by Louise Schutte

Created on: August 10, 2009

During the drive from Juan Roberto Gomez airport, I felt almost voyeuristic glaring out the window of my air conditioned shuttle bus at the locals in their various modes of transportation around the Veradero peninsula. Many traveled on bicycles or late model American made cars. The only thing older than the cars appeared to be the buildings for which time had seemingly not stood still.

At my modest resort, I sat on the edge of my private pool with one foot swaying in the water as the sun gently caressed my back. The stresses of my work life back home dissipated as I sat admiring the beauty of my private villa. It was hard to believe that this was the same yellow star that shines down on me in Canada. There I am grateful for the 20+ Celsius days. Here, I welcomed any breeze that may blow in off the Atlantic Ocean.

To truly discover Cuba, however, I knew that I needed to leave the resort. The two hour drive to Havana from my hotel, the Villa Cuba, was an experience in itself. Though many of the buildings were run down in neighboring communities, like Mantanzas, the laundry that hung from the windows was sparkling white, and there was no litter cluttering the highway. Outside of this city of bridges, was a breathtaking view from the tallest bridge, 112 m high. Turkey vultures circled the sky in this lush valley dotted with palm trees

Arriving in Havana, Cuba's capital city of 2.2 million people, I was unprepared for the street hustlers. Jinteros were people I had read about but I was not ready for them either financially or emotionally. Luckily, the hair "scrunchies" that I handed out went over quite well. Thankfully, even a Santera priestess was impressed with her newly acquired possessions.

Outside of the cigar museum, one man, claiming he was a journalist told us that we Canadians are very fortunate to have our freedom. How could anyone argue with him - we are; free andfortunate. Ironically, this chance encounter took place across from a former presidential palace, and kitty corner to the Granma memorial. Granma was the boat that carried 82 fighters to the island in 1956, including Fidel Castro, and the beloved former Argentinean, Che Guevara.

Across from the spectacular Capitol building is Central Park which is known as a "hot corner" in Havana where men argue vehemently about Cuba's national pastime - baseball. A tour of any one of Havana's 65 cigar factories can be quite enlightening. Upon being in the sweltering heat of this multi-level building,

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