little break at home

i'm at home for a few days, taking a break.  before i left for this trip i never realized how much work traveling is and that i would need a break.  its so nice to be around people i know and not have to go to bars to find people to talk to (which i will do anyway but for slightly different purpose), and just relax.  hot showers are so nice.  i missed them so much.

i went to cleveland for thanksgiving and that was a nice break too, although the cold was almost more than i wanted to deal with.  i did get to see snow, though, its been several years.

after being on the road then sick for 2 weeks, i didn't want to do much of anything at my parents house but sit and recover.  we ate alot, hit the malls a couple times, actually worked out in a gym, hung with my sisters and niece, watched football.  downtown cleveland with the relatives was nice, too, visiting the westside market, little italy, sorta like travelling still.  but alot less effort.

my flights from cleveland to kauai took almost 20 hours total time.  the first flight wasn't bad but the second made me realize a huge difference between central american airlines and united states airlines.  i've never been annoyed by anyone flying (or even on a bus) in central america, even when it was so crowded i was smashed between sweaty, stinky people.

on my flight from chicago to los angeles i got stuck in the middle seat.  there was a fat woman in a track suit with her stuff spread out all over my seat and when i said 'excuse me', she looked up and said 'what.'  like i'd be talking to her for any other reason than that she was taking up my seat.  it took close to 5 minutes with me blocking the aisle for her to gather all of the things she had unpacked, put them back in her bags, then heft herself out of her seat to allow me to sit.  i've seen alot of strange things in central america but i've never quite run across people who are absolutely ridiculous, like this woman.

i wanted to sleep through this flight but the six seats in front and behind me held 4 small children so i had almost 5 hours to watch this absurd fat woman.

the first thing she did was pull out several small bags of nuts and eat them as quickly as she could.  she dropped one on the floor and spent a couple minutes trying to reach it without getting out of her seat but her belly was too big to reach.  but she wouldn't stand up so she kept rocking herself back and forth to get some momentum up to reach the food.  didn't work.  eventually she had to find places to stash the dozen small items she had laid out on her lap and on her tray table so she could get up and eat more.

the attendants hadn't reached us yet with the drinks so she then spent the next 15 minutes looking at the pictures in 10 different tabloids.  can't miss anything that the celebrities are doing.

and finally it was time to get a drink.  she ordered a coffee and received a couple creams and sugars.  she called back the attendant twice for more supplies, and ended up putting six creams and six sugars in her small cup of coffee.  and made such a mess that it looked like the coffee bar in starbucks after the morning rush.

it had been so long since i encountered anyone who was so amazingly ridiculous i wasn't sure whether to be offended by my fellow american or to laugh at such a perfect stereotype of us.

after watching her for 4 more hours doing random stupid crap, and listening to all the children scream, i got to los angeles and bought an upgrade to first class for my last flight to lihue.  i ended up having 2 first class seats to lounge across and a nonstop flow of pinot grigio.  or, it was nonstop until i drank it all, then i had to switch.

the attendant brought me one of those small, cute wine glasses and kept running back and forth to keep it filled.  finally she brought me a giant tumbler so she didn't have to make so many trips.  i got pretty drunk.

and that brings up the question, which is the worse stereotype, the fat woman in coach, or the lazy drunk girl in first class?  i realized after a while that i didn't have alot of room to laugh at anyone else.  but then again, i was drunk, so i did.

managua

made it to managua today.  feeling way better than the last time i was here.

i can't really be too angry about being sick but what a waste of time.  i spent 2 weeks in my room sleeping.  couldn't really ask for a better detox program, though, its been 2 weeks since i've had a drink.  i tried a monkey lala last nite in celebration of leaving roatan again and after a few sips john had to practically carry me home.  my poor body is defenseless against toxins right now, i'll need to ease into party mode a little at a time.

seems like a good time to leave roatan again.  there have been 2 prominent murders in the last month, one being yesterday.  a canadian tourist was shot while leaving a bar he really had no business going to and the canadian government is going nuts.  although a good portion of non-hondurans on roatan are originally from canada, the media is portraying the island as a lawless, desperate place that no one should visit.  which will really only make crime worse since tourism is the only industry i could see.

