A Look Back on My Visit Cuba

by Jasmin Ford

Havana, Cuba

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to visit Cuba. My grandfather is Cuban and he always told us stories about Cuba when growing up. He also told us crazy stories about his time as a Merchant Marine but that’s a story for another blog post.  ​

I thoroughly enjoyed my time visiting Cuba and it was an experience like no other. In many ways it was like stepping back in time to a bygone era. However, that’s not to say that the trip was without its challenges. For one, despite the many non-American tourists that have been visiting Cuba for years, the tourism infrastructure isn’t as built up as it is in other tourist destinations. So one has to rely on “collectivo” taxis to get from one place to another in Havana and they can be pricey and hard to come by.  Additionally, traveling from a place where one has 24/7 access to the internet to a place with limited internet access also posed a lot of challenges. Unfortunately, I missed a few events that I planned to attend due to not planning thoroughly enough considering the lack of internet. Overall though the trip was very enriching and I was fortunate to meet some friendly locals whom I shared delicious meals and interesting conversations with. 

Trinidad, Cuba

Lastly, if I’m keeping it real here are a few other highlights/lowlights of my trip: 

• Danced the night away on New Year’s eve 
• Had someone physically thrown out of an establishment for sexually assaulting my friend (the offender was an American behaving badly not a local FYI)
• Got my cellphone stolen and learned it’s important to keep one’s guard up when traveling
• Lost the key to my room at the beach
• Traveled to another city within Cuba without having accommodations booked before getting there

The country left such a great impression on me that I would love to go back. Unfortunately, given the recent policy changes I'm not sure if I will be able to make that a reality any time soon.