Arrived in Havana a couple of days ago. It’s a really nice city. I had expected to be hassled pretty much everywhere, but it’s not like that at all. The people are really friendly, the food is good and the mojitos are sensational. Off to Santa Clara tomorrow if I can manage to communicate 
Now they want to ban HIV positive migrants…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6551245.stm
Truly this is a bumper news day!
Every time Australia’s government is in the news these days I can’t help but to be astounded.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6551003.stm
Once again, in an election year the “tough on
“the government has dismissed these concerns, saying public safety overrides the issue of free speech“
That sounds suspiciously like something that might be said in regimes like China, North Korea or the former Soviet Union. Put in the context of previous actions such as sedition laws put in place last year, and Australia is progressively sliding down a very slippery slope. I wonder whether movies such as Paradise Now (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445620/) which try to make the viewer understand the background to terrorism will also be pulled from the shelves.
Another set of laws that erodes civil rights, is essentially unenforceable and is just plain stupid – anybody heard of a thing called the internet?
After weeks of procrastinating, I finally booked a casa particular in Havana. So that’s now my first bit of accomodation sorted. Flights, tourist visa, accomodation, vaccines, a couple of salsa lessons up my sleeve and language lessons on the iPod. I am officially ready for cohibas, mohitos and a really great holiday.
I recommend casaparticular.org – you can search by city, book online and there’s photos of all the apartments along with a marker of the place on a map. Great to get your bearings.
As my first step, I set a goal to learn enough Spanish by the 20th of April to get by on my solo trip to Cuba. Holiday grade language is pretty straight forward, right? “Una cerveza por favor!”
I got a copy of Michel Thomas Spanish, and it’s going really well. The pace is pretty quick and I have had to do the same lessons a few times, but I think I’m getting the hang of it. I’ve done Pimsleur courses in the past and highly recommend them.
I’m looking forward to giving it a proper go once I get there. I fully expect to get a few laughs, but it’s amazing how much more helpful people are when you make the effort to speak to them in their native tongue. I picked up a few phrases in French before I went to Paris, and just that along with a smile and some creative sign language got me through just nicely.
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