Lady on balcony

Just to give you an idea of what the infrastructure looks like, if you stray away from tourist centers by just a few blocks… There's no money to invest in shoring up some of Havana's buildings, though many of them would qualify as historic in other parts of the world.

Cubans are resourceful and make due with whatever's at hand, so there's lots of patchwork and makeshift fixes. The young lady who accompanied me and my husband as we "escaped" from the group tour was a great and clear-minded narrator. I feel it's the first time I've gotten a straight storyline.

Actually the spokesperson for the catholic church with whom we met in the morning also had quite a candid assessment. The church was decimated in the early years of the revolution (although only one priest was ever incarcerated) and is only just building back up, including being able to offer some classes in addition to what the public system provides -- including sponsoring an MBA program. Odd but true.

I skipped out on the meetings with the US rep in Cuba (interesting I'm told) and with Castro's economic advisor (dogmatic and boring, I'm told…). Really enjoyed wandering around various neighborhoods and just watching "real" life go on. We made a couple of kids' day by surprising them with baseballs: it's not just a sport here, it's a religion! :)

thanks for all your comments! Glad your enjoying my 'reports!' ;)