Monday

Got a great seat on the bus this morn! I was running late and booking it to the bus stop, eating breakfast and scattering egg shells along the way. Halfway there, I saw the big red P-1 sitting at the bus stop and, knowing it would be another half hour at least before the next one, I took off in full gallop for about 100 yards. Barely made it, and received a few celebratory claps as the bus took off. There are no words to describe the Havana bus-riding experience…it’s something you just kind of have to do. Raul, one of our professors, says it’s R-rated for profanity, sexual conduct, and violence, which is the most accurate description I can relay. I very rarely get a seat and have become strangely accustomed to being sandwiched between two strangers. Anyway, this morning I had to stand up for the first couple of stops, then low and behold, the lady I was practically straddling stood up to get off. Granted the seat was broken, but what do I have to complain about. And it was a window seat! On the front row! The girl sitting next to me had a “francais” book, so I talked to her a bit about our language endeavors. Had some early morning encouragement as she said she knew English, but I held my own in Spanish the whole time (speaking to a bilingual person is like being in a contest to see who is better at speaking their nonnative language...always gotta be on your A-game). She taught me some French and then got off a few stops later. I never wanted to give up that seat. In conclusion, perhaps I should oversleep more often as motivation to get my daily exercise and avoid being violated on the P-1 before 9am.

On Mondays, all of my classes are at the university: culture of Havana with Rita from 9-11, followed by a 2 hour break before conversation class with Professor Suarez. Usually during the break, I go to this open-aired café for an espresso and homework. Then, for lunch, we follow suit with the other students and grab some little personal cheese pizzas at the newly opened privately owned restaurants. In the past year, the government has loosened control of permits for private sales of food, which has transformed some of the streets around the university. There are quick grab lunches everywhere, all selling more or less the same thing: LOTS of bread, a variety of simple sandwiches, and those delicious little pizzas with homemade bread and hand chopped onions and peppers. No silverware or plates – they just hand over the food. The best part is, a pizza costs 10 Moneda Nacional, equivalent to about 50cents. Grab lunch, maybe some boniato (a variety of sweet potato) chips from the street vendor, then off to the university quad or library steps to eat.

pizza con queso y pimiento:

On this particular day, our beloved pizza place was too full, so we ventured over to a sandwich stand. I’ve had to be incredibly flexible with my vegetarianism, and was thinking I was going to have to choose between the “pan y jamon” (ham sandwich) and the “pan y mayonesa” (mayonnaise sandwich??). Just my luck though, eggs must have been plentiful this week because they had constructed another whole menu of “pan y tortillas,” which, turns out, is an omelet sandwich – even had complimentary tomatoes! Oh Cuba, how I’ll miss your strange, cheap lunches.

el menu: