I'm going to plead "continuing Cuban mindset" as my excuse for why this post is so late. So many things there were explained away by saying "hey, it's Cuba." This was used as a general explanation for why things were progressing slowly, or why days did not have schedules or itineraries. Things happened when they happened, and there was no way, or need, to rush them. That relaxed mindset followed me home, and I'm trying to hold onto it for as long as possible. The Cuba post simply got Cuba-fied :)
PreparationThe prelude to the trip was a whirlwind day of trying to get everything ready for the trip - I needed to get my hair done & get about a gazillion things that Sharon needed and forgot. While making one of many runs to Shoppers Drug Mart for stuff, I checked my BP and it was very very elevated (Compare: 140 over 102 to my normal 110 over 70). I better have people to take care of this stuff for me when I get married, or I think I might die from the panic.
Mark stayed with me in Whitby Saturday night so I could successfully be home for a bit of mother's day AND get a ride to the airport, with a bonus of being able to swing by the apartment downtown to pick up the shorts that I forgot (and never ended up wearing anyways). We grabbed some lunch and a quick Salsa lesson at Mark's parent's house before one last frantic email from Sharon and consequent run to Shopper's and then: Airport. Airport was awesome, as it consisted of loads of exploring, fun photos taken on conveyor belts, and Tim Hortons. On the plane, I amused myself by smuggling on some rubber snakes, placing them (sneakily) on John's shoulder, and pretending to freak out at the
SNAKES ON A PLANE!! It would have been much funnier if John had heard of the movie.
The Hotel was beautiful. I'd been warned to not expect much as there is a lot of exaggeration in the hotel ratings, but this one definitely exceeded my expectations. We even managed to sneak Rafa in whenever we wanted, and pass off Talon as John's son so that he could eat at the breakfast buffet. View from the hall outside my room (my room's view was almost as nice):
Monday: Going to see a man about a horse.
The first day was spent running wedding errands, which for me was way more interesting and fun than I'd expected. I got to try out my extremely limited Spanish and get to know Rafa a little during wait #1 at La Juridica (I think that's fairly close to what it's actually called). Talked a bit about the hilarities of language barriers (i.e. raisin can be explained by saying the word for grape, and then pretending to shrivel up and die). For some reason (raisin??) the word that stuck with me the most, and I actually was able to use on many occasions was vaca, aka cow. Errand day also included a trip to Cerro (I think - although it may have been central Havana) which is a neighborhood kinda central in Havana, where we attempted to get a printer to do up the Spanish wedding invitations. Which we were ultimately unsuccessful (as were Sharon and Rafa when they tried again the next day), it was my first look at Cuba away from the hotels and relative luxury of Vedado (the embassy district). It was hot, crowded, and beautiful in its faded and dilapidated architecture. Talon (shar's son) had said that everything in Cuba was "old-fashioned," to which Sharon replied that it was just old. So true - I spent much time thinking how beautiful the city could be if there were the resources to fix it up. It didn't help that the city, especially the beautiful buildings lining the Malecon (sea wall) were completely devastated as a result of Hurricane Wilma last October.
After the attempt at the Printer's, we went to Old Havana to 'see a man about a horse' - literally - we were there to book the horse carriages that would take us to the reception following the wedding ceremony. While there, Rafa gave me an attempted lesson in Salsa, and thus became one of the first of many to laugh at my lack of grace and coordination.
The embarrassment was dulled by our trip to "La Bodeguita del Medio," which is the bar that Hemingway used to frequent for his Mojitos. After my mojito, and a few puffs on a communal Cohiba, I was feeling nice and relaxed (and a wee bit high), and spent the next hour or so amiably following the others around and occasionally getting distracted by cats and dogs. Hemingway's bar was followed by another bar, which was also a brewery, and I made a huge mess by trying to pour my beer into Mark's beer. John made a huge mess by trying to play maracas in an attempted form of 'rhythm.'
While we were walking around, a bird pooed on Sharon - I guess it wanted to give her luck for the wedding, but she wasn't very happy. She asked me for some water, at which point I dug around in my bag for the camera - for some reason this didn't make her very happy. After snapping some photos, I gave the water bottle to Rafa, who proceeded to drink from it before using it to clean the poo off of Sharon. I still don't think we did anything wrong - we were just letting the luck soak in ;)
Later, we went out for a late dinner at a pretty awesome Spanish restaurant with Shar, Rafa, John ,Tal, Shar's parents, and Talon managed to sleep through an entire Flamenco performance about 6 feet from our table. It was a huge improvement from our lunch, and basically every other meal, in that it was not a ham and cheese sandwich in any variation (by variation I mean different shaped bun, and flavour added through microwaving the sandwich on a styrofoam plate wrapped in saran wrap - eek). Rafa was saying that unless you're a foreigner, it's very difficult to get any meat that isn't ham or chicken - beef and seafood are only available in restaurants for visitors who have the Cuban convertible pesos to throw around.
