My Cuban Itinerary

Karla López

 

I-45, Dallas Love Field, Tampa International Airport, José Martí International Airport, la gua gua from Havana to Matanzas; give or take, this was my journey to the destination: Ediciones Vigía. Everyone at Vigía greeted us with open arms and kisses on the cheek. I had just met these people, and I already loved them! They had a table full of foods for us to snack on; fresh guava, fruta bomba (papaya…which in Cuban is NOT papaya), Cuban cakes (which were WAY TOO SWEET for my taste buds to handle), ham and cheese on toothpicks and a variety of soft drinks. As I took it all in, I honestly couldn’t believe that I was in Cuba on a school trip with my school.

We walked from Vigía to the hostel with our suitcases dragging behind us. Everyone stared at us because it was so obvious we were NOT from around there. We were greeted by the owner of the hostel Don Roberto, who made small talk with us and handed over the keys to the rooms where we would be staying for the next week. It was Saturday when we arrived and it had been a gloomy type of day. It was raining and we were starving. Hector, Adrian and Alejandro swung by to pick us up and we all went out in the rain to grab some street food: bread with ham and cheese, and to drink: some rum and coke. I’m not exactly sure if it was the hunger or if the food was actually good, but it was the best meal EVER! From there, we walked to an outdoor nightclub. We were the only people there and we danced the night away. We walked back to the hostel singing at the top of our lungs, almost got run over by an 18-wheeler and overall, had the most unforgettable first night in Cuba.

For the next week or so, we worked at Ediciones Vigía for a few hours every morning; helping to create a book with materials that one would never think of for such a thing. After our work time was up, we would have lunch and then do a number of things; visit guest speakers, go on excursions to museums, castles, going to the most beautiful beach I’ve ever been to, visiting mummies, you name it, we did it. Every night we did something different and didn’t go to sleep until the early morning, but everyday I was excited for what would be in store. 

I went to Cuba not having any expectations of it. I wanted more than anything to learn about the culture but I came back with so much more than that. I came back with friendships that will last me a lifetime and honestly, that’s the best souvenir I could’ve brought back. I could go on writing about my experience in Cuba, but no one will ever know, not really.