I’m in Mexico City on the night before my flight to Havana, Cuba. My bag is packed with strange items that can’t be had very easily in Cuba; tea, energy bars, cough drops, aspirin, shampoo, and lots of pirated DVDs from Mexico City’s streets. I have spent the last couple of days trying to set up this blog and take care of my Internet needs before I go through withdrawal in Cuba. It’s not that there is no Internet, but the barriers to access it are so high that it becomes difficult to use.
Being cut off from the rest of the world is both a terrible thing and a blessing. Without the distraction of the Internet or news, one has to focus on what is right in front of you. I’m hoping all of the students make their flights, don’t get detained in places like Nicaragua, and find each other in Cancun. It’s always a strange transition from Cancun to Havana. It’s like seeing the future of Havana in all its decadent disgusting glory in the tourist mecca that Cancun has become.
But for now, Havana is still Havana. And we will get to experience this tropical surrealism for a few months in the midst of a moment of dramatic and excruciatingly slow change.