I always reach the Airport a little earlier than normal, mainly to have a nice breakfast at the Flagship Lounge of the American Airlines.
730 am An Uber driver by the name of Bogart picks me up, a Venezuelan migrant who has been here for four years. You could see the culture of migration in his talk, and of course, no one prepares for them for the way I talk about Cuba..
Miami residents of Cuban ancestry has painted such a ghastly picture of Cuba, that an average person is surprised to hear about the wonderful life we have in Cuba, of course, people go to different countries in search of what suits them. He does not see the irony of a biomedical engineer from Venezuela working as an Uber driver in Miami but questions why an Australian Endocrinologist goes to Cuba. I have to remind him that some of the best Endocrinologists in Latin America are in Cuba..
He was a pleasant man, he said he inherited that name Bogart (there is a character Bogart in Miguel Street by VS Naipaul). His grandmother had been a traveller, a higgler who went abroad and bought and sold them at home in Venezuela. She fell in love with a Negrito-Coolie from Trinidad in his words, a light skinned man with straight hair, he said. Here he is, recently retired from his job at Hialeah Hospital driving for Uber full time.
As I got out of the car at Gate 8 which is the special gate for Cuban departures, someone brought a pushcart and offered to me, i was to do the same thing at the end of my usage of it, and I was grateful as I was travelling to Cuba, bien cargado, with three checked in bags and two carry ons! Pleasures of travelling from a richer to a poorer country!
(having FF status with American Airlines, I am always upgraded on this short flight to Havana, and it is appreciated)
(the omelette at the Flagship Lounge in Miami)
breakfast before boarding the flight at the Flagship Lounge
I was in Seat 1B of an American Flight to Havana, a short 52 minutes with a flight full of people burdened with gifts to their family members. The flight attendants, unlike the usual Grandmothers on International flights, were very pleasant and eager to do their jobs and both of them had clipped American accents when they spoke.
The immigration hall was near empty, and within a few minutes I was on the other side and the customs were manned by tertiary students who were on work-study duty? They were only slightly interested and showed little interest, except for the fact that I was carrying so much electronics: Laptop, iPad, kindle reader, two external drives, lots of cables.. once i told them what I was carrying, they lost interest in me.
Before you know it, you are over the island of Cuba.
(I do not like to travel with luggage but visits to Cuba are different, as one has to bring so many things with you, for yourself and others)
Now comes the most nervous part of returning to Cuba. The luggage carousel.. every one is stretching their neck out for their luggage, like me they all have multiple luggage items, bultos, huge bags wrapped in plastics and all trying to see whether their bags are coming out. A good hour is allocated to it in my mind and I anxiously look for Customs Markings . AX . SP etc on the luggage tag..
As soon as I leave the Immigration and arrive at the customs hall.. doctors and nurses are waiting to take the Health form from you and I usually tell them . Like you I am also an Internationalist .. a Doctor without Borders.. They laugh, one of them even had his uniform from his time in Brasil.
I had already called my Cuban Sister and she told me that she was lighting a candle (she believes in Santeria), and that she wanted me to hold my hands with fingers crossed and everything would be fine. To my greatest surprise, none of my three bags, full of food stuff, decorations and plates and cutlery and glasses.. no, the Cuban Customs were not interested in me or the Spirits had protected me.
My driver, Yodel, let me know that he was waiting for me and as soon as I was out of the Customs, he came by in his 1964 Peugeot and the air-conditioning still worked.. He is effervescent and each time has something cute to say. Extremely affectionate and helpful, as we reached home, he carried the two bags each weighing 50 lbs each up one stairs to my flat, where my Cuban sister had organized everything, spic and span, with such a welcoming atmosphere.
She showed me that she had managed to get Lobsters, Shrimps, Lamb and Chicken for the dinner parties I had been planning. Cubans in the Island have to be some of the most affectionate people on earth.
I am Jewish, my sister in Miami is very catholic and my cuban sister believes in Santeria syncretism. So we organized a tree and i lit in up with the bulbs i had brought with me and then adorned the Ochun spirit with easy to awake bells.. and she had hung my Israeli flags across the mirror which now had blue lights to gently illuminate the Jewish Soul!
