I had a middle school teacher who set everyone up with an international pen pal.

This was extremely exciting before the internet age when it was easy to feel isolated from the world and, at least to me, impossibly hard to know what was out there. Each month or so, I wrote and subsequently received a handwritten letter, and my connection with Cuba began. I don’t recall the content of the letters from my Cuban pal, but I deeply remember the excitement and sense of adventure that stirred within me with each new delivery. This experience undoubtedly contributed to my love of travel and, finally, to visiting my 43rd country.

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My first glimpse of Cuba was the northern coast on the Straits of Florida somewhere west of Havana. We floated down where the palm trees and horses were visible and gently landed at Jose Marti International Airport. The plane came to a stop, and we walked down the stairs and onto the tarmac in the sultry tropical heat.

While there were customs agents and security checks to enter Cuba, neither slowed me down. I made it from my plane seat, through these safeguards, and out of the airport in less than ten minutes. A woman in front of me (to the left in the photo above) was stopped after her girdle set off the security alarm. She was required to remove it and try again. Fortunately, I left my girdle at home and had no problems. I also avoided the extensive line to claim and examine checked baggage. Yet another fine reason to travel only with carry-on luggage!

I exchanged money at the airport (more about money later) and caught a cab to Old Havana for $30. I had arranged, through my Airbnb, to have a taxi driver, holding a sign with my name, meet me at the airport. He didn’t show, I later learned, because he figured I would be standing in that long checked-baggage line and therefore expected me an hour after I actually arrived. This led to a series of slight mishaps – unable to call due to no cell service, finding a different taxi, no one at the Airbnb when I arrived, a language barrier with a neighbor of my Airbnb, and a multi-step process to access wi-fi in Cuba – which I figured out after some creative problem-solving.

The Airbnb provided a pleasant accommodation in the heart of Old Havana, on a decidedly untouristy block on Obrapia Avenue, between Cuba and San Ignacio. I was surrounded by locals hanging out on the stoops, calling up three floors to their friends, and playing games in the street. The guy in the apartment next to me was 75 years old and lived in the same building his entire life! That’s the door to my place, half hidden to the left, in the photo above, the lush courtyard spilling onto the walkways. And below is the entrance from the street and a view from my balcony. Much of Old Havana is definitely in need of repair but this also contributes so much to the vibe and charm of the neighborhood.

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As an international traveler, I rely on wi-fi to get around and to communicate with people. My cellular service provider does not have plans in other countries and, if it works at all, I pay by the minute or by the text. Cuba provided a particular challenge – my cell service didn’t work at all and the wi-fi is sparse. Most Cuban Airbnbs do not have wi-fi, and my option was to purchase an ETECSA card for access to the public wi-fi system that exists in some parks. Fortunately, my Airbnb host told me that La Bodeguita, an old Ernest Hemingway haunt, has excellent wifi that can be accessed standing in the street in front of the bar. So, after getting settled, I headed over there for some electronic communication, live music, and mojitos! This was a five-minute walk from my place and my go-to spot a couple times per day to access the wifi.

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My first morning in Havana, I had a couple hours before meeting Laura for my 10am tour. I bought a papaya for 80 cents at the Arco fruit market on San Ignacio right around the corner from my place. I went in search of breakfast at 8:30am and found that most restaurants were not open yet. But then I stumbled upon El Dandy, on the corner of Teniente Rey and Villegas, and had Mexican scrambled eggs while watching the charming guy at the door lure pedestrians in for breakfast.

On the way back towards my place, I stopped at a bank and exchanged $400 US for $350 CUC. Let’s talk about money for a minute.

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The US has imposed an embargo on Cuba since 1960. The story is way more complicated than that, but this is just a travel blog, and you can look it up somewhere else online. Anyway, the embargo impacts a lot things including my, as a US citizen, ability to spend money in Cuba. For starters, no credit card that is connected to a US bank can be used in Cuba. As a result, we USers have to take enough cash to cover the whole trip. I booked my lodging and a couple other Airbnb experiences prior to the trip, and I took an additional $1,500 in cash. I only spent about $700 though. Second, there are two currency systems in Cuba, one for locals called CUP or pesos and another for tourists called CUC, Cuban Convertible Peso. We can exchange for CUCs, but not pesos, and we pay 13% in the exchange. Give them $100 and they give you 87 CUCs. This all sounds kind of complicated but it turned out to be pretty easy.

