Jan 27, 2007

just got back from the cuban campismo. camping was fun. we went to the beach and went swimming in the beautiful crystal clear turquoise colored water of the caribbean. went horse back riding for about 5 minutes and played ping pong. i kicked alexei´s ass. the food was terrible.

the beach was beautiful, with the exception of a smokestack of an oil refinery belching out a plume of black smoke in the distance. we walked along the beach in the other direction, away from the smokestack. the beach curved around an area with tidepools and reefs. on the other side was another beach, from there you couldn´t see the smokestack. this beach was lined with tourist resorts, lounge chairs, thatched huts, volleyball nets and all. kind of like spring break. it was a beautiful secluded stretch of beach. we heard one canadian guy yell, hey mom, could you get me a cerveza? Alexei and I were inspired to get a cerveza ourselves and pass the time, but when we approached the bar, we found that only hotel guests could drink there. we went to another bar at another hotel and were again turned away. it seems that these resorts were all inclusive. you paid one price for the flight, ground transportation, lodging, food, activities, the works. there are a lot of foreigners who come to cuba and have this experience, but they are not experiencing the real cuba. we returned to the campismo and joined the other cubans. We drank a couple bucaneros sitting in a swing next to the pool.

now we´re back in havana for my last night. we are going salsa dancing tonight. last night we saw some cuban hip hop. nothing to write home about.

tomorrow i am off to panama and i am both happy and sad. sad to be leaving alexei again for i dont know how long... happy to be returning to a non communist nation.