yesterday's death was much closer to home for the islanders, it was a long time resident named vern, the boat owner and captain of the catamaran that did daily runs to utila.  i even watched him loading his boat for the last trip when i was going out to scuba.

later yesterday we heard that his catamaran was found in a bay and he was dead on board, shot and stabbed.  his crew had jumped overboard.  i haven't heard if they found the guys or why this happened, but i do know that this is more than the government will tolerate, especially 2 days before elections.  the cobras are gonna come down and kick some ass.

i hope they get their shit together because roatan is a beautiful, fun place that everyone should be able to enjoy.

finally, nicaragua

update...

i've gotten some emails and messages about whether i died or maybe was in jail somewhere so i figured i should update...

i'm still sick.  still sitting in my room watching horrible crime dramas, rerun over and over.  my world is filled with serial killers and arsonists.  i make it outside once in a while to make sure that there are normal people around.

almost through with my drugs and looking forward to getting back on the road soon.  and eating.  that'll be nice.  2 weeks of barely any food and my crash diet has barely touched my beer gut.  fairly disappointing.

hope to be somewhere different by this weekend.  cross fingers.

honduran health care

i finally broke down and dragged my sad self to the clinic yesterday.  amoxicilan and vodka weren't working as expected.

had i known what a great experience it would be i wouldn't have spent this week laying in bed, sweating, watching csi reruns.  10 minute $2 cab ride to the clinic at anthony's key resort (the cab driver tried to take me to 'dolly's clinic' with the handpainted rainbows and hearts sign, no thanks) and i was seen in less than a minute after walking in.  5 minutes after that i was getting blood drawn and peeing in a cup, given drugs for nausea and pain, and told to come back in 5 hours for my results.

5 hours of awful tv later i was back in the office with a bacterial infection, thank you cuba.  more drugs and a bill for $42 and done.

no fuss about health insurance, no waiting in hours long lines, totally affordable care.  i still can't eat but i'm pretty sure i'm on the right drugs now and maybe in a couple more days i'll have the desire to do something besides sleep.  best doctors visit ever, i think.

otherwise i'm still glad that i came back to roatan to recover.  the usual folks are still making house calls to make sure i'm alive and i even got a couple drinks from the bar delivered (even though i couldn't drink them, they were very thoughtful).

also still looking forward to getting back to nicaragua, anytime now...

roatan flashback

my last nite in havana was less than perfect.  i figured i could sleep through anything but i was wrong.  even wearing headphones.  i got about 2 hours of sleep before my housemates came home and woke me up.  must have been their honeymoon?  when i finally gave up trying to sleep and went into the bathroom there were used condoms all over the floor, about 2 feet from the garbage can.  really?  after that was another hour of listening to one or both of them violently throwing up.  nice.

finally its 5am and i should get ready for my 6am taxi.  time for coffee but no one is awake as promised and i have no idea where to find anything in their gross kitchen.  i really wish i'd spent time looking at this place before i decided to stay but for one nite i figured there wasn't anything too bad that could happen.

i'm getting ready, 5:10, 5:20, 5:30, no coffee.  5:40 my taxi driver rang the bell so i know its time to wake everyone up.  i wander from room to room yelling 'hola!' until i hear someone mumbling.  they also kept my passport which i very much need to leave.  i'm still kind of sick, no sleep for 2 days now, and in no mood to deal with a grumbly woman who promised me coffee at 5.  so i let the taxi driver talk to her and he brings me coffee.

manuel (the taxi driver) was a godsend for getting me ready and to the airport.  he collected all my things, got my passport and coffee, and got me to my airline.  his car was another classic but if he could buy a new one he would.  cubans aren't allowed to buy new cars (unless they are important people), and even if they could he couldn't afford one if he saved all his tips for years.  he makes exactly what everyone else makes, about 15-20cuc per month.  he does get to keep his tips, though.  

i ended up giving manuel all my extra cucs, i'd already paid about 13% to change dollars, then it would be another 13% to turn them back to dollars, why give the government more of my money?  poor kid had alot to deal with when he came to get me this morning anyway.

as i'm checking in the airline agent gave me the third degree about where i'm going, what i'm doing, when i'm going back to the states.  i couldn't understand what his interest was since i was leaving his country.  but i was so tired i answered all his questions and only later wished i hadn't.  i feel like they're still keeping track of me.

