3.9 - NO HAY SUS RESERVACION SENIOR

So at last she is on her way

Her excitement she can’t belay

To La Habana she is Bound

A Bandana to be Found

And old family to embrace this day!

Nantucket may never make it to Nowat, which will leave some very happy while others a bit sad.  Only time will tell.

We last found our erstwhile globe trotters boarding Flight 5K 1801 bound for La Habana Cuba…

So we push back from the gate and stop, short of the Jet Way.  What now?  We sit… and sit… and… now one of the two captains – oh yes… it takes Two Captains to get the rowdy bunch on this plane to Cuba -  comes on the intercom with… “Uh, folks, we have to call the office about some paper work we need to fill out so were gonna be a bit late for take off.  I can either pull back to the gate which will make the wait longer, or stay here while we fill out the paperwork.  We'll stay here.”

Paper work??? Is this your first flight… is this and Ooooopppps?  Not getting a warm and fuzzy feeling about this – two captains and all.

So we sit on the ‘Tarmac for another 20 minutes and finally move on to line up for take off a half hour late. Captain #1…or maybe #2 RAMS it to make up for lost time, which he did and after an uneventful flight touched down at Jose Marti International Airport at 11:45.

The cheers and applause that broke out just as we landed said volumes about the emotion onboard.

Watching the Cuban Lady as we touched the soil of her birth for the first time in 54 years, was priceless.  The raw emotion on her face, the damp eyes and clinched jaw told me she was truly overwhelmed.  A sight we don’t often see. 

As we deplaned she just stood and stared with that Fabulous smile, that said, “Home at Last!”  Chucky couldn’t handle it and started getting all verklempt for her.

Then came Passport control – 40 minutes, and of course they could only handle 1 at a time, even if you were married.  You get the usual stare, at you and your passport, then – “Please to stand back, take off your glasses, look at the camera.” As the photograph you, then shuffle more paper, stamp… stamp… STAMP… “Gracias, Welcome to Cuba.”

Now comes security x-ray screening [coming into an airport ?!?] 10 minutes and of course they had to scan Chucky’s carry on with the laptop… 4 times.  After a lot of questions, they realized the strange metal showing through his laptop wasn’t a secret weapon being smuggled into the country, but 2 mini umbrellas in the pull-along-slot.

And THEN there was baggage retrieval. 20 minutes.  Probably the most dysfunctional system yet… 2 belts going different directions with one…. Bag…. At… a… time… trickling out of the chute.  [They’re probably rummaging the ones not shrink wrapped.] That's when we find that everyone ahead of us had started grabbing bags at random and taking them off the belt and leaving them wherever.  We finally round up all of our luggage, only to find that Dear TSA at MIA had busted the TSA Approved Lock [which they are supposed to have a key for] as well as the hasp to rummage through Chucky’s bag.  Probably the artificial Sweetner packets he had flattened out in zip lock bags to save space triggered the search… so the Cuban Lady says.

Now its off to customs but since we have nothing to declare, we breeze through health control and out the doors, forgetting to stop at the Casa de Cambio [money changer] to convert the CAD.

Plane to exit…1+ hours… better than predicted by our “Travel Provider”

The CUZ of Cuba, Niurka and her hubby Ramon are right there with the sign MONTALVO [Family name] and the hugs [abrazos Fuerte] and Kisses [Bessos mucho] go around and we head to retrieve the car.

That’s when Chucky realizes he forgot to get CAD changed to CUC inside arrivals and has to trot all the way to Departures, to stand in line at the Casa de Cambio there.  3 windows - 1 attendant and an American changing $USD3000.  The lady is inspecting each and every bill One… At…  A… Time… some twice.  By the time a second attendant shows up, counts her bank, and handles 2 ahead of me… he’s still waiting for change and she’s still holding up every bill to the light, One… At… A… Time…

CUC’s in hand I look for Ramon who they wouldn’t let wait with me because he didn’t have a flight ticket or passport to show and we then headed to get the car.

And of course… HAVANA/AUTO   does not have our reservation in their system - SAY WHAT!!!! Now we scramble…”maybe it’s that office over there,” says the nice man, pointing to Cuba Cars…when our voucher clearly says HAVANA/AUTO. 

“Wait… that’s not what this says,” protests Chucky pointing to the Voucher.  “No problem… es Mismo [the same].  Yeah… its all government owned and controlled.

AND yes… the nice lady across the hall does have the reservation and all is well again in Chucky’s panic stricken world.   But what she doesn’t have… is a car… yet, maybe in one hour mas o menos [more or less] SAY WHAT?

The reservation was confirmed for 10AM to insure we would be good to go on arrival.  Its now 1:45PM and it will be another hour??? Yeah I guess we are officially on Cuban time.

So we go for a quick sandwich and a Bucanero Fuerte [local beer] next door, and an hour and 40 minutes later, we have a car.  Scratch and dent check around, pictures taken and we load bags.

By now the Tampa bunch has landed, so no need to run into town and come back for them… we'll just cool heels till they get through the arrival gauntlet.

We'll pick up on their arrival, another round-about auto rodeo and the rest of our first day in Cuba in the next post.

Yeah… the Chaos continues, but we’re getting closer to Casa Maria and the Malecon…Stay tuned.

HASTA LUEGO,

Uncle Chuck & The Grinning with Joy To Be Home

Cuban Lady

Drinking Bucanero Beer, Fine Aged Rum and Munching Plantains Chips