Tuesday: Lucky RainThe reason that Mark and I were able to go to Cuba and stay in a nice hotel was partly due to May being the beginning of the rainy season. The majority of Tuesday was spent watching Havana get absolutely drenched, and flooded, by the first major rain of the year. Rafa had told us the day before that it was actually considered to be good luck to go out in the first rain, so, not wanting to jinx Sharon's wedding, Mark, John, Talon and I went out in the rain while we waited for Shar and Rafa to get to the hotel. We managed to get some wedding stuff done(writing out invitations by hand - in Spanish - because the printers could not be found; see "Hey, it's Cuba" above), and set out for some pizza in downtown Havana to celebrate - good times were had by all except for the cab driver:
The day was also the day where of the six younguns (Talon, Me, Mark, John, Sharon, and Rafa), I was the only one not wearing a green shirt. Until I put on a green shirt because I find that sort of stuff funny. Here are Mark and I, in our green shirts (also note that it is no longer raining, and there is a pretty sunset, yay):
Tuesday night ended up being the craziest, and most intense, of the whole trip. I'll preface this by a quick story about Cuba: everything that can draw money from tourists is controlled by the government, but that doesn't stop other people from trying to get in on it as well. In our case, this mainly applied to cabs. Tourists are supposed to ride around in blue-plated taxis, which are government regulated. However, Rafa would always manage to find us other 'taxis' - which basically were Cubans who had cars and wanted/needed to supplement whatever salary they got from doing their job. We'd be driven around by doctors, their lab coats hanging on the back of the driver's seat, because for them, a 15-20 minute taxi ride would give them about 20-25% of their MONTHLY salary at the hospital. The government, of course, doesn't want this to happen, because that's tourist money that isn't going into the communal pot (it's a huge issue - Rafa's dad even had to explain to the police why he had Sharon's parents in his car when he was driving them to the wedding). So, possibly due to having so many flooded roads, there were a ton of police out on Tuesday night. Our unlicensed cab got pulled over when we were on the way to the club - and everyone was tense because the driver could get a fine for having foreigners in the car, AND we had too many passengers. It ended up not being a huge deal - I bent over double so that I wasn't visible, (thus getting rid of the whitest face, and getting us down to a legal number of passengers), and the driver gave the policeman a small bribe (the bribing is another huge issue - most minor criminal offences are really just ways for the police to make some money in bribes). Everything seemed ok (despite what my racing heart was telling me) until the driver noticed that the policeman was following us - possibly to fine us for being in the cab - so a minor car chase ensued and the cop decided to not follow any more. I think it's safe to say that I will never get into a life of crime - that little brush was enough to completely freak me out.
This little bit of craziness was all in an attempt for Rafa to take us to a Cuban club - Cafe Cantante - which was a sweaty good time. I think we got laughed at a bit for being shitty dancers, which can only be expected from a nation where rhythm is in the blood. Notice the green shirts, and the girl in the white who danced with John only long enough to realize he could never be adequately taught how to salsa (I'd changed by this point):
Apparently, Rafa wasn't upset by the episode on the way to the club, so he booked us an unlicensed taxi for the way home too. And again, we got pulled over by the police. This time, the driver couldn't pay him off, and was stuck with an 85 peso ticket (which still only works out to about $3 Canadian). After we drove off from that, the car broke down. I guess the one upside to having very few cars imported into, or made in the country, is that everyone who has a car is an expert mechanic, because you basically have to make it last a lifetime. Here's us waiting by the curb at 4am while the driver fixed whatever it was that sounded like a gunshot when it broke:
Wednesday: Hey, it's CubaDespite having been out till 4:30 am, Sharon promised us she'd be at the hotel nice and early because we had to go to the judiciary so that she and Rafa could arrange for their official marriage documents. Sharon ended up being her usual 2 hours late anyways, but, since the (I think) lawyer understood the concept of Cuba time, there was only a small bit of disapproval at the lateness (also - roads were still a bit flooded, a good excuse). John ended up staying with Gail and Dave (sharon's parents), and they went with Talon to Old Havana while we did this legal stuff. While waiting for the almost officially-marrieds, Mark and I walked down the two block to the ocean, look at how studly he is:
And here is the happy couple, with a paper that says they're married:
Since everyone else had gone to Old Havana, we went to El Morro , which is a fortress that had been built on the opposite side of Havana's harbour in 1589 to protect the city (from pirates? MAYBE!). I think I can honestly say that it's the oldest man-made place that I've ever been to - very cool (despite that it had been built with blowing things up in mind). While Tuesday had been dominated by crazy rains, Wednesday gave us crazy winds - waves were splashing over some of the fortress walls, which were at least 30 feet above the ocean. We walked through the fortress, lounged on the walls that were usually 2-3 metres wide (whoever built the fortress really built it to last), and I got my first bit of sun when it finally came out.
