Havana

Thursday morning, we spent some time walking around the city before taking a cab to the church to see Will and meet his family (they live above the church). Introductions were short and sweet as Will is the only one in his family that speaks English but I was introduced to and have come to love their form of greeting. A quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. Whether your young or old, male or female, this is the tender greeting we received by all. We decided to grab some lunch in the city so we hopped on a bus near the church; something we have been strongly discouraged from doing on our own. We had a quick lunch of pizza and soda before deciding that we would let Will show us some of his favorite places. So we boarded the bus again. This time it was especially packed and I may have grazed the rear end of a young gentleman in front of me a number of times before I realized what I'd done; something I was teased about for days. We got off in the middle of the Havana suburbs and made our way over to a hotel called the Malia Cohiba to have a pee break. When we met back in the lobby, Bonnie and I asked "So when are you going to show us your favorite place?" "This is it", he replied. The hotel lobby. One thing you have to understand about Will is that he loves Canada, thinks of himself more as Canadian than Cuban and as such, hates the heat. The hotel lobby is cool and quiet and according to him, a great place to get away and think. Apparently as long as he looks as though he's waiting for someone, nobody gives him a hard time.



From there we walked down to the Malacon (the boardwalk) to relax and enjoy the sound of the ocean before heading back to the hotel for a much needed swim in the pool. As this is hottest and most humid time of the year in Cuba, this was our first taste of how we wold be feeling for the rest of the trip. Any time outside an air-conditioned building leaves you hot and sticky and is usually accompanied by immense amounts of sweat steadily beading from every pore on your body. As uncomfortable as it was at times, I can't say that I hated it.



Will returned home and we made plans to meet up later for a night out. Besides Will, we were joined by his brother Waldee, friend Juan and another friend, Dilliam (the only other one that spoke English), all of whom Bonnie was already acquainted with. The six of us walked up into the city to a very common Cuban hangout to get ice cream. After waiting in a couple different lineups and switching lineups at one point to get to the desired area of the building (something that cost Will a few coins after doing some wheeling and dealing with one of the employees), we got our table and Will ordered us all a bowl. It was vanilla all around; not by choice, because you get whatever they have. If we'd gone to a tourist ice cream shop, we could have gotten whatever flavour we wanted, but it would have been in CUC's (a currency that the Cuban people don't deal in and that is worth a lot more then the currency they do) and it would have been much more expensive. It took very little time for Will and Dilliam to feel like old friends so our time together was very comfortable, very relaxed and a lot of fun. After ice cream, we walked down to the Malacon which had now come alive with crowds of people as it does every night and just spent time together. Dilliam and I spent a good amount of time getting to know each other and after a bit of prodding, she shared with me a poem she had written for her niece (first in Spanish, then translated) as we discovered a mutual love of writing. It was such a fabulous day and we went to bed exhausted.

Friday morning we took a cab to the Capital building ion Old Havana to meet Will, Dilliam and Andres (another friend and member of the church) to explore a bit of the old town. This wasn't simply a matter of a few Cuban locals showing us around, the addition of Andres made it particularly spectacular for a few reasons. First, he works as a tour guide in the city so we essentially got a private tour from a professional. Second, we nicknamed him the "Greek god" because he looks like a European Calvin Klein model. But the kicker was that because his clients are exclusively British, he now speaks perfect English with a beautiful British accent. He showed us some of his favorite buildings, all incredibly ornate and detailed. Havana has some of the most beautiful architecture I've ever been fortunate enough to lay my eyes on. Unfortunately, most of the buildings are in a state of neglect and have literally begun to crumble where they stand.

We wandered the the streets with a beautifully melodic running commentary and the company of wonderful people and stopped at a chocolateir for a plate of goodies and chocolate milk made of milk, Cuban cocoa and honey. We slowly made our way back to the Capital building where we parted ways from Andres and grabbed a taxi back to the hotel for another swim in the pool. Up until last year, Cuban people were not even allowed to set foot in the hotels. As Will has come to enjoy hanging out in hotel lobbies, this wasn't so amazing for him, but Dilliam had not only never been inside the hotel, she'd never seen the inside of a hotel room or swam in a pool of any kind. She was overwhelmed nearly to the point of tears by it all. Let's just say, Cubans are seriously oppressed, but I won't get into that now. It was incredible to see and experience all of this through her eyes.

We thoroughly enjoyed a couple hours lounging in the pool before Dilliam and Will headed home for dinner and to get ready for church where we would be meeting them later. When we arrived we were immediately ushered to the back room where Will was and the worship team all meet to pray before the service. This was my first taste of the passionate way that the Cubans pray and worship. This was only made more apparent by the actual congregational worship. I couldn't help but think that the North American church is quite dead by comparison. Even the prayers were passionate and the church always responded emphatically and even as prayer was being led, they would clap and cheer and raise up their own prayers out loud without any consciousness of self. So we stood for about an hour listening to the incredible band and the people sing with a steady stream of sweat streaming down our chests and backs as despite the many fans, it was stifling. Of course, everything was in Spanish but there were a couple familiar songs that we sang in our own language and Will translated most of the sermon for us. There were a number of times over that few hours that I got chills like a wave over my body and just took it all in, amazed and feeling blessed to be able to experience the fire in that community. By the end of the service, I was left speechless, overwhelmed, humbled and encouraged. We hung around for a while after and met a bunch more people always with a sweaty cheek to cheek kiss.

There was a moment Friday night when we got out of the cab in our summer dresses and heels at the door of the hotel, having the door opened by a hotel employee, that I truly felt like a princess. Taking in and appreciating the luxuries that we've provided for ourselves has been very strange given the fact that spending time with the Cubans has made it so apparent that we have so much and they have so little.

This was also the day that my head cold took a turn for the worse. The pain in my throat caused me to worry momentarily that I'd picked up strep throat, but the absence of any white spots eliminated that so I was left to conclude that I;'d developed some sort of a throat/sinus infection and decided to begin taking Ceftin, a broad-spectrum antibiotic that GLA requested that I bring.

The next morning I felt pretty awful but we had made plans to go to a market in Old Havana and I figured that after an Advil cold and flu and just getting outside, I would feel better. I couldn't have been more wrong. We had been at the market for no more then 20 minutes before heading back to the hotel where I collapsed onto my bed with a very cloudy head, in a certain degree of pain, feeling very weak, very discouraged and honestly a little scared that I would need to be taken to a Cuban hospital. But thankfully, after a good nap, an afternoon of rest and, I believe, the antibiotics, I began to feel better. So that evening, we went ahead with our plans to meet up with friends to watch the sunset from the fort and then watch the procession of soldiers and the nightly 9:00 shooting of the cannon. It's a tourist attraction, but also a hangout for the Cubans; the tourists just pay a lot more to get in. Not long before the procession started, it began to pour and we all got quite wet running from building to building but managed to duck under the cover of a doorway to wait it out. We huddled together chatting and laughing and it gave Bonnie and I a chance to to eat the apple/bananas that Will had given us. I kid you not, it's a short, fat banana that actually tastes like a combination of the two fruits. When the show started, we began heading to where the action was under the cover of a blanket held up at the four corners while the crowds of people still huddling in doorways watched us with a mixture of amusement and envy. But the rain stopped in time for the show and we took our spots on top of the fort overlooking the cannon. It was a great evening, but I was exhausted by the end of it. Whether from me or Will, we are not completely certain, but Bonnie did pick up a head cold as well. This is unfortunate for her, but the upside is that it kept us going at about the same pace. It's probably because of that pace though, that I've been slow to recover, but I am feeling better. Although, I stopped taking Ceftin yesterday morning but the soreness that returned in my throat yesterday evening has caused me to begin taking it again.

And that's all I've got time for...