Feb 19, Going Around Cerro

 The next day, we were up late and were lucky enough to have our first breakfast at the Villa. It is fruit, juice, toast and eggs.  A nice way to start the day.  The guy serving us is an 18-year-old boy who plays baseball. We talked about my time in Little League and Aaron Judge. Everyone at the villa seems interested in us, as I assume they do not get many 20-year-olds staying here. We got into contact with the Villa manager and had her call the money exchanger guy to help us out.  I have never met such a friendly person who works in the black market. Usually, you don’t invite those guys into your house to talk with your guests.  We were up so late we just set off to explore the neighbourhood, walking to a pretty church we could see in the distance.  Just walking around, I am far from incognito, although I blend in quite a bit better than my time in Africa.  We are staying in an untouristic area where it is mostly just working class people around.  Hardly anyone speaks English, and it has really been forcing us to keep up with our Spanish.  After walking around the neighbourhood, we returned and decided to swim in the pool.  The Villa manager was stunned that we would want to go swimming at 23 degrees as she said it was much too cold for anyone to get in the water since it was winter.  I said lady, you don’t understand where I’ve come from. I don’t have the ability to be picky about what water I get to swim in.  I was somehow still exhausted after sleeping 12 hours, so I returned to the room for a nap.  We went out for dinner at an “Italian” restaurant, where I ordered an enchilada that came with everything but the tortilla.  We have learned the words for all the different types of meat and are getting down the different dishes as well.  We stopped on the way back for a slice of cake from a street vendor and then bought some water and wafers.  Overall, it was a more positive first full day in Havana, knowing that we had enough currency to last for a week.  It was an early night before we headed to Old Town for our tour the next day. 

Inside the Villa

Another View From On Top Of the Villa