Havana Dreaming
by Mark Probst
I wasn’t sure I was going to be allowed out of Havana on the afternoon of our departure. Going through security, they told me I was not allowed to continue to the gates. My bags were then confiscated because I was carrying an illegal item.
They proceeded to give me a full physical pat down. After my initial shock and confusion, I demanded to know why my bags weren’t being released. Why couldn’t I go to the gates to catch my flight?
After some broken Spanish and slightly heated conversations, I finally found out what I had done wrong. I wasn’t told when I entered Cuba two weeks prior that my luggage contained contraband. I was going to need the help of a United Airlines representative if I was going to be allowed to board the plane home.
“Sometimes following your heart means losing your mind.”
Ernest Hemingway
Arrival
Cuba is a country that has called to me from a young age, but always seemed a world away. It was the sound of Arturo Sandoval’s trumpet that first intrigued me about the island nation. Later it would be Tito Puentes, Guarijo, and others, that increasingly made me long to see and feel it in person. As I got older and read more about Cuban history, I became increasingly interested in the city of Havana, especially pre -Fidel Hanava. For a time, the playground for the mafia, Hollywood A-listers, and of course, Ernest Hemingway, seeing movies of the landscape and the Malecon, my intrigue continued to grow. Additionally, Cuba’s love of America’s pastime, and how great Cubans were at baseball, endeared me even more and added to my desire to visit. Havana just felt like it was a place I had to see and experience.
We arrived in Cuba on a hot and humid Sunday morning in April. It was an easy two-hour flight from Houston, and we were excited to grab our bags, find our transport, and head into the heart of Havana. We knew our phones would likely not work in Cuba, or our debit or credit cards, but we were hopeful our Singaporean cards would work. How wrong we were.
An Incredible Experience
One of things we really wanted to do while in Havana was immerse ourselves in Cuban culture, with daily language, music, and salsa lessons or events. I had been told by a couple of friends about a really cool program owned by a local entrepreneur in Havana, who has run an immersion school as a family business in the El Centro area of the city for a number of years.
Offering Spanish classes, salsa lessons, volunteer opportunities, and curated tours all around the Cuba, Jakera provided us with all of these opportunities. It also provided us with an easier, legal access in and out of the country
We also knew that many of the schools participants were repeat guests who not only loved the experience it provided, but had grown close with the owner and other members of the staff. Arriving at Jakera and meeting everyone, we instantly knew we had made the right decision.
The owner and staff were able to answer all of our questions about traveling in Cuba prior to arrival, and they had transport waiting at the airport for us. The owner was also was waiting for us when we arrived at the school.
Like I had been told, everything we did was easier to coordinate from day one, to the day we left. The access to places we wanted to go, the pick-up and departure, info about where to exchange money, the best spots for locals to eat, the top places to see amazing local artists, it was a great set up for us.
Even better were the classes we took while staying at Jakera. Our teachers at the school, and the salsa studio they partner with, La Casa del Son, were absolutely top notch. We were in class every morning from 9:00 to 12:00pm, and then salsa in the afternoon, or a walking tour of Havana.
The people who work at Jakera are very close and welcoming to travelers staying and learning at the school, and the owner provides a great atmosphere that makes every day a lot of fun.
La Musica
Walking the streets in the historic area of Havana is a lot like walking around the French Quarter in New Orleans. There is a palpable energy in the air on most streets, the architecture is beautiful, and it doesn’t take long before you walk down a random block and you hear music blaring out of a club, or from musicians on the street. It’s often a horn player playing some crazy high licks as his sound draws you towards him. Inevitably as you approach, Cubanos are dancing salsa in the open establishment, and often dancing or watching from the street.
This is the main thing that drove me to Havana, the Cuban horn. Hearing Cuban trumpeters scream solos with such range, dexterity, tempo, and bravado, I love the sound and the feeling it drives through you. It creates an incredible energy, and salsa is the perfect release.
Cuba has an incredibly rich history when it comes to adding to the umbrella of Jazz. One of the great events we attended while in Havana was The Buena Vista All-Stars, where we saw legends like Barbarito Torres and Juan de Marcos Gonzalez perform. Some of the performers were well into their 80s and they wore us all down with their infectious energy, leading a dance parade around the venue and bringing us all on stage for the finale. Yes it was touristy, but it was also every bit the world class musicianship and experience that made the movie Buena Vista Social Club a world wide phenomena.
