On my way to Cuba, I was fortunate enough to be sat next to Don Francisco. Don Francisco is a lovely Spaniard from Sevilla married to a real Cubana, as he noted. On hearing that his wife prefers living in Cuba of all places in the world, I wanted to dig deeper for the reasoning. "Cubans", he says, "are the type of people who will treat you like a relative after having met you twice. There will share with you everything they have, even if sometimes it's not much a lot of the times."
The example of an anecdote further illustrates the strong community spirit. In Sevilla during warm summer nights people used to take their chairs out and chat away with everyone in the neighbourhood. Nobody really does it anymore. Don Francisco only happens to know his neighbours from downstairs.
In Havana, you can ask people when their neighbours are coming back from work in the evening; they are very likely to know the answer. Even if sometimes they live as far as 3 blocks away. There is generally no internet and hardly any decent TV programmes. Socialising within your community is an important aspect of everyday life.
"Don't expect anything exigent from Cuba", he adds. Not things being on time, nor the quantity you get in terms of food or the closure to people, they will give you everything."
On the question of how I should approach Cuba, he advised me: "Leave home your inhibitions. And keep an open mind, let the friendliness come to you."
I took another glance out on the window. My excitement was building up.
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