Last day in Cuba!

Things I haven't done for a whole month:

- Been shopping
- Drank tea (maybe 5 times)
- Been on a computer
- Cooked anything!
- Watched TV
- Straightened my hair!

Que más..?!

I think I have replaced all of these things with going to the beach, drinking mango juice and living in casas where they do all the cooking for me..it's been difficult haha! I think the only thing I really miss is shopping. I'm getting very bored of my clothes I brought with me!

So tomorrow I'm off to Costa Rica! I've found the dollars at the bottom of my bag, I think my visa is ok, I have my passport, flight ticket printed. Ready!

Cuba has been amazing! So different from anywhere else I've been. I've got used to getting shared taxis in the street and eating from cafes which are in the front of people's houses and being able to get mojitos and piña colada everywhere. No international shops, no Mcdonalds, no internet, hardly anyone has mobiles and only a tiny bit of English/American music. Feels like England 20 years ago (and in the villages 100 years ago) but its nice coz it makes Cuba so different and interesting.

Just sad when I tell people I'm off to Costa Rica..and they say how much they wish they could travel but they can't leave the country, and I realise that my life as a rich foreigner is very different to theirs.

A bottle of rum solves everything..

Gave the man at immigration a bottle of rum to change my visa back to a tourist visa ;) All because the stupid Uni put a sticker on it to be a student visa which said I could only be in Cuba until 24/07/11 which meant I've been a little bit illegal all week... He said maybe I wouldn't be able to leave or I need to pay 40CUC (in stamps of course!) but the banks are shut today.. Turns out the computer says nothing about me being on a student visa, so obvs the Uni just keep the 40CUC for themselves for 'changing' my visa. Anyway he took the sticker off, and says I will be fine at the airport and looked quite pleased with his litre of rum! We'll see what happens Monday if they let me leave the country :/

Horsey, horsey, don't you stop...

In Varadero. It's a long strip like La Manga was, so wherever you are the beach is 2 minutes away. I'm going to go to the beach everyday until I leave now! The water is so hot with white sand! It's quite touristy here as well, lots of little stalls selling maracas and strange things and the horseys are taxis.

But at least not as skinny and sad as in Viñales..poor horseys :(

La cascada

Cueva del Indio

Went to a cave yesterday. Was very cool, walked through until we got to some water and then go the rest of the way in a boat.

Then went to this beach. Warmest sea I've ever been in!

Vinales

Arrived in Viñales this morning. It's a village in the mountains west of Havana.

Quite nice to be in the countryside but it's quite poor..all the animals are very skinny like this poor horsey.

There's lots of horse and carts too, but much more touristy than I was expecting, all the cafes charging 7CUC for food which is a lot, more than cafes in Havana.

DON'T CHILL YOUR RUM!!!

Having some drinks at my casa!!!

Havana club

Went to the rum museum today as a school trip! Was a very short visit..they showed some sugar canes coz that's where rum comes from, and some machine, and then a miniature railway, some barrels and that was about it!

Me and Paula

Then you go the bar and get to try some 7 year rum..on its own..at 11am.

Certificado

Look what I got today :D so I just graduated the University of Havana! At least I have something to prove my 'superior' spanish now..not just my E at As Level :-/

Spanish class


Today our teacher was talking about Cuba in the winter. She said that as soon as it gets a little bit cold the Cubans get all excited about being able to wear jackets, scarfs and boots lol..just like in England when we eventually get a bit of sun in April and everyone goes out in shorts and flip flops even though it's still cold!

Pintarse las uñas

Check out my nails!!!! It cost 16 pesos (40p?) :-O

Los carros/coches

In Spain a car is 'un coche'. In Cuba a car is 'un carro'.

I'm having to learn all the differences between Cuban spanish and spanish from Spain; like juice is 'jugo' not 'zumo', and its 'guagua' not 'autobus' and having to listen carefully as the Cubans don't say the S at the end of words...! So I've also been learning how to get around Havana and which money to use. You can get a normal taxi, which costs 3-6 CUC. CUC is the tourist dollar and is about 60p (£) to 1CUC. Or you can get a collective taxi which are the big, old american cars like the green car in the foto:

To get these, you stand at the side of a main road and stick your arm out, then they stop and you ask if they're going in the direction you want, you get in and then you pay them 10 pesos when you get out.
Cuba has two currencies...national pesos and CUC. 24 pesos is worth 1CUC so a collective taxi costs less than 30p which is very cheap! Or...you can get the bus. I have only done this once as they are always fuller than the London underground in rush hour and in this heat it must be disgusting! But the bus only costs 0.40 pesos which I think is like 1p! Maybe I should get the bus more that's well cheap!

The two currencies means that if something is in pesos it's very cheap for foreign people like taxis and food from cafes in the street. I think because of tourism they introduced the tourist dollar to earn more money, however this has now meant that lots of things like shampoo and entry into clubs are now priced in CUC which means normal Cubans can't afford them.

