A little about Cuba

hello again !
we're now in Isla Mujeres, an island (= isla) a short ferry trip from Cancun. the weather isn't so great so we get a lot of internet time here ;-) anyway, i think it's time i told you a little about our cuban experience.

although i never flew to a really dangerous place, i must say i've been to some uninviting airports like Jordan or even Prague (on the first time) where the police treat you like you're a criminal. but Cuba was the most uninviting welcome i've ever received. the airport is crowded with police, and they all look at you with a crooked eye. when you go to immigration you must go alone, not in pairs, and when you're finished you must pass behind a door, so if one is arrested and thrown into jail the other one doesn't even know about it;-)

before leaving the modern world and getting into Cuba, we bought two "walkie talkies" to talk between us and with Matan in case we separate and want to find each other again. i got the idea from other people traveling, and we saw them for 21 $USD over at San Salvador arprt (our connection was via Al Salvador). anyway, we decided to get those. little did i know, these are "Strictly Prohibited" in cuba, as well as any navigation devices, and anything used by armies (or civilizations). so, when the Xray showed i have those, i was taken by the police to a full examination. the police officer announced me that my "military devices" are confiscated by the Cuban government, and then they searched my bags for an hour. After that, when I though it’s all over, they started to ask me about my military service, and all sort of annoying questions. To make this long story short, they treated my like an arab getting to natbag. It was unpleasant, and since naama wasn’t with me I could only hoped she was o.k., well, eventually after about 3 hours in the airport they let us go, not before they had me sign on a legal document (in Spanish of course) saying god knows what. After 3 horse we went outside to see that the hurricane in Miami brought rain n cuba too, and we’re in the middle of the storm. And that was our Cuban welcome.

Cuba itself was great. I’ll write some more but I guess you’ll have to wait with most of the stories by the time I get back.

Stay in touch and keep commenting. Love to you all.
yuval