emigration was even worse, stand in front of the camera, don't smile, she checked my passport picture to my face to the picture on her screen about 10 times.  no one has ever cared that i'm leaving their country quite as much as the cubans.

an hour later i'm on the plane feeling (and looking) seriously unwell.  there are 2 german men sitting next to me and they must be supermodels.  each about 6'3", thin, totally hot, one blonde one brown.  and i'm coughing and snotty and realizing that kissing a german supermodel is not a goal that i will accomplish on this leg of my trip.  they got up and moved far away from me.

flight to panama, flight to nicaragua, almost there.  nicaragua is the first country that made me fill out a health questionnaire.  does 'it' have decay?  or a coungh?  not sure what they are but i probably have both.  i checked every box yes but they didn't even look.  at immigration there are posters everywhere about who to call if you feel sick and there's a woman in a white lab coat standing watching everyone.  at this point i'm sure i have a fever and don't want to even try to find a bus to grenada so as i approach this woman i start coughing as loud as i can, maybe she'll cart me off to the hospital and i can finally get a good nite's sleep.

but she doesn't even look at me.  i was actually disappointed when i wasn't rushed off to quarantine.  

next fevery choice was to walk across the street (giant 'best western' sign was the happiest thing i've seen in a while), and fell into bed for 14 hours.

when i woke up i couldn't imagine navigating a country where i haven't been before.  being sick and trying to find my hostel, food, money, anything, didn't sound like fun.  so that's why i'm on roatan again.  within 20 minutes of being here i had my old room back, a credit at the grocery store (since i didn't have any money), and 4 people banging on my door to welcome me back.  over the last 3 days i've slept almost continuously, but haven't gone more than a few hours at a time without someone stopping by to make sure i'm still alive and had food.  the closest thing i found to a family away from home.  feels nice.

today i think i'm finally ok.  the store had a wide selection of antibiotics and i think they're working.  managed to watch part of monday nite football before i went back to bed, that's a good sign.  the intense amount of sugar from 12 days of drinking in cuba is finally leaving my system, and everything should be great now.  maybe i'll dive a couple days here then try nicaragua again.  it looked very pretty both times i flew over it.

bye cuba, you were fun

last of cuba

1 november 2012

i'm back in havana for one nite before i catch my plane to nicaragua.  i'm staying at clara's casa and i'm sort of regretting it.  i knew this was a busy place with lots of people in and out but i didn't expect that several people would be watching tv in different rooms, all with the volume turned up enough to drown out the others.  and i have to share a bathroom with a very loud couple who seem to think i can't understand a word of spanish, even though that's the only language i've spoken in since i've been here.  just one nite, i can handle most anything by now.  the multiple mojitos i drank to celebrate my last day in cuba should help.

trinidad is an amazing little city.  its not very big but there's a lot going on.  i was pretty worn out on the last day with julianna so i declined the invitation to the waterfall and read and napped in the sun.  i sat on the terrace and watched men brick up roofs, women hang clothes to dry, listened to the sounds of the city and just absorbed things.  a fine way to spend a day, i think.  

we had a little trouble turning in our rental car, though, we were told that it was a 45cuc drop off fee if we didn't return to havana but the man in trinidad demanded 90cuc.  that's enough to make us drive the car back, even though julianna wanted to continue east.  i called havana and explained the situation and javier, the man who didn't much like us at the havana agency, assured me that all he has to do is make a 'report' and all will be fine.  we went back to the agency and the man demanded 90cuc and i had to get a little bossy with him.  i told him that we were going to return the car key and 45cuc and there wasn't going to be any further discussion.  we argued for a while, he was very much against calling havana to speak with our agent, but he finally did and they yelled at each other for a while.  at one point i was handed the phone and the havana guy repeated over and over that the other guy wasn't a liar, i was a bit confused.  think he was trying to reassure me but it was just comical.  

it all got worked out but no one was really happy all around, least of all the trinidad agent.  he had to send a couple of emails to people informing them of why we weren't paying 90cuc, and had to be backed up by the agent in havana.  i'm guessing that if his money and reports come out wrong he'd have to come up with the extra 45cuc and that's probably at least 3 months salary for him.  

