Rolling with the Waves

I have arrived in Cuba and all is wonderful! I was up at 2 am making my way through the snow to the airport in Edmonton. Seems like I left just in time. When I got to the airport I was happy to hear that I had been approved for my humanitarian exemption so that meant that all 4 of my suitcases (including 10 kg of medical supplies) were all OK to board the plane. I had a very uneventful flight down to Varadero and enjoyed the inflight movie though I fell asleep for probably half of it “A flash of Genius” I think it was called.

I was very excited to see the beautiful white beaches of Cuba, the green palm trees, and the blue sky as we landed. All that was left to do was to make it through security.

• Step 1: The imgration agent: Zero problems! PASS
• Step 2: The x-ray machine for my carry-on. MUCHOS PROBLEMAS! The x-ray machine picked up on the fact I was carrying DVD players. So I was told to collect ALL my luggage and proceed to the lady over there… FAILED
• Step 3: Collecting the luggage. All 4 bags made it perfectly intact. PASS
• Step 4: Go see the lady… She said “OK so you have two DVD players, you need to pay for one” however she said all this in Spanish. I was very happy and though Whooo Hoooo PASS. *ENGH* NO! Then she said “How long are you staying for?” I replied “1 week”. She then looked at my FOUR bags and said I had to go to the inspection room! FAILED.
• STEP 5: Start talking about DVD players and then we find the medical supplies. After talking to 6 people from customs I was cleared and they understood that I was taking the supplies to a hospital free of charge. PASS
  and I got an extra PASS. We were so busy talking about the medicine that I didn’t have to pay for the DVD player! PASS!

So when I finally left the airport Liuba y Jose-Angel were waiting for me. I was so happy to see them. Then I found out how much the Canadian-Cuban exchange rate was! OUCH! I completlye forgot about that in my travel plans. I am being robbed everytime I touch money it is horrible like 60% . However I am very happy to be here with my friends and we have a great rental car from the airport for 7 days.

TODAY WAS A GREAT DAY on the beach! I had so much fun battleing the MASSIVE waves. Gotta go now, if I can I will update! Ciao! Thanks for the messages.

Love,

Neil