I just remembered this little anecdote from when Mom, Kate, and I were going back to the airport to pick up their luggage. First of all, this was an illegal taxi, meaning the they didn't have an official license from the state. Not a big deal, because whatev it's a car and they were going to take us there for 12 CUC (normally its about a 20 CUC ride). He then tries to charge us 15, but I yelled for a while and we settled on 13 CUC.
But we're talking to the cab driver and his friend who is along for the ride about various topics, and ended up talking about Obama. I think it was Mom who said that she hopes the situation with Cuba will change under Obama. Our new friend then says (in English) "Obama will do great things, but he can't fix our problems," meaning that the change has to come from within. I thought that this was such an interesting insight. Most people here try to blame their situation on the U.S. And while I do think that the Cuban lifestyle will improve dramatically when (because I do think it will happen) the embargo is lifted, the restrictions on their lifestyle are imposed by their own government.
So after this talk, the driver tells me in Spanish that he's going to have to let us out before the airport because he's illegal. And I'm like sure dude no problem, as long as we're super close and in a well lit area and such. He's like oh yeah, sure fine, and then proceeds to stop in the middle of a highway to let us out. I was like "No way, José" although I don't think his name was José. He gets all mad but then proceeds to drive into the airport and everything was fine! So we gave him a tip and he was happy and I was happy that we made some friends and Mom and Kate were happy because they got their luggage with a side of excitement.
I think that's all I have to say about that for now.
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i love sides of excitement
ReplyDeletetotal dash of excitement. so much so that chels was stressed out that we weren't going to actually get our bags and she was left in suspense on the other side of the wall (not allowed to come in with us because.. well, there really wasn't a good reason, but that's about as good a reason you can find in havana) but anyway, back to chels, so she bought an ice cream cone to abate her heightened state of intensity and then we got them so quickly that i was able to enjoy part of the ice cream on the cab ride back. yay for adventures.
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