paperwork is a huge deal here.  in each casa the women keep very detailed ledgers with the borders and amounts paid.  every store and restaurant has a notebook of every item sold and the amount charged.  in the hotels the women fill out multiple forms for every transaction.  and there are people watching everything that's going everywhere.

so i can understand why the trinidad agent was upset but i'm certainly not paying double for a service when i was already quoted a price.

we got the car turned in all right (i was a little worried about all the tar covering the sides, seems that road workers here don't put up signs that say 'wet' or 'do not drive on') but apparently that's common enough and not a word was said.  i still have tar on my legs from leaning against the car and will probably have it until i molt.

after a beer to celebrate successful negotiation julianna noticed that her camera was missing.  poor girl had to go back to the rental agency and speak with our angry friend again to see if she left it in the car.  they had taken the car to the mechanic's house so i'm not sure yet how that turned out.  its either there or it was stolen by the hitchhikers she picked up, all her pictures from her trip, guatemala, panama and cuba, are on it.  cross fingers.

later last nite we went to the steps in the square, there's an outdoor stage and bands and a couple bars and everyone in town (only the 'respectable' cubans allowed) goes to drink and lounge on the stairs and dance.  julianna and i get a bit bored and start to walk around when a woman runs up, its the uk woman from new zeland that we met in maria la gorda.  and five minutes later we see the couple that was there with us too, so we're all back together again.  music, drinks, good nite.  

i opted for a van to havana rather than a bus this morning and it was a mistake.  i got stuck in the awful seat in the middle that feels like you're sitting on a rock, and had to sit next to a very smelly australian man who would not stop talking to me the entire 5 hours.  i had stayed out later last nite thinking i could sleep the whole way and that plan was a total fail.  

all in all though, cuba was an amazing adventure.  i am so grateful that i had someone to travel with, and that we could rent a car rather than take a bus everywhere.  julianna was perhaps a bit more overenthusiastic about seeing everything than i was, i like my lazy days, but we did manage to see almost half of the country.  i only hope that my contraband doesn't get confiscated when i come home.

now i need to prepare for nicaragua.  not having internet whenever i want was really hard in terms of planning my next few weeks but i have the name of a hostel, a basic map, a rudimentary understanding of the bus system, and a plane ticket.  that should be enough for a couple days.

lotsa cuba

30 october 2012

i'm sitting in my casa particular in trinidad, cuba with a cold.  not a real bad one but i've had it for 3 days and its annoying.  all things considered, i've been on the road for 5 months and this is the worst i've gotten, that's pretty good.  i'm going to skip the nite out here and take it easy and try to catch up on the past few days.  last i wrote i was in maria la gorda so let's go back…

the group of us from the bar decided that the hotel food was too awful to eat again so we called the woman that julianna and i met on the side of the road for some home cooking.  she had offered 10cuc per person but the lithuanian woman (i can't begin to pronounce or spell her name) spent a good deal of time telling us about her bargaining skills and i let her loose on the family.  we ended up paying 40cuc for 6 people and it was so worth every peso.  there was the biggest platter of lobster that i've ever seen, without all the little legs and claws and such to dig through.  just mounds of tails cut into pieces.  we couldn't even eat them all.  added to that was beans, bread, rice, plantains, papaya, cucumbers and more.  after we were all stuffed and could barely move was when we saw the rat walking through the rafters.  awesome.  

the last day at the hotel was kinda lazy, walking on the beach, sitting and reading, planning our next drive.  i was in the hotel store looking for road snacks and i noticed juice boxes, looked kinda like they would be chocolate milk.  turns out they were pina coladas.  most amazing thing ever.  the internet was down at the hotel ('its not working, maybe try again in a couple days') and i decided to call home just to check in.  pam had given me an international phone card which of course you can't use in cuba, so i went to the desk to buy a card.  5cuc for 3 minutes.  to anywhere.  same price to call the woman in the next village as it is to call home (and as julianna put it in her best russian voice, 'phone call is phone call').

its been very interesting traveling with a woman who grew up in a communist country, she can explain so much more than i would have picked up on by myself.  she also points out the similarities between present day cuba and the soviet union.  i don't think i've ever considered a lot of things i learned in school but seeing them first hand is very eye opening.  one thing i can tell, though, is that people here seem to live better and be happier than in much of central america.  and its much cleaner.  i'm still a little weirded out by the propaganda everywhere, billboards don't advertise products but instead point out the benefits of socialism and education, giant pictures of che, quotes from fidel and raul.  

