After running to the airport in Cancun yesterday I needed to wait 5 more hours for my plane to leave. Cubana gave us a 200 Pesos voucher for food for the delay. Sandwich, water and a banana is what you get for this an an airport. So we would not arrive before 23 o'clock in La Habana, as I thought. I had no time to book any accommodation, just searched for some directions and planned to just walk around. I knew that will be complicated now. So I asked this girl about a public bus to leave the airport and if she knew a place to stay. “Yeah let's talk as we arrive.” Well, something. But there where these four people: loud, colorful and with a lot of luggage (like a lot of people. I mean some brought packages of toilet paper. I got a bit scared.) Rolling eyes. Waiting longer in the line. So now, these people enter the plane and sit next to me! Of course. Of course they start drinking their own Vodka. “No thanks.” But then it turns out my luck in traveling comes back. “Sure, I can call someone for a place.” “35 Dollar.” “No.” “OK.” And then he called his mom to ask if I can stay there for the night. Turns out Marta, the black colorful woman with the too long nails to handle a phone, is the mother of one of the men. 72. Respect. She can handle Facebook better then I. And green hair and a leggings with a fitting colorful top, well who can, can.
No question, a German girl traveling alone to Cuba without a plan will come home with her. Two offers of a bed for the night in 25 minutes, in a country, where it is illegal to have foreigners in your house without registration. Suerte.
22.12.16
As we where standing in the airport waiting for our luggage, I got an idea how Cube is: the airport never saw any renovation and the luggage got searched by hand which took them more then four hours (then our stuff was there and we left. A lot of people where still standing there at 3 in the night.)
Then we where standing a long while in front of the airport, talking to family members. Same thing in front of the house. Hey, Kata wanted to see Cuba, let's go and drive una vuelta when it is dark and I was already falling a sleep 10 times.
But I learned a lot as always:
- The car in which we where driving around is from 1983. I think top speed was 45 km/h. Sometimes we had to stop to close a door or plug the speaker back in. I was impressed by the spirit that people in Cuba have to keep their rolling museums alive.
- People here have time. It seems like the bus is waiting and no one has anything to do the next day.
- Children don't have to sleep at any time in the night. Children running in and in front of the airport. We arrived around 3 in Mantilla, at Martas house and the kids where still there and no one was caring about making them sleep.
- Everyone seems to know everyone.
Highlight before I could finally fall in a bed in my own room (!) at 5 am in the morning, was the idea to play trompeta on the street at 4 am. (Fyi: just one woman was screaming something after some minutes.)
What
luck I had to one more meet the right people. With Eduardo, a family
friend from Mexico City, I warmed lemons for the first and probably
last time in my life. That's what you do when you love rum and the
only lemons in the house are frozen in the freezer. One who loves
rum, warmes the lemons for it by hand and gently blowing warm air.
“Vamos
a calentar lemones”.
And
some more things:
- Just in case you forgot what no American products means: This is the first place in the world where I can't find Coca Cola or Pepsi.
- There are still people who think this weird gangster style from 1990/2000 is cool.
Feliz navidad 
Different religious cults 
Cuban tradition: Domino
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