more Havana
Back at the dance studio, another 2 hours of casino (Cuban salsa, named after the dance halls where it originated in the 1950s). I’m starting to get it, and got a bunch of thumbs up, Eso!s (that’s it!) and Agua!s (water?? or also good, or that’s it, apparently) and even a few I love you Lynn!s from Ahmed.
Back at the casa again, we sat on the deck for a bit of sun. It was kind of cool and cloudy for the first couple of days after the tornado, but now it’s perfect sunny weather.
We had lunch at a cheap corner bar, with a great salsa band, and locals dancing in the streets, attracting a crowd of cruise ship tourists take pictures.
After that we wandered around in old Havana, checking out Plaza Vieja, and seeing a little of the seedier side of the area just a block off the main street we are staying on. By seedier I just mean more run down. Crime is almost unheard of here, but scam artists abound. Kind hearted foreigners are at a disadvantage so I’m safe. 🙂
Tonight, the dance school has a salsa night at Industria 8 (many places are just named for their street address). We got there early to score a table in this small basement space. Some amazing dancing was going on, I felt totally inadequate. Everyone here is well-dressed, some flashing serious gold jewellery. Some of the music was so fast that I was just stomping around trying to keep up. Later in the night some of the instructors took the stage to lead kizomba, bachata, and salsa steps.
Off to school again in the morning. This time Ahmed lamented “Where has my Lynn gone?” but I quickly got back on track to keep him happy and singing while we danced.
After recharging on the patio back at the casa, the girls walked to the Inglaterra Hotel nearby where we purchases tickets to the Tropicana show that night ($85 US). After lunch on a street more local than touristy, we checked out the National Theatre where their world class ballet company is performing Swan Lake, and the massive Capitol building.
We freshened up and got into our “formal” attire as advised by the ticket seller, and set off for the 80 year old Tropicana show. Loads of tour buses were arriving from cruise ships, we felt underdressed and relatively young. At our second level table in the open air venue we got a glass of sparkly wine, a bottle of rum with coke and ice, and peanuts to get us through the show. The dancers are uniformly tall and slim, girls and guys, one who jumped backwards over another guy’s head while doing splits. The best part was the fantastic outfits with headgear to match. Amazing show!
