Wednesday 18 June 2014

Pieces of Me, Pieces of Havana

Arrival. Evening. Mass. Land. Country. Flag. Elation. Tiredness. Watch. Time. Queue. Check. Customs. Uniforms. Military. Green. Heat. Oi! Beckon. Loud. Command. Obey. Walk. Look. Ask. Look. Ask. Eyes. Searching. Assess. Papers. Order. Doubt. Frown. Wait. Toddler. Hunger. Toddler. Toilet. Toddler. Play. Toddler. Thirst. Spouse. Confusion.

Wait.

Wait.

Wait...

Official. Officer. Rank. Uniform. Military. Green. Return. Passport. Talk. Continue. Walk. Luggage. Wait. Wait. Wait. Luggage. Ask. Encounter. Walk. Exit. Beckon. Gate. Beckon. Exit. Almost. Mother. Relative. Outside. Almost. Heat. Walk. Hurry. Walk. Hurry. Walk. Hand. Stop. Shoulder. Halt. Retrace. Questions. Bribe. Chiclets? Dollars? Chavitos? Anything? Female. Official. Officer. Rank. Uniform. Military. Green.

No.

No.

No.

Wave. Look. Go. Gate. Exit. Air. Evening. Mother.

Behind:

Welcome to Havana “Jose Martí” International Airport

© 2014

Next Post: “Sunday Mornings: Coffee, Music and Reflections”, to be published on Sunday 22nd June at 10am (GMT)

23 comments:

  1. Toddler tiring at your sea? Bribes sure put a spin on things as nothing is free

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  2. Exhausting, stressful places. And expensive too - even without bribes.

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  3. Wonderful. An intense airport feel here--and my image of Havana too--very visceral in its spare and original way. Thanks. k.

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  4. Amazing... going back to read it again, even though I so dislike airports... smiles.

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  5. This actually made me miss the airport. I miss picking up my honey there :)

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  6. Mother. Always the perfect end to a long journey.

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  7. I love how all the confusion and frustration is finally alleviated by the ultimate source of comfort..."Mother"!

    This is fabulous.:)

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  8. Los viajes tienen sus inconvenientes pero los remplaza con la estancia en el lugar.
    Un abrazo.

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  9. Oh oh oh - I know where you are!!! My memory of Jose Marti Airport is a man being very kind to me and not asking for money. It was a wonderful introduction to your country.

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  10. Oh oh oh - I know where you are!!! My memory of Jose Marti Airport is a man being very kind to me and not asking for money. It was a wonderful introduction to your country.

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  11. Oh oh oh - I know where you are!!! My memory of Jose Marti Airport is a man being very kind to me and not asking for money. It was a wonderful introduction to your country.

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  12. Oh oh oh - I know where you are!!! My memory of Jose Marti Airport is a man being very kind to me and not asking for money. It was a wonderful introduction to your country.

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  13. You could have titled this jetlag. You capture the exhaustion of travel.

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  14. Thanks for your comemnts.

    The year: 2000. I had been living in the UK for almost two and a half when we went back to Cuba. My son had just turned two and my daughter had not been born yet. What should have a pleasure-fileld experience turned out to be a nightmare at the airport. Our papers were in order, my passport was oder, our luggage was in order. But I was the blakc Cuban travelling with the white British wife and their mixed race toddler. They had a field day with us. We saw every single passenger on our flight go through Immigration whilst we were kept behind. Then to add insult to injury, just when we were about to exit an officer (I forget her rank now) called us over and under the pretext of weighing our suitcases began to ask me for things. I almost lost it but remembering where I was and what I was to this person managed to get a grip on myself. My consolation was to see my mum waiting for us outside.

    I began this post with perfectly formed sentences and halfway through thought of deleting some key words. I carried on until all I had were nouns, adjectives and verbs.

    "Chavitos" is a colloquial name for convertible pesos, one of the two currencies we have in Cuba.

    Greetings from London.

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  15. I like the way you wrote this. You really gave the reader a glimpse of what you went through. I wouldn't have enjoyed being in your position. But glad, in the end, you were able to get in. Havanna seems to be a place that many Americans want to visit today. If I am honest with you, I might be a little bit afraid. (Your post does not help. Smiles.) But I hear it is beautiful, and everyone who has visited enjoyed it.

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  16. ha. just be glad there was no rubber glove snap in all that noise....smiles...airports are pretty crazy...especially getting thru customs and baggage and....

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  17. Typical airport stress! Nice description.

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  18. Wow. I can feel all of that. The exhaustion, frustration, joy of being home. I wonder what excuse they gave for detaining you, Cuba being a "non-racist" society and all. I do long to visit soon, I have a friend going next month and I'm tempted to stowaway in her luggage.

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  19. oh i love to travel but i hate airports... it can be so tiring and confusing - and with the jetlag and all...ugh... so you're on a holiday?

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  20. That was fascinating, especially your explanatory comment. My parents flew to Europe back in the 70s and ran into various problems at several airports. My mom vowed to never fly again, and hasn't. And to have to manage a toddler - I felt your exhaustion while reading this. Well done!

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  21. You couldn't have found a more perfect way to give us a sense of what the experience was like. Ugh. I could feel your frustration and tiredness, the added stress of traveling with a toddler, and then all of that being mitigated by the beautiful sight of your mother. Well done!

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  22. lol, seem pretty ordinary to me. grrrr :)

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  23. Nightmare! Sums up the whole airport scene, made a lot worse by bureaucracy. But Mother, I hope, makes it all worthwhile!

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