Nothing brings out the macho like an artillery cannon.
I think people pee in here:
We will protect Havana with our dazzling smiles:
At some point later in the night, we met up with everyone else and headed over to Rafa's mom's house, where I officially fell in love with Cuba. Rafa's mom and his grandmother have to be two of the nicest people in the entire world. I fell in love with their warmth, their house, their dogs, everything. I had some of the greatest coffee ever, thanks to Rafa's grandmother. Sharon sure ended up with fantastic additions to her family! I got to go up on the roof and see Havana at night - absolutely beautiful. We didn't stay out too late, as we were getting pretty wiped after Tuesday's craziness, so we called it an early night back at the hotel.
Thursday: Hola Sun!So, after Tuesday's rain, and the wind on Wednesday, we got to get some sun from Thursday (lucky for us, since it was our only possible beach day). There aren't really any beaches in Havana - it's very much a port town, and almost all of the waterfront is surrounded by large sea walls. We went to Playa Santa Maria, which is a beach about 30 minutes driving from the city and spent four wonderful hours lounging, swimming, napping, and drinking rum out of coconuts (easily the best thing ever). In general, I think the beach was quite possibly the best thing ever to do on the day before a wedding - who needs strippers?
Sun-safe, with love:
The Beach Boys, in various degrees of bronzedness:
The Beach Beauties - can you spot the one with the SPF 45 on?:
Post-Coconut Rum tomfoolery:
Aww, aren't they pretty?:
We got back to the hotel around fiveish, and lounged around while Sharon and Rafa went home to get changed and have a bit of time to themselves before dinner. This leads me to the other official theme of Cuba: "Donde esta Sharon?" We were always wondering where she was. In this case, we wondered till 10, then left a note and took Talon out for pizza, which ended up being a bizarre reminder of home:
We thoroughly enjoyed this happily masochistic hot dog:
When we got back to the Hotel, we saw that Sharon had added to the note about 5 minutes after we left, and said that they'd go check out the pizza places - of course they went to the ones in Havana rather than meeting us at the one a five minute walk away ;) We never ended up meeting up or taking the sunrise photos we were considering. But hey - it's Cuba, no point in worrying over things like that!
Friday: OMG SHARON GETS MARRIED!Friday was the one day that actually started on time - not even Sharon would be late for her wedding. She came over fairly early in the morning with Rafa's dad and his girlfriend, who was the official beautifier. She helped me give myself a French manicure, and did pretty things to Sharon's hair. Mark, John, Talon played legos and relaxed while we stressed about whether our untested silicone bras would hold us up all day. We got to La Maison at exactly the right time, with Sharon looking completely beautiful and only a little bit stressed out. The place was beautiful - it was a large mansion in the embassy district (same area as our hotel),and it turned out to be grand central station for weddings, complete with a guy directing weddings - although there was no danger of anyone challenging that Sharon and Rafa were the most beautiful of the day :) Despite having spent the whole morning helping Sharon get ready, when she walked into the room I almost lost it - I was so happy for her and she looked so beautiful. Anyone who's ever heard me talk about Sharon will know that I hold her in the highest esteem, and seeing her so happy was so wonderful. It was here that she signed the official documents, and we had a nice lunch with the families followed by a little bit of lounging and relaxing.
Signing the papers:
Lunch, with a sleepy Talon:
Rafa begins a life of servitude:
I manage to steal her away for a few photos:
While she may appear to be tiny, Sharon is actually made of lead, which is why it takes 8 strapping men and a little guy to hold her up:
After the ceremony, Sharon and Rafa took a carriage from La Maison to Old Havana. We were meeting them halfway there, which left us a bit of time to go to the hotel and change into more casual clothes for the reception. John, Gail, Dave, Mark and I were to get our carriage at Hotel Nacional - Havana's most beautiful and famous hotel, and we had a bit of time there before Sharon's carriage caught up with us so we wandered around, had a mojito, and took advantage of the beautiful day for a photo (you can see El Morro in the background, across the water):
From the hotel, we rode in our carriage behind Sharon, Rafa, and Talon to Old Havana. The carriage ride was beautiful - the sun was making everything golden. Here are some photos from the ride, and some from the square in Old Havana:
The carriages then took us to the reception in Cerro, where we danced the night away and didn't eat cake (there was a lovely cake, however, the eating of it happened on Saturday). We also threw maple leaf confetti at the newlyweds (and later sprinkled their bed with it :D).