People who rent out rooms in their home like where I stay, and taxi drivers are very rich as they earn CUC, but even doctors and everyone else can be poor as they earn their money in pesos. Apparently normal workers earn 400 pesos a month and doctors earn around 800 pesos a month which is just 20CUC and 40CUC. The lady I live with is earning 40CUC a night as she rents two rooms in her house which means she is earning a doctors monthly salary a day! This must be one of the 'Critical Issues in Tourism' which we've been studying all year..

Más playa

Went to the beach after school, a lady walked past with a pineapple on her head..think she was selling them lol. Realised yesterday that I haven't seen any Mcdonalds here!

La piscina

Decided its far too hot in the day to keep visiting places, so went to one of the hotel pools after uni..was lovely!

Cigar factory

Went to the cigar factory after Uni for a tour. They showed us how they make cigars...wasn't allowed to take pictures so I got a sneaky one ;) I felt a bit bad for the poor Cubans working there rolling up cigars all day but then it reminded me of picking tomatoes a little bit! Although I don't know what Team Awesome would have thought to guided tours coming in every hour to watch us work :/
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A la playa

Had a lovely day at the beach. Eight of us fitted into this old car and a friend of the lady I live with drove us to Playa de Santa Maria. Water was warm and clear, and the cocktails were only $2.50..piña colada mm!! There was also a "coco, coco" man, salsa bands playing for people, lots of palm trees and we had fried chicken with rice for lunch.
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Casa de la Musica

We met in a bar in Havana Vieja for some mojitos, before going to queue early at Casa de la Musica so that we could get a table!

Elliot, Janine, Paula, Me, Raymond, Nina, Sunna and Simon

 We had to buy a bottle of rum to get our table! Which we then ditched to go watch the bands:

 And bailar!!

Sunna, Me, Janine and Paula

El mercado

Boiling hot today!! Went to the market, was very interesting. Had lots of different things compared the all the same stuff we see in France and Spain, such as these maracas!! Managed to get a whole bag full of stuff for $10 after lots of bargaining. I think that's why they told me I was tougher than an Argentinian..!

Going to salsa tonight with everyone from Uni at Casa de la Musica!
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Thunderstorm!

Never have I seen so much water!!
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Mojitos

Me, Janine and Gemma

Raymond, el Pescador, su amigo y Raymond

Salsa band!

La casa particular

Tanita checked my result for me..got a 2:1!!! Very pleased.

Then went to Uni, and I am in the top 'superior' class..ooh la la!! We had to introduce ourselves in paired conversations, and then she told us about Cuba, like how to get taxis and pay with the different currencies etc. Then after the break she talked about José Martí..very famous Cuban - never heard of him! And we had to talk about someone of importance in our country..so I chose Princess Diana! Didn't know who else to say!!
Then I moved to my new casa. I was supposed to be in Ricardo's casa but it was full, and I was thinking oh what a lovely house, but then he took me to another house owned by a lady called Rosi, in the smallest car you have ever seen, with like no floor u cud see all the metal, and the pedals stick out, and u can see inside where u wind the window up, so strange!!! And then I got to the new house and it was even nicer! I have like my own part, so upstairs is the bed, and then downstairs I have a mini kitchen, and my own bathroom, and it includes breakfast and dinner!!

Going for mojitos tonight <3
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La Universidad de la Habana

I found the Uni, was only about 5 minutes walk from my hotel. Looks much more exciting than Bournemouth, has these 4 massive building with pillars around a courtyard thing. We did a test today to see what level we're at, we find out tomorrow when we start at 9am..and that doesn't mean 9.30 he said!

Then we had to fill out this form to change our tourist visa into a student visa which you need to study. We them had to go on hunt for a list of thing we need to change the visa, such as stamps to the value of 40CUC from the bank with the longest queue in the world and 2 passport photos, which cost only 1,30CUC! Might get some more done before I leave..bargain!
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Cuba!

Just woken up after a very long sleep :) Got to my hotel at about 6pm here which was 11pm for me, I was sooooo tired so I just went straight to bed. This was the view from my hotel last night!

And one of the old cars driving past when I was in my taxi from the airport!

Now waiting for breakfast at 7am, and then I'm gna go see if I can find the Uni so I can start school!!

Off I go!!

This plane is massive!!!!! 10 hours to go...
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Marshmallows!

Had such a funny night last night!! My melons came over for a bbq as I am leaving tomorrow!!! Well felt like I was on Come Dine With Me, coz I went to the fish counter, then I made my pudding first before doing me starter....yeh then alllllll the food was totally burnt and Tanita was sick in the night...oops!!!

Have to convince myself that I need to pack today..very strange, can't quite believe I'm going to Cuba tomorrow :/ lil bit excited aha :D
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