Cuba 7th July

HAVANA

Ok, so i have had the weirdest night ever. I will first start from this morning. I woke in Trinidad, about 6:30 to catch my bus at 7:30, I walked to the bus station, only a five minute walk from where i was staying, i had 34 peso to my name and the second i got to the bus station i had to pay 1 peso to the guy who puts my bag under the bus, i don't know why but thats what you have to do. That left me with 33 peso i had half a pack of salada biscuits and one bottle of water. The bus trip was 5 hrs and i was trying to make my food and water last as long as i could. Once the bus arrive in Havana i had it all worked out on the map where i needed to walk to get to the embassy. The map didn't really describe it was going to be hilly tho. It was actually a nice walk, i came to this big park area where a river crosses the middle of the city, also up further was a baseball game being played, i decided to stop and rest for a while whilst i watched. I continued walking in the heat of the midday sun, i was trying not to work up a sweat because i would then need more water sounds stupid but i can't really spare a cent. I finally arrived at the Embassy after a 2 and a half hour walk with my big bag and camera bag, i already guessed it wouldn't be open, but lucky there was a male and female guard there, the female spoke english so i explained my whole situation and she said that they will be able to help me out tomorrow. I then walked on to try and find a place nearby that wouldn't cost a lot but the Embassy is in the nicest part of Havana. I walked into a few hotels but they were between 70 - 100 peso a night or higher so i then became a little frustrated with what to do, i was tired hungry thirsty and only had 33 peso. The final hotel i walked into, one of the guys could kind of understand english so i decided to try and explain i had lost my wallet and only had $33 peso. after a while of trying to do sign language and all sorts of other things on a note pad they finally understood i had lost my wallet and had little money. He then decided to leave the desk and help me find somewhere to stay. He must have known an old lady on the corner, because he took me straight there asking her if she would let me stay haha. She took me to the room and showed me and said that i could stay for 35 peso . I asked the guy to explain i only had 30, she agreed to that and gave me a key. She then later brought me a bar of soap which i thought was nice, or maybe she was just hinting….! Once i was all settled in it was around 

5 pm. I had a shower then went for a walk with my 3 peso i had left to find a place to get some water, i ended up on a corner where earlier i had asked some guys for directions to the Embassy. They where telling me where the supermarket was so i could get some water. I stood there for a while talking to them, there was also a guy talking with them that was from Mexico on holidays in Cuba for two weeks. I was saying how i had lost my wallet and was heading to the embassy in the morning because all i had was 3 peso. The mexican said to me "are you heading down this way" (back towards my hotel because the supermarkets weren't open anyway) so i said yeah i actually am. We started walking, he spoke perfect English and insisted on taking me out for dinner. I said no no don't be silly you can't do that. As we kept walking he was then telling me about all the stories how he had helped people when they have been stuck, also how he was stuck once in the Cuban airport not being able to pay for a flight because he had US bank cards (he lived in Miami for a few years), and some guys just brought him a flight and he paid them back when arriving. By this stage we had been talking out the front of where i am staying for about 30 mins. He said to me "come on you must be hungry, you should never nock back someones help when it is offered". I forgot to mention his name was Max and he was 64 years old. So off we went for a walk to find somewhere for dinner. Max has been coming to Cuba for 22 years and knew the place as good as any tour guide. We were walking for a while when we noticed down one of the streets there was hundreds of people, so we went for a closer look, there was a big comedy show going on at the big theatre. We kept walking and later found a nice restaurant that he had been to before, after sitting down Max ordered us both a beer, telling me i can have anything on the menu. I didn't want to do that, i already felt bad enough, so i just ordered a basic priced meal. It's funny i was thinking there and then that when i left Trinidad on the bus this morning with 33 peso and having no where to stay, i would never have thought i would be drinking a beer at a fancy restaurant with a 64 year old Mexican guy laughing and telling stories. It was so random and unexpected, it was actually a lot of fun, he had lots of stories, having lived everywhere throughout the US working as a waiter for all kinds of rich people. After our meals we sat and talked for about 2 hours he was smoking a fat cigar, i was just drinking a bottle of water. I appreciated it so much and it really meant a lot to me. If anyone is ever stuck in my situation i would love to do it for them, because i personally know how good it felt for me. Max was a very honest kind man with a big heart..  

I couldn't thank him enough for what he did to help me out.