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.