Shares
Why walking around the outskirts of the city center of Bayamo, Cuba I stumbled across this rather large and peculiar structure. The building was two stories high with plain white nondescript walls. However there were multiple rows and columns of windows with wooden shutters. There was a man standing outside of the building just staring at the facade… so of course I approached him and began a conversation. He explained that the building was the San Francisco Convent and had previously housed a sisterhood of nuns dating back to 1620. He shared that he was the caretaker and guard of the building. I took a few photos of the outside and started to walk away. He softly called me closer and said, “If you would like to look on the inside, you may.” Why not? I entered through the door within a door. In Cuba, I noticed that many buildings had large wooden doors that might rise to ten to twelve feet high. Then within the large door there would be a smaller door which might only be six to seven feet tall. The smaller door would be used to enter on a day to day basis. The larger door might be used to pass large objects or larger groups of people on special occasions. As I walked around the inside of the convent I was thinking that I might find some interesting Catholic frescos or religious artifacts. However, it was actually quite empty and stark on the inside. I guess that the nuns lived a pretty simple existence or after the vacancy of the convent the government had removed all of the religious symbols. There was a stairway that led to the second floor. On the second floor there were a number of empty rooms. Sometimes old vacant buildings are interesting and sometimes they are a little spooky. This building had been taken care of by the caretaker. It wasn't dirty, it wasn't clean, it wasn't scary, it was just empty. I chatted with the caretaker for probably about thirty minutes. I asked him about the building, the history, the history of Bayamo, his life and his work. He was curious about where I had visited in Cuba and where I was planning to go. I shared a few stories about the places that I had traveled in Cuba - Havana, Baracoa, Niquierro. He asked if I had traveled to other countries. Sometimes I'm a little reluctant to share my travel stories because I know that I have been very fortunate to travel to the places that I've visited and that there are other people that are less fortunate. And while I almost always travel on a small budget, I'm still very privileged just to have the time and resources to travel. This gentile man was genuinely curious about the world outside of Bayamo and Cuba. Where could I begin? I shared the names of a few of the places where I had lived and traveled in Latin American - Guatemala, Argentina and Brazil. I explained that I have been typically drawn to places with beautiful natural areas and warm friendly people. After some time, I felt that it was time to leave. He asked me if I would take a photo of him and show it to the rest of the world. He said that he knew that he would never be able to leave Bayamo, so he wanted his photo to travel. I took his photo. I almost cried.