We were also very fortunate to see Brenda Navarrete perform. A rising star in Havana, Navarrete is a stunning jazz and Afro-Cuban percussion musician who has a beautiful voice to match.
They were filming a music video for her that night, so there was a lot of excitement, and the show was fantastic. What also stood out to us was the club itself. Not so subtly called Speak Easy, including the movable bookcase as the door for entry, the club was designed with an opulence to rival any posh hotspot in New York or Miami. Among the chandeliers and the velvet chairs, there was caviar on the menu, and bottle service was part of the table charge. It was a huge departure from most every other place we saw or visited in Havana.
The Malecon
The Malecon in Cuba is not only incredibly iconic and full of tourists, it’s a place where locals spend a lot of time. Featured in numerous movies, most recently in the opening scene of Fast and Furious # whatever, the Malecon showcases the amazing eight mile walk along the coast of Havana, with numerous historic hotels and political buildings in the background.
Unfortunately, movies can distort the truth, and walking the Malecon for the first time, we were a little taken aback at the condition of the boardwalk, and the buildings lining it. A good portion of the drive was marked by structures that were long past disrepair, abandoned, and in many cases, uninhabitable.
Still, similar to the end of the siesta in Spain, or the passeggiata in Italy, as it cools down in the evening, the Malecon livens up at night. Cubanos flock to the promenade along the sea, to walk, talk, fish, and just be out in the open air.
It’s not hard to imagine how this amazing Avenida was once the place to be seen and stay in luxury, and how quickly that could happen again.
We went to a few places on the Malecon, many quaint hipster spots with live music and fancy cocktails. The views of the city and the bay are gorgeous, and the energy along the promenade is infectious.
Post Pandemic, Inflation, and the Embargo
Like a lot of countries these days, including the United States, Cuba is experiencing supply chain issues, rising prices, and a crunch on “living wage” jobs that provide for, at the minimum, a modest, sustainable lifestyle to raise a family. Also like Americans back home, the Cuban people are skeptical as to how much of the current issues are due to the pandemic, the result of inflation world-wide, or other factors.
In the United States, price gouging is apathetically expected by Americans. The main complaint we heard from Cubanos was that many of the shortages that they saw on a daily basis in the supermarket or their local café were available in the high-end hotels and tourist spots. Of course, the embargo and Cuba’s relationship with the United States was also a huge topic and point of debate. We did our best to put our own perspectives aside while in Cuba and mostly just tried to listen to Cubanos talking about their lives, and the challenges they were facing.
Speaking with a lot of Cubanos of different economic means, there was one perspective that was a common theme. Things are not great at the moment, evidenced by the sporadic protests they’ve had over the past couple of years, but they were all hopeful for impactful change soon.
Saying Goodbye
The last few nights in Havana were bittersweet. We had such an amazing time with the crew at Jakera, and we were loving our nights in city, the music, the food, and the dancing. But we were also running out of money, literally. Without the ability to access ATM’s for cash, pull money out of a Cuban bank, use debit or credit cards, or receive money electronically, we were broke.
We were fine that our phones didn’t work, or that we rarely had access to the internet, it was only a couple of weeks, so it was something we embraced and actually enjoyed most of the time. We understand how privileged and fortunate we are to be able to make the trip in the first place, and to be able to bring cash to sustain us for the two weeks. But the lack of being able to access money to buy basic necessities like milk or bread, or even go inside a grocery store to shop for these items, was a very different feeling. It gives you perspective very quickly.
Still, leaving Jakera and driving out of the city, we were torn. Part of us really wanted more time in Havana, taking in the city and culture with amazing new friends. We can’t wait to go back for more time in Havana, and to explore other parts of Cuba.
A Bit of a Bumpy Ride Out
Waiting to get through security, I couldn’t stop thinking about everything we had done over the past few weeks, the energy was pulsating through my head. This continued even after I was pulled aside and forced to get a United representative to come talk to security about my illegal contraband.
After tracking down a United airlines agent and her inquiry as to why security stopped me, I told her security said it was my trumpet, that it was illegal to bring a musical instrument into Cuba. She rolled her eyes and came with me back to security.
Fortunately, she was able to sort things out, and within a few minutes, I had my trumpet and could proceed to the gates. When I asked her if it was really illegal to bring a trumpet into Cuba, or if it was something else, she shrugged her shoulders and told me not to worry about it. She muttered as she started walking off, “It’s Cuba, the rules change all the time.”