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I met Laura at 10am outside my place. Laura was introduced to me by my friend Marcy who had gone to Cuba a couple months before I did. Laura, who was born and raised across the bay from Old Havana, spent five hours showing me the neighborhood and brought life and history to the city. I learned that many public buildings, such as museums, care for many of the dogs and cats roaming the streets. There are lots of skinny, mangy dogs and cats wandering the streets, and it’s obvious when you see the ones hanging around the establishments that care for them.

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We went to the capitol building on the western edge of Old Havana which was built in the 1920s when the relationship with the US was very strong. The building looks quite similar to the US Capitol, although the Cuban government denies any association. Nobody believes that, by the way. Down the street a little bit is one small remnant of the wall that used to enclose the western edge of Old Havana, the other sides protected by water.

Laura and I covered most of Old Havana and walked down one picturesque, charming, slightly crumbling street after another. We ended the walk/chat/tour at a coffee shop and with a selfie!

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I had a couple hours free before my next adventure, a Cuban cooking class. After a little rest, I flagged down a cab and headed west out of Old Havana and towards Verdadero, a couple neighborhoods away. I entered a beautiful old home, met four fellow Americans, and we spent the next few hours together. This whole experience was a such a blast. We each made a mojito one step at a time under the watchful, and slightly intimidating, eye of our Cuban host.

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After loosening up with a mojito or two, we went into the kitchen to learn how to cook rice and beans, plantains, and pork steak. We each were assigned jobs and were carefully monitored by the chef.

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After cooking, we finally got to enjoy the meal. What a great experience to learn how to make these dishes and spend a little time getting to know fellow travelers. As we were wandering out at the end, I decided to join a couple who were on their way to Fabrica de Arte. The city of Havana is filled with art – statues, buildings, murals, music – and the Fabrica is ground zero for the arts. This old oil factory is a beautifully renovated maze of rooms filled with amazing art, dance, theater, and music performance spaces. It’s quite hard to adequately explain but it is an experience not to be missed in Havana! The performances were scheduled late at night, very late, too late, in fact, for me. But there was some great art to see ….

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This beautiful sculpture of Cuba itself is about 12 feet long and consists of a bazillion colored keys glued to a wall.

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And now we know where pencils go when they become too short to write with…..to Cuban sculptors. This amazing piece is all pencils, and as you can see on the right, the inside of the body is red, as it should be. And speaking of art….

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This bronze fella is somebody who I should have learned more about, but the point is the creative and integrative use of art throughout Havana. Life-like statues such as this are scattered around and add a playful element to the city.

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The Almacenes San Jose Artisans Market is a collection of booths in a huge event hall on the Old Havana side of Havana Port. On the second floor is a remarkable display of paintings, drawings, and multimedia works of art. There must be hundreds of artists represented, each with eight to fifteen feet of aisle space to hang their creations. I bought that painting, as well as others, that those two are removing from its frame. I could have spent all day and thousands of dollars in that place!

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On my last afternoon, I joined an unusual and fascinating Airbnb tour called Explore Cuban Life with an Economist. I grabbed a ride to Verdadero in a taxi that was actually a three-wheeler with a roof. Here we are racing down the Malecon without seatbelts but the driver did have a Hogan’s Heroes helmet on.

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There were five of us on the tour which was a practical introduction to the economic and social engineering that has made Cuba what it is today. I’ll share one of the most interesting elements based upon my limited understanding. Castro’s revolution was based upon creating a society where everyone is equal and has access to the basic needs of life. The reality, though, has been that most Cubans can not survive on government salaries, and the ongoing embargo with the US added more difficulty. As a result, the vast majority of Cubans are technically breaking the law by earning money or bringing goods into the country in illegal ways. Everyone knows this and it is mostly ignored. Although, the when the government wants to punish someone who is protesting, they can easily arrest them for breaking these economic laws while allowing non-protesters to go about their business.

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The tour lasted four hours and included walks through several neighborhoods. It was raining which barely dampened the experience. We spent the last two hours with a cousin of the host who opened up her home, and rum, to us. This was the most interesting Airbnb experience that I have had.

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On my last morning in Havana, I returned to El Dandy for breakfast and spent an hour or so wandering around Old Havana. I ended up sitting across the street from this guy who played the guitar like it was a part of his body. I also found myself wondering if he was forced to do this just to make ends meet. This moment reflected the soul and heartache of Cuba, and I can’t wait to go back!