we get on the road to jaguey grande and stop by a crocodile farm.  when we pull in the man explains that everyone has gone home for the weekend but we should come back on monday for a tour.  we stand there asking questions and hoping that he'll let us wander around by ourselves (yeah right) when miraculously another worker shows up, we can take a tour.  we walk to pens of 2-3 foot crocs and they are adorable.  there are about 20 or 30 per pen and they're all huddled together in the shade, hardly moving, mouths open, trying to keep cool in the heat.  next stop was the babies and they might even be cuter than the teensy turtles in mexico.  so tiny and skinny and skittering into the water so fast when we approached.  these pens were covered with metal fence material, not so they escape but because the giant birds think its a buffet.  our guide picked one up and i got to pet him and i wanted to take him home more than any kitten or puppy i've ever seen.  

last stop was the adult crocs in the giant fenced pond area.  we walked out onto a platform about 5 feet off the ground and watched them sleep.  pretty uneventful.  i think i expected something a bit more terrifying like in belize but they were nice anyway.  this was the last area where they live until they're released into the nearby lagoons.  the whole time we were at the farm we could hear sheep and goats and we figured that that's what they feed the crocs, but turns out that they were for the workers that live there.  if i were a croc i would sneak back and eat them, but they rarely get free or surprise anyone.  our guide did show us his leg with some pretty mean scars, i guess when they surprise you they mean business.  he offered to take us for a walk along the fence line (in the tall grass) to get a closer look and i went, julianna decided that she liked her legs like they are and stayed on the platform taking video in case anything interesting happened.  a croc blinked a couple times, that's how lazy they were.

we make it to jaguey grande and i can't recall much detail.  stupid cold.  i do remember that every town we've gone through (oh so many) is fairly stressful driving, barely 2 lanes, people everywhere, bikes with 2 or 3 people on them, motorcycles, horses or oxen pulling carts, giant trucks and tractors pulling trailers full of people (country bus system), i'm always a bit stressed out with dodging people and being lost.  our casa particular was owned by a tiny, cute little blond woman.  there wasn't a lot to do in town, we went to dinner and wandered through the streets.  the one thing i wrote down from the nite out was about walking home.  everywhere we've been here people whistle or yell or ask where we're from, no one says hello.  some people seem pleasant to talk to, some seem creepy.  its hard to decide who to chat with and who to ignore.  so we're walking home, its about 9pm and dark, and a man walks up behind us and asks where we're from.  he seems creepy so we don't answer, just keep walking.  he asks again and isn't looking like he's going to leave us alone even though we aren't even acknowledging his presence.  so i do what julianna does in these situations, i say 'russia' in as sinister a way as i can manage, usually makes people go away.  and what does the guy do?  he starts talking to me in russian.  crap.  julianna whispers to me what he's saying and its so funny because its not like i can answer back in russian.  so finally she tells him that i don't want to talk to him (in russian) and he walks away into the bar we're passing.  

the next day we decide to go to cayo santa maria but its a long, long drive.  there is an autopista that goes to various places but for anything interesting or scenic you need the small roads.  there are miles and miles of horrible potholed dirt roads through some of the most beautiful land.  i'm doing all of the driving and julianna is reading our german cuba guide book and finding points of interest to stop at.  our first stop is the bay of pigs, beaches and calm blue water and a cute little hotel with cabanas that instantly made me think of 'dirty dancing', loud cuban music and 50s style everything.  we walk a bit and get back on the road to the bay of pigs memorial museum and che guevera memorial and mausoleum.  

i've never had the feeling of being in the wrong place so strongly in my life.  the bay of pigs museum had displays of weapons of all types but the walls were covered with pictures and newspapers with captions in scary propaganda language.  yankee imperialist cowards.  mercenary yankee bombing.  victim of yankee shrapnel manages to scrawl a last revolutionary message in his own blood.  the yankee mercenaries were well armed but lacked our moral strength.  (on and on until) victory! the armed wing of the revolution punished the mercenary impudence to invade our socialist country.  then came all the messages about the humane treatment for the captured cowards who wouldn't fess up to taking part in the invasion and the miserable moral condition of the yankee murderers.  then there was a wall full of pictures of the martyrs who gave their lives defending their land.  i was quite uncomfortable.  

