As of today, I am no longer in the “pecheros” (hanger) market. This morning we took to bus to the University of Havana to see how long that might normally take. We got there at 9:02, so we would have been 2 minutes late for class, but that may be acceptable here, we’ll have to wait and see. Then we went to Castillo de los Reyes de Morro (I think that was its name). Very Fort Williams-esque. Lots of old cannons for defense of the bay against pirates; built by the Spanish. Then, our last lunch on the program. So we made the best of it with Sangria and bottles of water to bring home for later. I’m officially feeling better (I say as I knock on wood) so I even got an espresso for dessert. We then asked to be dropped off at a recommended industrial market to try to find hangers. When our driver left we asked a guy on the corner for the address of the hotel that we knew was close to the industrial market. We played a very entertaining guessing game with him about where we were from. England? No. Canada then? No. Slovaks? No. (this is because one of the girls in our group is from the Czech republic) Parisian? No. and so on until we told him the United states. In general however, it does not seem to surprise most people when we tell them our origin.
We went in a couple of shops that sold clothing and asked if we could buy just the hangers, to a response of a look like, “you want hangers? Huh. Good luck.” One man was very kind and gave us four extra hangers free of charge. Eventually we found the market that our first tour guide of orientation (Norcus- what a name eh?) had recommend and lo and behold! Hangers! We bought several and we quite proud of ourselves. Then, in celebration and sudden feeling of free time, we decided to walk around Havana a bit just the four of us. Around the next corner, BREAD! All of the last few days we had been asking for bread shops or bread venders and though we had been told many potenial locations, all had been baron of bread. We bought a loaf for fifty cents (things that Cuban people actually buy are cheap, things that tourists are meant to buy are as expensive as in Los Estados Unidos if not more). So we had bread with our dinners tonight. I brought home the dough in my bag, with it sticking halfway out reminiscent of my two foot long sandwich at pan.com. It really are the little comforts that make you happiest. The combination of being out in the sun, buying bread for .50cents and finally being able to move out of my suitcases have helped me feel a bit more at ease in this city that is SO different than any place I’ve ever experienced.
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