My day of air travel out of Cuba began early this morning as I struggled to keep my eyes open in the endless airport check-in line. I had trouble discerning when I was awake and when I was asleep on my first flight, a groggy state of mind that wasn’t helped when I opened the […] Read More…
Monthly Archives April 2007
Almost Gone 13th
As I get ready to leave Cuba, it’s time to say goodbye to some things I didn’t write about, but which nevertheless I’m fond of. I’ll be leaving behind Roberto’s fantastic Creole cooking. The dinners he produced with a seemingly inherited ability to create amazing flavours were always a high point of my day. I […] Read More…
Welcome to First Grade 9th
There’s an American building along the waterfront in Havana, possibly the only one in all of Cuba with the exception of those at Guantanamo Bay. Named the “Building of American Interests”, it’s where Cubans go for any US-related business — for example, to wade through the long process of getting a visa if a relative […] Read More…
A Different Way to Unwind 9th
Here’s something new I learnt tonight: take a Cuban coffee — strong, black, served in a tiny espresso mug — mix in some cream rum, add a cigar, sit out on the balcony of a house overlooking the street, and relax and talk. You now have a combination that’s a lot tastier than a night […] Read More…
Risk Factor 9th
Every place has its stories of muggings and murdered hitchhikers. The difficulty when traveling is in separating hype from reality in any given place. After talking with some fellow travelers, I decided to test my feeling that China was relatively safe. I left a 1 yuan banknote conspicuously sticking out of my back pocket to […] Read More…
Maonia 9th
It’s funny that Chairman Dictator Mao is on all the banknotes in China. Germany didn’t put Hitler on the Deutschmark, and Chile doesn’t plaster Pinochet on its peso. I wonder at what point China will be forced to take an honest look at its past.It’s also interesting that plenty of tourists seem to buy Mao’s […] Read More…
Blog Dump 9th
I’ve been in India a week, and now that I can kick back at my parent’s house I’ve been slack with the blog. I meant to post these next few before leaving China, but things slipped.Perhaps to demonstrate their opposition to oppression, the Chinese population uses its freedom to smoke to the fullest. Education on […] Read More…
Missed Adventures in Cuisine 2nd
I’ve had enough of illnesses and disasters on this trip, so I’ve been a little more cautious in the things I’ve chosen to eat while in China. In more adventerous days I might have tried “strange flavour meat from lamb’s head,” but not anymore. Other choice menu items I have restrained myself from eating include […] Read More…