Cuba, 2012, Day One

I awoke early on Thursday, April 12, 2012 to begin the long awaited trip to our sister church in Pedro Betacourt. I had planned to go some time ago, but my schedule would not permit it. Finally the day had arrived.

I have to admit, having only been out of the country one other time, to Costa Rica, and the political nature for Cuba, I was a little apprehensive, but knew that others had gone before me and had a good experience, so I was trusting in their encouragement and in God's protection.

We arrived at Tampa International Airport by 10 a.m. for a 1 p.m. flight. Checking our bags and getting our boarding passes was rather simple and we waited for other team members to arrive and do the same. Their were 7 on our team, 4 pastors and 3 lay people. Once everyone was through the ticketing process, we made our way to the terminal, went through security, had lunch and boarded the plane.

The flight was about an hour and fifteen minutes, straight from Tampa to Havana. The Jose' Marti airport, named after an 1800's poet and writer, was very small, though rather modern. We met our travel agent, who provided us our visas, went through immigration, which took our picture, and then made our way to the baggage claim. It took some time for our baggage to come off the plane, and we then exited the terminal. There was a large crowd waiting for their loved ones, which we made our way through, finding those who had come to take us to the Methodist Center in Havana. The parking lot was filled with 1950's era American cars, along with what looked like old Toyotas or Datsuns, but were probably Russian made. The air smelled of diesel fuel and cigarette smoke. (Funny how you get used to people not smoking indoors, etc. at home, but find those restrictions in the States non-existent, reminding you of how things were not too long ago.)

We boarded our van and headed to the Methodist Center. A nice building that houses the Bishop's office and an upstairs dormitory awaited us. We settled in our rooms and then returned downstairs to have lunch. I won't go into great detail about the meals. Suffice it to say, beans and rice was a regular event, along with some chicken or pork, fresh fruit (usually guava, mango, or banana) and potato, followed by Cuban coffee (espresso with 2 sugars!) or Cafe' con Leche (Coffee with warm milk - delicious!)

We sat in a lounge (salon, they called it) and discussed our trip, then I went back to the room to rest. Soon it was time to eat again and after another great meal, I retired for the night, knowing that the trip to Matanzas and then to Pedro Betancourt on Friday would make for a long day.