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Unpacking Life and Culture in Cuba
A week dancing with sensualism, salsa, and socialist pride
In the era of Instagram stories and Facebook feeds, texting a photo to a friend felt like mailing a good old-fashioned postcard.
But so goes time spent in Cuba, an escape back to analog and slowness, rich with human warmth and sensual heat. Meet here at this time, OK? Punching buttons on T9 mobile keyboards. Extended families congregating on fold-out chairs, kids playing fútbol while classic salsa music echoes down from apartments above. A time capsule of different decades all in one swirling, sweltering package.
I made it a point to forego my social media life in Cuba. From candy-colored classic cars to romantic plazas and swaying palms, it was stuff of Instagram legends. But I let myself have an unlisted slice of journey to myself. Living and thriving in the present moment, the Cuban way of life.
Havana was an explosion of color and sound. The city center, Habana Vieja, was stuff of old Las Vegas elegance. But on other alleyways, gorgeous colonial housing looked close to collapsing. Doorless homes revealed live wires dangling just above your head. At a contrast, old legendary bars like El Floridita boast the birthplace of daiquiris and regulars like Hemingway. It’s somewhere Frank Sinatra might have reclined…