most places require a passport, every casa and some roadside checkpoints.  the museums only required a name and nationality.  i signed in as a russian to all of them.

next was the che memorial and mausoleum and it was pretty cool.  it covered about 2 city blocks, most of it kind of like a park.  giant statue surrounded by quotes from fidel, flags, sculptures, etc.  the museum had pictures of che from boyhood up until his death, things he owned as a child, pictures from all of his campaigns.  historically, it was amazing.  the mausoleum had the remains of everyone that he died with, there was also an outdoor cemetery with an eternal flame.  no cameras were allowed in any part of this.

we're back on the road to sightsee santa clara before we head to cayo.  some of the roads have long stretches of white substance that i thought was sand, seemed like a weird way to repair the roads.  at one point half the road is covered in white and i'm driving on my side with oncoming traffic in my lane.  rather than drive on the white the other cars and trucks pull to my far right and drive on the dirt rather than on the road and we can't figure out why.  after a while we see men actively raking the white and we stop to ask what it is.  turns out its rice, they're spreading it on the road to dry before they bag it and load it onto their ox carts.  i had sorta driven on some earlier so i asked if its ok to drive on it, they said that it would be better if we didn't.  oops.  

santa clara is a decent sized town but i wasn't real fond of it.  the same crowded streets and stressful driving, we walked around the square and had a horrible lunch.  it seemed kinda sinister to me but i think that's because of the bay of pigs museum making me feel like everyone in this country hated me.  i made julianna leave.

finally after about 10 hours on the road we make it to cayo santa maria.  the last 30 minutes of driving was on a bridge sort of like driving through the florida keys, 2 lanes and nothing but water on either side.  there was an armed checkpoint at the start because cubans aren't allowed there unless they are bussed in to work.  we picked santa maria over another similar place because it would save a couple hours driving.  its newer and doesn't have many hotels but we thought that might mean its less touristy.  no one we spoke with had been there.  the guidebook had 3 hotels listed, all kinda pricey, we picked the cheapest one as our first stop.  

its sunset when we pull into the hotel.  i'm totally frazzled from driving all day and can only think of a couple of beers and bed.  the hotel has one room left but julianna doesn't like it, 'too jungly'.  its a nice room with an ocean view but the waves on this side are kicked up from the hurricane winds and there isn't much beach to walk on.  she doesn't want to stay.  i get a beer to go and we set off in search of the other hotels, knowing that they are about double the price.  we get lost and end up in an outdoor plaza and ask for directions.  we find an all inclusive resort starting at 250cuc per nite.  we ask for directions to another hotel and end up in the plaza again.  we get more directions and find another all inclusive resort for 177cuc, julianna wants to see the room and isn't happy with it.  the first hotel was only 85cuc (we've been paying about 20cuc for our home stays).  we decide to go back to the first place and i'm so happy to finally be done with the day.  but while we were out they rented the room to someone else.  so we have to drive all the way back across the island and pay double.  i wasn't real pleased.  

the hotel was huge and we needed to get to our room by an overly friendly man in a golf cart.  we have 20 minutes until dinner is over (10pm omg i'm so tired) and we grab a drink at the bar and eat.  the hotel was expensive but at least it included booze and food.  internet was 12cuc for half an hour and incredibly slow.  i drank myself back to a good mood.  our bartender was a nice chatty guy, he gets a bus to work (with all the other employees) that takes 2 hours and works 16 hours, then 2 hours home.  the next day he has 4 hours of driving and an 8 hour day.  then 16 again.  he gets one day off per week.  

the next morning we could see our view, and julianna liked it because it was 'jungly'.  whatever.  the beach was crazy, the wind was pushing the waves all the way up the beach and walking on it took a lot of care to not be swept into the angry ocean.  i decided on a couple drinks and a nice nap by one of the several pools.  our nite stay gave us until 3pm to vacate the property and we drank and ate until exactly that time.

