Social Graces: cuba I: only 45 minutes, but a world away

Buenos Dias! Here is the first part of many featuring my time in Cuba. It was a fabulous experience and I hope the pictures at least capture a glimpse for you. Unfortunately, all the following pictures were taken on my old digital camera. I chose not to take the new Canon solely because I didn't want it confiscated in Cuban customs - as they tend to freely take things for no reason whatsoever.

I will say this overall about our experience with customs and immigration. We had a very successful entrance and exit in Cuba. Better than I expected - I was most nervous about this part. Our visas were waiting for us at the Havana airport within 15 minutes of our arrival and we breezed through customs with no questions asked {mind you we had 20 bags, 10 carry-ons, and 2 guitars!}. This was a huge blessing and I even cried with excitement. We sailed through US customs as well which was another blessing for our team. We were definitely in God's hands.

I'd also like to say what an amazing mission team we had! There were 6 adults/chaperons and 4 high school youth - 3 rambunctious boys and 1 girl. I'm so proud at how our team got along over the 10 days we were traveling. Everyone respected each other which resulted in everyone having fun too. And I miss them now that we are back. Luckily we're having our Mission Trip Debrief meeting/dinner in the next few weeks.

A word on our Team Leader. David. The rock of our group. He lead us faithfully with confidence and energy. Although we had no idea our schedule each day, David did the best to guide us and answer the millions of where and whens we had. He also provided a sense of safety for our team. He made me more proud to be his girlfriend than anyone will ever know. And unbeknownst to me, he spoke quite the Spanish.

Now, on to the picture marathon!

packing party at the micas the saturday before we left

the grillmaster and team member sarah

weighing our bags - we only ended up paying $20 in overages!

david and alli
we had a delicious dinner of grilled kabobs and homemade mac-n-cheese

sunday: after church getting ready to depart

monday: the miami international airport
the girls - elizabeth, ann, alli, sarah, mc, and justine

the boys - david, patrick, mark, and matt

we'll only be gone 10 days ;)

currency exchange - we had to exchange american $ to canadian $ and from there, canadian to cuban covertible pesos once in cuba. no american dollars are exchanged in cuba.

our last american meal @ the airport

me and david
we took a large 737 to havana...a lot bigger than I thought we would be flying on

welcome to havana

allison

we thought we were going to be spending one night in havana and then head out to the country but when we loaded the bus we took straight off for a 4 hour drive to cuatro esquinas

the coaster: our ride in cuba

the scenery was beautiful as we traveled towards cuatro esquinas...we saw 5 beautiful rainbows, a wonderful welcome!

the town of four corners

our residence: this home/church belongs to victoria and her family. the front room acts as the church. this is where we stayed for 7 days. she and her family adapt their home and sleeping arrangements for missionaries to stay there comfortably.

victoria's beautiful garden

cuban zinnias!

one of the girls' rooms...alli and I slept on the double bed with the mosquito net tightly tucked in around us.

this was the cook house located behind the main house. victoria and friends cooked us breakfast and dinner each day in here. this was the most beautiful to me.

although I suffered from quite the language barrier I was able to tell victoria I had the same pothos plant at my house!

more of the back yard - she had a beautiful dual color hibiscus tree

ah, coffee. they made the absolute best coffee from the beans growing in their backyard. sometimes the coffee was already slightly sweetened with natural cane sugar. I pretty much drank my way through cuba - coffee of course! I have not had a satisfying american cup of joe since I've been home!