[:hr]Kuba – taj divni, daleki svijet čija sam vrata potpuno neplanski odlučila odškrinuti kad sam se jednog kišnog popodneva prije tri mjeseca valjala po tepihu sobe u hotelu u kojem sam svirala te se usput dopisivala s najboljom prijateljicom Ivanom. Svirka je bila otkazana zbog kiše pa je WhatsApp standardno gorio od gluposti koje smo pisale. U jednom je trenutku spomenula da taman radi planove za Kubu, pošto ide tamo početkom listopada. Nakon još par poruka, samo je nonšalantno napisala:,,Ej, pa mogla si sa mnom.”
Iako smo već i ranije razgovarale o tome, meni je situacija s poslom i financijama jednostavno bila previše neizvjesna da bi znala di ću tad bit pa je ona već prije sama kupila kartu. Iako se stanje nije puno promijenilo ni kad smo tad razgovarale, ovaj me je put pogodio neki ludi trenutak da sam bez imalo razmišljala napisala: ,,može, idem”. Da ću doista posjetiti Kubu do glave mi je došlo vjerojatno tek nekih sat vremena kasnije kad sam otišla u minus za cijelu jednu povratnu kartu te obavila ostale rutinske sitnice vezane za put. E tad je skakanje po sobi i vrištanje od sreće moglo započeti. Čovječe…Kuba!
Teško mi je bilo bit euforična poslije toga jer sam se vratila u svakodnevnicu, tako da opet nisam mogla zamislit da stvarno idem. To je trajalo sve do onog dana kad sam, mjesec i pol kasnije, sletjela u Havanu i napravila prvih par koraka na latinoameričkom tlu – da, točno tamo gdje ova priča počinje. 🙂
Havana
Kao i kod većine turista, prva nam je postaja bila glavni grad Kube koji je ispunio apsolutno sva očekivanja pa i više od toga. Dio gdje se mota najviše turista je stara Havana (Habana Vieja) i tamo je sve dosta uređenije i skuplje, s tim da se također nudi i puno više sadržaja kao što su svirke i fensi vožnje u onim šarenim kubanskim automobilima. Nama ti razvikani dijelovi nisu bili toliko napeti; puno nam je veći gušt bio lutati onim ”neuglednijim” ulicama u centralnom i drugim dijelovima Havane i vidjeti kako lokalci žive i što rade. Taj je grad zbilja nešto preposebno.
Zgrade u centralnoj Havani mjestimično su oronule, obojane veselim bojama i dosta zgusnute. Recimo, imate ulice od 1000+ brojeva koje uopće nije teško prehodati jer na nekim mjestima doslovno zna biti 15-20 brojeva u 50 metara. Kubanci žive u praktičnim i skromnim stanovima, bez neke prevelike potrebe da se grade katovi za sinove, unučad, praunučad i sve ostale nadolazeće generacije.
Tamo su svi na ulicama, smiju se, druže, razgovaraju, okreću se za ženama, dovikuju sa susjedima preko puta, igraju domine ili samo satima sjede i promatraju svijet oko sebe. Vrata od kuće su im otvorena pa tijekom večernje šetnjice ipak malo zavirite u njihov skromni dom. Kubance ćete obično pronaći okružene obitelji, kako gledaju televiziju, pričaju ili se odmaraju. Ulice odjekuju od dječjeg smijeha i latino ritmova koji praktički trešte iz svako drugog stana. Nitko se ne žali na glasnu muziku, dapače; čak i stariji ne propuštaju priliku da zaplešu nasred ceste kad ih pogodi pjesma. Da, iste one ceste gdje skupa i voze i koračaju pješaci, konji, automobili i svi ostali. Zanimljivo je da prometnih pravila baš i nema, ali se opet nitko na nikoga ne ljuti i nema nervoze ili požurivanja.
Jedna od stvari koja nas je u Havani apsolutno oduševila je Fabrica de Arte. Drugim riječima, ogromnu staru tvornicu ulja pretvorili su u tvornicu umjetnosti i kulture, gdje, recimo, dođete oko 21, uzmete si neki fini koktelčić pa okolo obilazite različite slikarske/fotografske izložbe ili koncerte raznih instrumentalista/vokalnih skupina. Na kraju se večer zaokruži dobrim partyjima, kojih i u ostatku Havane nikako ne manjka. Ipak, klubove baš i nije toliko lako naći pa se svakako valja raspitati kod lokalaca kud se točno može izaći.
Dok smo bile tamo, otišle smo i na jednodnevni izlet u Vinales, dolinu staru 300 milijuna godina u kojoj su nekoć živjeli dinosauri. I stvarno kad ste tamo imate osjećaj kao da ste u Jurskom parku; tropska vegetacija je naprosto brutalna, a doživljaj je svakako bio potpuniji i zbog uragana koji nas je uhvatio i koji je lomio stabla te nas spriječio da obiđemo sve lokacije koje su bile uključene u izlet.
