In Havana!

Hi Guys,

I’m here safely in Havana and sitting in the lounge of the Melia Cohiba, a 5- star hotel that’s about a 15 minute walk from our residence.

Everything has gone smoothly. We boarded the plane at noon and landed just after 2. Apparently AU Abroad mixed up and Cuba is actually on the Eastern Time Zone, not one hour ahead. So same time as the east coast, no problems. Both of my bags arrived safely and they had free carts at the baggage claim (one beauty of socialism). One snag, my camera broke when it fell out of my hand during the security check in Miami, so I’ll buy another one ASAP. We got in 2 vans and drove about 20 minutes to our residence.

Our house is absolutely gorgeous. It’s a two floor yellow and white cement house with two balconies. We take up the whole second floor and Cate and I are staying in the first room from the stairs, which is also the closest to the second floor balcony. NICE! We also somehow scored the biggest room, with three twin beds, a huge closet and an opening above that which is big enough to stand up in and fit a mattress (aka…our new fort) We have a nice bathroom too just for our room, although it has no hot water at the moment. I got all unpacked and am starting to settle in.

It was about 80 degrees here today with a nice wind, so it was pretty much perfect. It’s cooled off to about 70 since then, which will be good for sleeping.

We walked to the Malecon tonight, which is the boardwalk that runs along the ocean and all the way into downtown Havana. The waves are HUGE! I’m talking like splashing 10 feet above the break wall big. Tomorrow we have a tour around the University and go through their official reception for new students. There is a statue called the Alma Mater at the top of the steps that lead into the University and each freshman class walks up the stairs together at the start of their schooling there. They are doing the same for us, so we and UNC will be officially initiated by tomorrow at 10. After that its some meetings and free time.

Cuba is almost exactly how its pictured in guide books. Colorful, old cars and lots of communist slogans painted all over. The buildings are in a bit of disrepair, but people seem thrive in the constant invention of new ways to fix things up. There are also a bunch of new cars, but most are state-owned taxis. I’ll send pictures as soon as I can.

The food has been amazing so far. We have family style dinners at our residence. Tonight was 4 courses: 1.) bread, papaya, and guava 2.) black beans and rice 3.) Turkey and Potatoes 4.) Custard with cinnamon. It was amazing and I’m convinced that I’ll gain 15 pounds within the next month!

Anyway, its been a good start to the adventure and I’ll try to get on asap to give you more updates of the first week! Love you!

~Jen