Quick Cuba Check In

Greetings from Cuba!

I'm seriously paying $10 an hour for this junk, so it's gotta be quick.  Cuba?  So far, so good.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on who you are and how you look at it), I haven't been seduced by a desperately handsome, rum-drinking, cigar-smoking, curly haired Cuban who's the color of cafe con leche with dark fire in his eyes.  I have, however, been accosted by an old man on the street who swore he'd have more game if he were younger, and I've been the object of a few catcalls and overly appreciative looks.  But that's Cuba.

Research-wise?  Some appreciable progress.  I'm just trying to take it all in stride.  I did have an awesome conversation with a Cuban guy who's an editor at one of the premier publishing houses and cultural centers in Havana, Casa de las Americas.  He wrote an article in the New York Times just a couple of months ago that I actually used for my history research paper.  I was a little starstruck.

I have lots of stories to tell, but that'll have to wait until I can access "fast" internet a bit more cheaply.  Caramba.  Keep me in your thoughts and prayers!

Here's to a New Adventure

I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm getting virtually no sleep tonight.

So much of my lack of readiness is my fault.  I totally waited until the last minute on so many things, just miscalculating how much time I thought I'd have to do what I needed to do.  It sort of sucks, and, in light of an email exchange I had a few hours ago, kind of embarrassing.

But here I am, a few hours before I'm supposed to be at the Delta check-in desk to be a part-time assistant with a brand new study abroad program.  I'm also going to do "research."  Yeah, I have a plan.  I have copies of a nice little typed up Spanish version of my proposal to aid me if any scholars or curators ask what my research is about, but what does that even mean?  I have no idea what doing research in Cuba even looks like, and I have no idea if any of my plans will even come close to being carried out.  Let's face it: I don't really know what I'm doing, and Cuban Spanish is going to take me for a ride.  My gringa patchwork of Latin American accent and occasionally European Spanish phrasings and vocabulary is not going to do me any favors.  I've been told by a few that I have a Cuban "look."  So, maybe if I keep my mouth shut, keep calm and carry on, I might be able to get by a little more easily.  Worth a try.

I should be thankful I have this opportunity, and I am.  I know it's going to be fun.  I know I'm going to have to be patient.  I know it's going to be different.  I know lots of funny things will happen.  I know lots of frustrating things will happen.  I'm sure I'll have a lot of stories to tell when I get back.

I want to take everything in stride. I want to open myself up to the unexpected. I want to discover something I didn't anticipate.

For the past few weeks, I've been surrounded by the feeling that something is about to change.  As a friend said, "Like you open up your front door and everything looks different."  There are a few things that are shifting around in my life right now in a state of indeterminacy, a sense of something-but-not-quite.  Maybe Cuba will give me at least a fleeting glance at what that something is.

Here's to a new adventure.

Hummus and Nutella as Metaphor or Sam-I-Am

"I don't really like hummus."
"What??"
"I don't know . . . I just don't like the taste of it."
"Okay . . . whatever.  I love it.  You're missing out."
"Well, I'll just try a little bit." (tastes some) "Wow, this is actually pretty good."
"What did I tell you?  The kind you had before must've not been very good."
"I guess not.  I really like this."

"I've never actually had Nutella."
"What??  You're crazy.  You HAVE to have some."
"Okay, I guess I'll try it.  You're always raving about it." (tastes some) "Oh, my God. Where has this been all my life?"
"See, what did I tell you?"
"This is SO good.  Oh, wow.  I'm going to seriously have to get some of this."

Moral of the story?  Try it.  You might like it.

Freedom! (Not for long.)

I'm back.

Yes, like the phoenix, I have at last arisen from my ashes, reborn.

I crawled into my final papers cocoon as fat, grubby caterpillar and emerged a hauntingly beautiful, lavender-speckled butterfly.

I am free.

I have loosed the shackles of paperwritingdom.  I have slain the fire-breathing dragon of coursework.

Seriously, barring any game-changing events, I am done with taking classes forever.  Next up, comprehensive exams, prospectus approval, and then, writing that dissertation, baby!  Oh, and I'll start teaching in the fall.

And now . . . a new adventure.  Cuba.

I thought I was going to have time to breathe between turning in my final papers on Tuesday and when I leave for Cuba on Sunday.  But here we are, early, early Friday morning and I've barely started packing.  And my vegetable babies are getting overrun with weeds.

What am I going to do?  I have to get my life together.  And quick.  I'm going to Cuba and I'm not ready.

And, I'm trying not to let it get me off track, but I really need God to stage an intervention in my personal life right now.  (Sigh.)  I must leave it in His hands.

Tomorrow afternoon, I'm going to see my family before I head off to la isla.

By the by, la isla is basically devoid of internet.  So, I'll try to post one more time before I go off the grid.