Ipak, uspjele smo vidjeti 120 m dug Mural de la Prehistoria koji daje zanimljiv prikaz obitelji u doba dinosaura – naslikao ga je 1961. kubanski umjetnik Leovigildo Gonzales Morillo, a danas je pod UNESCOVOM zaštitom.
Nakon Havane i doline Vinales, doista ne očekuješ da će te nešto uspjet oborit još više s nogu, kad ono… (nije clickbait, ali nastavak slijedi 😀 )[:en]Cuba – such a wonderful world I’ve spontaneously decided to enter one random day in August 2018. My gig at this fancy hotel I was staying in was canceled because of the weather, so there was really nothing to do but to chit-chat with my friend Ivana on WhatsApp. She was in the middle of sharing her further plans for her dream-coming-true trip to Cuba, when she wrote:,, Hey, you should come with me.”
Deja vu. I heard the same question only a few months ago, but I couldn’t agree on that since I didn’t know if I was going to have a job, gigs or enough money for anything like that. The real-life situation hasn’t changed much when she asked the same question again, but there was something different in my head.
,, Sure. Why not?” I realized I wrote it so carelessly it seemed like someone else did it instead of me. Visiting Skyscanner right after that pushed me into the red, but something still felt right about it. Not just right – it felt incredible! Still, I couldn’t avoid ”perks” of being a freelancer without stabile incomes. It’s when you start feeling tension about making the decision not to work or earn money for a certain period of time.
,, I will take care of it. I’ll try harder and work as much as I can before and after this trip.” I said to myself. That was a promise that kept me calm and got me back on the track of all the excitement and joy of planning this beautiful trip. In other words – yaaay, Cuba!
Havana
It all started month and a half later when I found myself looking through the aeroplane window and wondering how it’s going feel when I step on a different continent for the first time. Yup, first time outside of Europe! Ivana was even more excited since it happened to be her long-standing wish. I will never forget us looking around and absorbing each and every detail of this brand new and completely different world we discovered. We arrived during the night, still finding enough time to make our first short walk in Havana. The hard part was to repress excitement and fall asleep in order to get some rest for a new day when our wandering adventure was about to begin.
The capital was a great start. First, we visited Old Havana (Habana Vieja), where you have live gigs, nice restaurants, hotels, rich offers of fancy oldtimer’s rides, etc. We didn’t spend too much time over there since we’re not that into touristy things.
How Cuban people live? What about their everyday life? What do their homes look like? How do they spend their free time? What about their small local greenmarkets and all other things that are not so popular amongst tourists?
That’s what we wanted to discover and that’s what you can see if you indulge in wandering the dusty streets of central Havana.
Buildings are old and colorful, and apartments are not that big. People in Croatia tend to build large houses in order to provide safety for their kids, grandkids and further generations. Cuban people have small, simple and cozy places. If you are looking for accommodation, I would definitely recommend you to search for casa particular type. That way, you can stay in your own room inside their homes and get to know some local people. Breakfast was our favorite part of that experience. We would get tropical fruits, eggs, homemade jam, butter, and freshly squeezed juice. Our host family was always there with us, giving us warmest smiles and sharing some useful tips and information about Havana.
That’s the way Cuban people are –warm, nice and incredibly passionate about everything they do. Seeing life on the streets was our favorite part. It’s not unusual to see grown-ups playing social games on a table they took out in front of the building, nor people of all ages dancing salsa in the middle of the street, to Latin rhythms coming out of some random apartment. No one complains about music and imperfect things Western people often react badly to. Traffic, for example. Pedestrians, cats, dogs, horses, cars, bikes – they all share the same roads and you won’t see anyone complaining, yelling or madly honking. They will slow down and ask you something like ”hey, beautiful lady, do you need a taxi or, maybe, a boyfriend”, though. We found it funny. There was nothing rude or intimidating about that – it’s just a part of their culture.
Another thing that blew us away in Havana was Fabrica de Arte. They reconstructed the old oil factory into space where you can, for example, come at 9 pm, buy yourself a cocktail and start a tour. Each room you visit has its own story. Some contain great art exhibitions, while others are more about music. We mixed it up and ended listening to some great performances and famous Cuban artists. To make the night even better, you can always stay at some after-arts-comes-fun parties.
While in Havana, we took a daily trip to Vinales. That’s a 300 million years old valley with tropical vegetation, astonishing mountains, and a hurricane that stopped us from visiting caves we supposed to see within that tour. With all that and the fact that dinosaurs used to live there, it was easy to feel like we were in Jurassic Park.
Mural de la Prehistoria was also something that took our breath away. It’s a 120 meters long mural, painted in 1961. by Cuban artist Leovigildo Gonzales Morillo, and also a part of UNESCO world heritage since 1999.
Yes, Havana and Vinales were outstanding, but we couldn’t even imagine that the best was just about to come. 🙂
(to be continued)[:]
