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December 13, 2002
our dan in cuba (a
our dan in cuba (a clever title taken from the graham green novel our man in cuba, now i ruined it)
not much time at all to write, internet is illegal here and elvia sneaks it. we're sitting in her living room, (she's putting us up) me and steve(!) and some french guy. the cuban dialect i have managed to do rather well with so far, they mumble like hell, reminds me of chile. steve knows he's in for it next semester.
it's very nice to see him, he showed up lookng a little taller then me, and spouting spanish like a champ. i think he's ahead of where i was when finished my first semester in spain, we went out with a spanish couple and he did really well, i don't have to help him anymore.
the city..hmm. havana is beautiful, the architecture is amazing. though crumbling. arches on the buildings, plazas all over, statues and a malecon (boardwalk) with an amazing view. classic cars roll around like it was nothing, all shined up as if it were still the 50's. it's so very very different from the mexico that i just got used to.
the people all seem to be smiling all the time. 99 percent are slim, i guess for the lack of food, and they flirt and laugh in the street. there's a distinct sexual tension that is unique to anywhere i've ever been.
the problem is that they look at us and see dollar signs. last night walking around guys would walk up and start talking, friendly like, but soon they would get to trying to sell me marijuana, cubano cigars or the women that accompany them. i have to say that it makes me not a little uncomfortable, the women here indeed are beautiful, but it feels gross, that some slimy guy walks around with 3 of them, offering them up to any random white looking guy. grosser still is the old foreign men walking around with one of these young things on his arm. what can i say.
it's really cool though, cool propaghandistic posters and paintings with socialist themes, gonna have to snap a few fotos.
ok gotta go, i will most definitely be back in san cristobal if not the 24th then the 25th.
oh yeah all the bands play all the songs from buena vista social club all the time. all the time.
Posted by bendan at December 13, 2002 04:15 PM
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