So good to be back, and I look forward to intense exchange of information, talks about medicine and anthropology, lots of good food, drinking as much wine as I can: I brought my favourite wines with me and I would need to buy more as I plan to have a large dinner party for about 15/16 people: Lobster Black Beans Rice and the best icecream in the world from the Cuban Icecream shop!
(everything was already bought and ready, thanks to my Cuban sister)
Now to take a little rest...
in the little house in vedado..
730 am An Uber driver by the name of Bogart picks me up, a Venezuelan migrant who has been here for four years. You could see the culture of migration in his talk, and of course, no one prepares for them for the way I talk about Cuba..
Miami residents of Cuban ancestry has painted such a ghastly picture of Cuba, that an average person is surprised to hear about the wonderful life we have in Cuba, of course, people go to different countries in search of what suits them. He does not see the irony of a biomedical engineer from Venezuela working as an Uber driver in Miami but questions why an Australian Endocrinologist goes to Cuba. I have to remind him that some of the best Endocrinologists in Latin America are in Cuba..
He was a pleasant man, he said he inherited that name Bogart (there is a character Bogart in Miguel Street by VS Naipaul). His grandmother had been a traveller, a higgler who went abroad and bought and sold them at home in Venezuela. She fell in love with a Negrito-Coolie from Trinidad in his words, a light skinned man with straight hair, he said. Here he is, recently retired from his job at Hialeah Hospital driving for Uber full time.
As I got out of the car at Gate 8 which is the special gate for Cuban departures, someone brought a pushcart and offered to me, i was to do the same thing at the end of my usage of it, and I was grateful as I was travelling to Cuba, bien cargado, with three checked in bags and two carry ons! Pleasures of travelling from a richer to a poorer country!
I was in Seat 1B of an American Flight to Havana, a short 52 minutes with a flight full of people burdened with gifts to their family members. The flight attendants, unlike the usual Grandmothers on International flights, were very pleasant and eager to do their jobs and both of them had clipped American accents when they spoke.
The immigration hall was near empty, and within a few minutes I was on the other side and the customs were manned by tertiary students who were on work-study duty? They were only slightly interested and showed little interest, except for the fact that I was carrying so much electronics: Laptop, iPad, kindle reader, two external drives, lots of cables.. once i told them what I was carrying, they lost interest in me.
Now comes the most nervous part of returning to Cuba. The luggage carousel.. every one is stretching their neck out for their luggage, like me they all have multiple luggage items, bultos, huge bags wrapped in plastics and all trying to see whether their bags are coming out. A good hour is allocated to it in my mind and I anxiously look for Customs Markings . AX . SP etc on the luggage tag..
As soon as I leave the Immigration and arrive at the customs hall.. doctors and nurses are waiting to take the Health form from you and I usually tell them . Like you I am also an Internationalist .. a Doctor without Borders.. They laugh, one of them even had his uniform from his time in Brasil.
I had already called my Cuban Sister and she told me that she was lighting a candle (she believes in Santeria), and that she wanted me to hold my hands with fingers crossed and everything would be fine. To my greatest surprise, none of my three bags, full of food stuff, decorations and plates and cutlery and glasses.. no, the Cuban Customs were not interested in me or the Spirits had protected me.
My driver, Yodel, let me know that he was waiting for me and as soon as I was out of the Customs, he came by in his 1964 Peugeot and the air-conditioning still worked.. He is effervescent and each time has something cute to say. Extremely affectionate and helpful, as we reached home, he carried the two bags each weighing 50 lbs each up one stairs to my flat, where my Cuban sister had organized everything, spic and span, with such a welcoming atmosphere.
She showed me that she had managed to get Lobsters, Shrimps, Lamb and Chicken for the dinner parties I had been planning. Cubans in the Island have to be some of the most affectionate people on earth.
I am Jewish, my sister in Miami is very catholic and my cuban sister believes in Santeria syncretism. So we organized a tree and i lit in up with the bulbs i had brought with me and then adorned the Ochun spirit with easy to awake bells.. and she had hung my Israeli flags across the mirror which now had blue lights to gently illuminate the Jewish Soul!
So good to be back, and I look forward to intense exchange of information, talks about medicine and anthropology, lots of good food, drinking as much wine as I can: I brought my favourite wines with me and I would need to buy more as I plan to have a large dinner party for about 15/16 people: Lobster Black Beans Rice and the best icecream in the world from the Cuban Icecream shop!
