Transit to Cuba

Okay, so maybe I picked the wrong day for it - but my hotel in Havana has a wonderful veranda and seems like the perfect place to sit and write about Cuba. Wednesday, it was 30 something degrees Celsius. Blistering and humid. The veranda was packed. On this day, if the temperature is half that I would be surprised. It's cool, windy and raining and I was alone out there. If I was a snowbird I would be disappointed but actually I prefer this weather to the hot stuff. I am not cut out for humidity.

So, then what am I doing in Cuba? Well, on my list of the countries I wanted to visit, Cuba was number one. Iran was number two, but I chickened out. Early. Already in September I knew that one was not going to happen. At that point it wasn't clear that I would get to Cuba either. For Americans, going to Cuba is not as simple as booking a flight. No, the freest people on this planet need to ask their government's permission to visit a small island 90 miles off our coast.

Of course, you could go illegally. There are flights from both Canada and Mexico and the Cuban government thoughtfully does not stamp your passport on entry. You could come and go without leaving a trace - but you would be breaking the law.

Not wanting to do that, I applied for a license. The purpose of my trip actually does meet one of the criteria - research. And so, I did get my permission. We also applied for a license for MC, on the grounds that she would be supporting my research by providing her linguistic skills. I stopped learning Spanish in the 10th grade 40 years ago. Spanish was one of her fields at university. Having her to translate really would have opened communication possibilities that I don't have on my own.

No matter, the US government in its wisdom thought it was too dangerous to allow her to accompany me. Permission Denied.

At that point, I felt like forgetting the trip altogether. There are 10 countries on the list for a reason. Five alternates.  We'll just go someplace else.

MC would have none of that. "You have to go" she said, "it was your top priority." It was, and so I went alone. I'm having a great experience (thanks MC) but it could've been better (No thanks, Uncle Sam).