we were going to drive to trinidad but we started out pretty late and it would be after dark when we arrived.  one rule i have is that i don't want to drive here after dark, there are far too many people and bikes and animals in the roads and the streets are crazy mazes in the towns and its too much.  we started picking up hitchhikers (women only) to get information during the past couple days and our passenger told us that we shouldn't drive into trinidad at nite so we go to sancti spiritus.  we had only intended on stopping there to have a quick look so we didn't research any places to stay.  its a pretty big city and i'm instantly lost.  there's another car with a couple tourist women so i'm following them, thinking they know where to go, turns out they're lost too.  while we're stopped i spot an older woman on the street with a business card, in cuba that means that she has a house and is out looking for guests.  

we go to her house and its much the same as all the others, it could be my grandmothers house when i was small.  the outsides are very much different but the insides are all 'antiques' and knickknacks and totally old school (one day when i'm not on cold medicine i'll go through my pictures and be a bit more descriptive).  we get some news about the hurricane (after it smashed its way through santiago no one seems to care and its been hard getting news about the us).  there's also a dengue fever outbreak a few towns over.  we walk through the town and the restaurants are all closed, there's only one left to look for and the directions send us to a dark street with lots of shady looking people hanging out.  we see the sign for 'el soltano' but there are no lites anywhere.  julianna asks a man why all the restaurants are closed and he says its not, we're just looking in the wrong place.  there's a doorway next to a house, dark hallway, stairs, and we end up in someone's house.  they lead us to the back and there are 3 tables with settings and 2 more on an outdoor patio overlooking the river.  its a private, underground restaurant and we're the only guests.  friendly family and massive amounts of cheap food.  not great food but more than we could possibly eat. 

there's no real tourist activity in sancti spiritus so its an early nite.  we get up (and have a moderately awful but inexpensive breakfast like we do every morning in our casas) and begin the drive to trinidad.  we stop at a couple of incredible miradors, we get fresh squeezed sugar cane/coconut water at one of them.  trinidad is a small town but totally confusing to drive through.  roads point in all directions, one ways, some closed, we're swamped with people running up to take us to this hotel or that restaurant and its completely intimidating.  i'm driving through hordes of people on cobblestones dodging horses and dogs and its been about 20 years since i had a standard shift car and i'm barely managing to not freak out.  today was the day that i hit my limit for driving in a 3rd world country.  dozens of hours over 9 days and i just want to put on the brake in the middle of the street and run away.  i'm actually looking forward to returning to central america and taking buses.

we're lost and incredibly enough we see the women that were on the bike tour with us.  there's another room in their casa and we load them in the car and they show us the way.  this place is like an antiques museum, i don't think there's anything newer than 1940, everything perfectly clean and in excellent condition.  all i could think of walking through was the field day that antiques roadshow would have here.  poor suckers, they want the american embargo lifted so bad but when americans get here they're going to leave with every valuable old thing the cubans own.  then sell them on ebay for millions of profit.  capitalist pigs.

julianna and i walk to the car rental place to see about turning in the car here for a fee instead of driving back to havana.  i buy a bus ticket on the way.  the grumpy horrible man tells us that its 90cuc for turning in the car in trinidad, when we were told that its 45.  julianna refuses to accept that and the man won't budge, says its in our contract.  he points to a line of illegible writing, and he won't call havana to confirm.  looks like we're driving back to havana, i get my money back from my bus ticket.  when we get home i call havana and simply because we called we get half the fee waived, and if we return it early we can get the day refunded.  we walk back, thinking that we have a great victory ahead with this unpleasant man and the office is closed.  so we have the car for one more day and honestly i don't even want to look at it.  i'll go buy another bus ticket tomorrow.

i only have 2 days left before i go to nicaragua.  cuba has been a fantastic adventure but overwhelming in a lot of ways.  i'm also not used to traveling with someone that has a plan for every moment and i think its made me kind of weary as well.  i don't need to see everything that every place has to offer, some nites just need to be chill with a book, regardless of where i am.  i think she was a little upset with me for not going out to bars tonite but i'm happy to be here alone, finally catching up on my blog (although way too much has happened to do it justice in my scatter brained writing).  everything i've seen over the past 5 months has been amazing but there's nothing i can think of that would make me feel like i'd want to die if i missed it.  and i don't expect that the nitelife in trinidad will make me feel that way.  my last big nite out will be here tomorrow and i'll make sure to do it justice.