Sharon and Rafa during their first dance, to Elvis Presley's "Fools Rush In":
Sharon dancing with her smaller man:
Some crazy Canadians singing drinking songs (Sharon will always have friends in low places, although I don't anticipate her having to be in those places herself!):
This picture captures the essence of Sharon and Rafa perfectly - he's saying don't worry about the little things, you know what really matters, and she's thinking "yeah, you're right." There's just so much playful love there:
Yeah, we're all pretty happy:
John, Talon, Mark and I all had a sleepover that night so that Sharon and Rafa could enjoy their first official night as husband and wife, likely running up the world's largest hot water bill for the shower. All in all, it was an amazing day. If engineering doesn't work out for Rafa when he comes to Canada, I think he could have a very successful career as a wedding planner!
Saturday: The Day we get to RelaxSaturday was probably the definition of leisurely - we had absolutely nothing to worry about anymore. We relaxed at the hotel all morning while waiting for Sharon and Rafa - Mark and I brought them 'room service' (read: ham and cheese sandwiches assembled at our breakfast buffet, haha), John pretended to be Talon's dad at the buffet - hooray scams! We had a full-blown lego war, and swam around the pool (I haven't really talked about it, but I spent tons of time in that pool every day during the week - it was beautiful). After we packed up our stuff, John, Sharon, Rafa, Mark and I went to this jungley place, which was insanely beautiful:
John and I are FIERCE:
Next, we were off to the market where I spent the largest portion of my Cuba money on souvenirs. It was pretty cool, although there were a lot of little scams - usually someone trading you a 3 peso note with Che Guevara on it for one of our 3 peso notes, which is essentially getting 10 cents and giving $4. John was asked if he'd give someone money for school - I guess the guy was hoping that John wouldn't know that school in Cuba is free, although John was far to smart and interested in Cuban culture to fall for that. After the market, we went to Rafa's mom's house for dinner - in COCO TAXIS!!!!
This is a Coco taxi - and see, it goes fast! YOU CAN TELL BY THE BLUR LINES!:
This is a Coco Taxi Car Chase:
Ok, so imagine you're in a big Fiberglas shell, and you're weaving in and out of traffic, and you're going really fast, and you're taking tons of pictures and laughing really hard and the driver probably thinks you're so insane that it isn't even worth the fare he'll be getting to have to listen to the insanity:
This is your friends in a Coco Taxi, who are just not as fast and awesome as you are (just ignore that this photo is taken from behind them. We sooo passed them right after):
So, the whole point of the Coco Taxis (other than for awesomness sake alone) is that they took us to Rafa's neighborhood so we could have dinner at his mom's place. Again with the niceness, she, her friend, and her mom cooked us a delicious Cuban feast and made us feel completely at home - my eyes actually welled up when we left, they are completely wonderful people and I really hope that I'll get to see them again in the not too distant future.
Walking through Rafa's neighborhood:
Hoooo!
Mmmmm! There were Tamales, Rice with beans, breaded pork, veggies - So yummy!
Out on the porch with Rafa's mom:
playing with Chula on the roof:
Salsa lessons in the street:
Talon with his new friends:
The view from the roof:
It was heartbreakingly beautiful:
After a bit of a sad good bye to Rafa's family, we went to our last event - a party at El Morro. Now, El Morro is the fortress I was talking about earlier - a heritage site more than twice as old as my country. To be there, partying, was completely surreal. They'd set up a huge stage, served alcohol, paid off the police - it was completely bizarre but I feel very lucky to have experienced it (apparently, Cubans are very protective of these parties - they don't want it to become another thing for the foreigners - so yeah, we would never have been there or found out about it without Raf). It was a great end to a fantastic trip!
No Caption required:
Saying our goodbyes:
After El Morro, we headed back to the hotel (thankfully, there were no more run ins with the police or broken-down cars), did the last bit of packing and had one last wander, and then caught our 4am shuttle to the airport, where we ate one last ham and cheese sandwich.
