buena vista social club...?

This Saturday I woke up for breakfast (served until 9 a.m.) then went back to bed. It's becoming a custom, I suppose. I was going to go the embassy grocery with my friends. It's not a store just for ambassadors but its frequented by them because it's huge and has a large selection. Most of it unaffordable to normal Cubans. But I missed the group that was going together so instead I started walking towards the Hotel Nacional.

I heard that the Buena Vista Social Club was going to be playing there so I went to check about that. The band would start at 9, and the cover was 25CUC. But worth it as far as I was concerned, to see them at such a beautiful hotel. See the following pics.


september 4

I finally got a group of people together to go, and all but two were able to fit in one of the cabs. But as soon as we got to the hotel, we learned that the program had been cancelled. Apparently the lead singer was sick and had no voice. They'll be playing this Saturday though, so we'll see them then hopefully. I'm realizing that this is Cuba: it might not happen, so you just always go with the flow. So, we decided to stay at the hotel a little longer and got really got mojitos and chilled on the beautiful veranda outside.

After that a big group of us went out to this gay club that my friend Alejandro took us to. It happens every Saturday at the Teatro Nacional, which we can walk to. Pretty smoky, crowded, and sweaty. The live music started when we got there around 1 am, and didn't stop until 2:30. At that point the real music started, and people began dancing. Alejandro told me it goes until 5-6 am. Fun, a little intimidating, so glad I had my posse with me. Funny to show up with a crowd of straight Sarah Lawrence girls at a gay club in Havana. Wait, did I just say "straight Sarah Lawrence girls"? Sorry. Impossible.