When everything you've been told isn't enough.

When I was a teenager and travelling the World seemed somenthing so 'far fetched as going to Mars, I ran into the movie Dirty Dancing in its modern version. I saw it more times than I can remember thanks to cable TV and its endless replays.

Since then, that was more or less my mental picture of Cuba.

Many years later, by the end of 2016, when I already liked taking planes as much as I could, my dad wanted to make a trip. He thought that Cuba was a good idea and invited me. Before accepting, I asked him what was the plan: if being in an all inclusive bubble in Varadero or actually knowing Cuba. Thankfully, my dad is my kind of people so I had my first task ahead: search for plane tickets. And then, the time of my favorite task came: researching about places and make a first plan. There were lots of days watching videos, reading blogs and talking to people that had already gone. With all the information I gathered I made this file that I'm proud of and besides taking it with me the whole trip, I added contact information of local places to stay and I have passed it along to anyone that has asked for my help before going to La Isla Bonita. After that, there was only one thing to do, pack and go.

That was the practical preparation for the trip.

There's no possible preparation for the rest. The thing was that I had (and I kinda still do) an important mess in my head about Cuba that is impossible to explain. Where I come from, there are only two ways of seeing it, it's Wonderland for some people while it's hell itself for others. And, of course it's not any of those, like any other country in the World. But, what I can tel you, is that nothing I saw, read, or was told beforehand was able to paint the picture of what I found as soon as I set foot in Cuba.

And that was how some February midnight I landed in Havana while my head couldn't stop playing Manu Chao's song.

*You can read the original version of this post here.