I got off the bus in Holguin thinking maybe I would wait a minute or 2 before I took a taxi to my prearranged Casa. I walked by someone who said something to me in spanish. I politely explained I did not understand and he pulled out a paper with my name in huge letters. I started to laugh. My casa had changed plans and I had been redirected to a new casa.
The neighbours in Holguin spoke very well and they took me to a remote beach on the northern coast. I rented a car and they drove. They arranged a lunch with a local friend. The area had been devestated by the hurricanes and people were living in literally' tin shacks pieced together by bits of wood and scraps. They made rice and beans, plantains and fresh fried white fish. It was unbelieveable. Just outside the ¨window- the rest of the family was cleaning the daily catch.
Unfortunately, I have been sunburned. The water was torquoise, the sand silky soft and the beach as remote as you could get.
I walked up the hill in Holguin to make my pilgramage and the start of the Romerios de Mayo. 459 steep steps. I saw a man doing it with a bottle of rum on his head. Somewhere along the way, I hurt my foot.
Last night I decided to ditch on my 2 previous paid for nights in Holguin and get the bus to Santiago. Now, I am sore from the burn and sore from the foot. I am trying to get a flight back to Havana, but it may not be possible. I may have to get the bus-see another entry.
Santiago is in the Sierra Mountains and where the revolution started. It´s busy and lots of motorbikes swarm the narrow streets. It reminds me of Morocco and Barcelona rolled into one. Lots and lots of jinteros, or hustlers. I have been harassed for something nearly a dozen time in the 3 hrs I have been here.
The weather is perfect and I´m loving my time despite the hurts..
xoJill
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