Day 4

Day 4 New year ..


Spanish class was fun today. I actually spoke Spanish! Hurray! Then we went down town to a funny little market where tourist buys souvenirs. Fund a bunch of stuff I do need to posses, but kept it down to 2 dolls for my nieces. Have to come back another day with a big bag…
A walk around after late lunch, (where we waited 2 hours and missed most of the best photo light for the afternoon) we took a stroll from Habana veja to Centro Habana. I am gaining more courage everyday to walk up closer to people and take photos…Still I need a new lens. I need a new lens!
We found out how to travel like locals a couple of days ago. You can take an old car from close to Hotel Inglaterese for 1 cuc instead of paying 10cuc for a tourist cab.
It is impossible to know that there is a taxi stand there unless you ask around…
Anyway, meet some intrusting guys from Bolivia at the taxi stand. They study sport here,
and were really exited about 50yrs of revolution. They gave me a Ché Guevara coin! Nice:)


New Years Eve…

Came back from town pretty late and at 7 pm we still didn’t have any plans. We didn’t feel like going to a big gala dinner or tropical show for tourist. Cubans stay at home with their family on New Year and celebrate the revolution day 1st of January. It is going to be 50yrs tomorrow and there will be a big outdoor party at the tribuna antiimperalista town in Malacon in vedado. I look forward to that!!!
Ended up celebrating New Year in a Jazz club in Havana. That was cool. Band didn’t start until 10pm so first we sat in local pub listening to a really god Son band. Loved it!! I have to buy Buena Vista social club film and Cd when I get back.
Jazz band played some kind of salsa-jazz mix, and at the end all got up and danced. Great party!! We didn’t feel like going home afterwards so we strolled around and landed in a club, where some really nice, and very young 1st year medical students from Dominican republic, Peru and Bolivia showed us the latest Reaggaton moves:)

Here are allot of students from all over. Met so many today that study here in Cuba and they all go to Havana to celebrate New Year and revolution day.
They told us that education here is high standard and a degree from Cuba is appreciated in other countries.

Day 3

Dag 3..

Went to the beach today. My mission to photograph people is not a good idea to fulfil at the beach. And there is sand, palm trees, some more sand….not inspiring. What can I say, I am not a beach person… bored as hell I moved along up and down the beach trying to find something photograph. Whit my favourite tune from Wayne Shorter in my head I ended up shooting footprints. Then I found don pepe, and a live band going around playing for money. Got more sand in my camera than god shoots today….

Dag 2

Revolution…

My brother asked me why I was going to Cuba to learn Spanish. He thought it was pretty odd and thing for old people to do when they retire…I got upset and told him that that is definitely not the case. Well today I, Karolina and 2 retired old men sat in the Spanish lesson. First day at school.
I forgot a pen, a paper and my Spanish dictionary. (It got pretty late yesterday), while the 2 super intelligent pensioners sat there, eager and ready to learn. In a blink they where hooked up with their language computers. Anyway it turned out they are mucho simpatico and willing to chair their language computers with me:)

After class I went for a 2 hour photo session in town. It’s an amazing town and so much to shoot. Amazing run down old architectures, street filled with people. Old cars, noise!! (I miss noise in the far 2 quiet G.) Beautiful old people, sitting in the park.
It was 14.35 and the lightning conditions where difficult. Pepole moving around fast so fast made me consider putting on automatic function and just shoot, but that made my pictures blurry. I got a few good shoots but there is so much more to shoot there. Have to come back another day.
I know now for sure, that my first priority is to get a new lens…I have one 18-55 and a 55-200 lens and to switch between them is terrible! Makes me slow. Today’s mission was shooting people and I was trying out all the things I learn going around with a professional photographer I Ramallah…I still have a long way to go.

Evening…

Went out n the old town with a tour guide from school. It was nice. In the end he got drunk and talked about the system. He told us how trapped he was in the system. How he wanted to get out of Cuba. Horrible stories that reminded me of the castle and the process by Kafka. After he finished I told him about Sweden and Gävle. How it is to be trapped in cold darkness.
-He told me to move to Cuba!

   



  

    

Day 1

After 10 hours flight and 3 movies I am finally in La Habana.
Took it easy the first day, the first photo walk by the see. Shopped for some food, read a lot and swam around the pool.
Right now we are trying to figure out what to do tonight, a concert, a walk down town. School starts tomorrow:)

I literary flipped out the first time I saw the sun after so many month. I feel like crawling out of a cold dark hole. Crawling out in the sunlight, that warms up my skin and colours it brow and beautiful.

My dark hole



Evening…

After have been following 2 recommendations from the Lonely Planet we threw away the guide book and started to follow the mass of locals moving on in the opposite direction.
That paid off. After a short walk we came down to the see drive the malecon…party!
The street was filled with life and movement…fantastic movements to the rhythm of Hip hop and Salsa. The music filled the area that led down to a square with a big screen TV that showed music videos. Further down at the plaza de la revolucion there was a big stage with live bands to celebrate 50 years of revolution. And they where celebration al right…
Parents dancing with their children. Grandmas and young people moving their hips to the music, and I promis no one was out of rhythm!
I have missed this for so long.
.