Cuba. Las cosa esta dura. 24 hours in Havana.

Cuba. Havana.

Growing up in the post-Soviet Union space, I remember all the songs and movies praising this friendly little island. In my mind, Cuba has always seemed like a children's coloring book- bright, happy, fun, and full of colors.

I wasn't wrong about it, and at the same time, I was.

I'm not going to make comments about the regime. I come from a country that overcame it; therefore, it's hard to fool me by showing the plazas and tank museums. I will show you the back side of one of the greatest cities I have ever seen, which is currently being destroyed by... By what? Politicians? Time? People's minds? Laziness? Fear? Everyone gets to decide for themselves.

This post is not made to hurt anyone's feelings. Havana took a very special place in my heart, and if I could change anything to see this place strive and bloom- I would.

***

It's 7 in the morning, and the voice in our little cabin is waking us up:

"Welcome to Havana. Disembark and enjoy your day".

It's my sister and I on our first cruise and... Our first trip to the place that we always heard of and wanted to visit.

Expecting the colors of Havana to sweep us off our feet, we run to the balcony for some breakfast and...

Hello there. Is this place really alive?

Black holes instead of windows and no lights in any of them... Is it too early?

Maybe Cuban people will wake up later? It's almost 8.

We disembark.

We hired a guide separately from the cruise excursion because we knew that seeing all these touristy places for impressions was boring. But we also were on a mission.

You might hear a lot of things about Cuba, and some of them sound absolutely unrealistic, but most of them are actually true.

We discovered that simple things like feminine products, toilet paper, certain foods, soap, or toys are not available to most people. My sister decided that we needed to bring at least one suitcase of toys for the children to give away, and our guide was willing to help us. Visiting the orphanage was in our plan.

Sunrise and sunset are my two favorite things to photograph. I got both that day.

San Francisco terminal is the place where we got off and were going to meet a guy who was supposed to show us around and take us to places.

San Francisco terminal / Diana Lange photography

Across the street from the terminal, there is a plaza that they take really good care of. Everything looks perfectly clean (I saw them washing the street with their bare hands!), the glass in the windows is still there, the first restaurant is opening the doors, and local guides are standing with the signs waiting for their clients to show up and jump straight to one of these vintage cars for the promenade.

Ours wasn't there, and we decided to take a little walk by ourselves while he was coming.

Havana, Cuba / Diana Lange Photography

Havana, Cuba / Diana Lange

Havana, Cuba , Tilt Shift / Diana Lange Photography

Kids in identical school uniforms were on their way to school, other people were in a hurry too (for work?), and we were searching for a coffee shop to start our day ... No coffee shop ( Hm... did we go the wrong way?)

After strolling down a few more blocks, we returned to the main plaza to meet our guide.

Havana, Cuba / Diana Lange Photography

A friendly Cuban guy with nearly perfect English offered us to take a little walk among the buildings before we jumped into our car. The landscape was beautiful.

Colors. Architecture is breathtaking... Well... Whatever is left whole after the revolution...

Havana, Cuba / Diana Lange Photography

The Cathedral of The Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception (1777) that Barack Obama visited while his trip to Cuba. / Diana Lange Photography

Suite Plaza Vieja, Havana, Cuba | Diana Lange Photography

Havana, Cuba / Diana Lange Photography

Soon enough, our walk became too dull for me because it reminded me of one of the tours we had to take in school (to learn but never really ask uncomfortable questions?), and I decided to move forward with our plan.

-Hey Jaime (The name has been changed). You know I'm originally from a very similar country. You realize that mine has been thru some similar things in its history, right?

-Of course.

-Do you mind if I ask you some blunt questions? If you are allowed to speak about these things?

-Go ahead.

-Do you have internet? Do you have enough food? Are you allowed to talk about your government? Do you really believe in Communism? -. I was popping the questions, and his eyes were getting more and more round (Oh well).

-Diana, some of these questions I'm not allowed to answer. But no, we don't really have internet (not at home for sure), sometimes my children wake up to no breakfast, and yes, I do believe in Communism, but everyone here is going to tell you the same thing. Because we have to, and I can't talk about the party leaders.

That was enough to break the ice between us and to make him feel like he didn't need to do his typical tour. He could show some brutal reality instead, and we felt like he didn't mind.

We decided to go straight to the orphanage to give away the toys so we could enjoy the rest of the tour without thinking about it.

Havana, Cuba / Diana Lange Photography

It took us a while to find the orphanage. And when we finally did- they refused to take our donation because we didn't submit some sort of paper (hello bureaucracy!). The toys were left in our hands, and completely ignoring Jaime's "It's my responsibility to keep you safe!" we jumped into the car and headed to the neighborhood that is considered to be one of the most unsafe and poor in Havana.

We got what we asked for.

Old Havana is relatively small, so we went back to the area where we began, but...

Oh boy. See the difference yourself.

Havana, Cuba / Diana Lange Photography

Do you see the doorway with the license plates on it? We got invited in because we handed these people's children some toys. The size of the inside was about 50 sq. feet. They had a couch and a cage for... Their child. They kept the kid behind bars because they basically had no choice and a way to watch him when they had customers. I didn't feel comfortable taking pictures inside.

In fact, I'm strongly against making people's homes an entertainment for tourists. We've got to see some hallways and outsides of actual apartment buildings, and that was enough to depict and give you the impression of how they actually live in the capital of the island (imagine what's going on in the smaller towns)

Slums of Havana | Diana Lange Photography

Slums of Havana | Diana Lange Photography

Havana, Cuba / Diana Lange Photography

Slum of Havana | Diana Lange Photography

There are people living in every apartment. And by every, I mean ABSOLUTELY EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM IS OCCUPIED.

Slums of Havana | Diana Lange Photography

Slums of Havana | Diana Lange Photography

Giving away the toys by ourselves was the best idea. First of all, we actually knew that every doll would belong to the child and not be used for trade or sold. The second thing is that kids were bringing over their friends who also needed a toy, which made our mission easier.

Not even once we had people approaching us and asking for things. Everything we handed out, we offered by ourselves.

We were getting to the inner part of the buildings (yet not the apartments) when we asked for children. That let me capture some of the very inside of Havana.

Havana, Cuba / Diana Lange Photography

Havana, Cuba / Diana Lange Photography

Havana, Cuba / Diana Lange Photography

Havana, Cuba / Diana Lange Photography

The next photo has a very special story for me.

One of the boys in the picture was running by when we handed him a little Lego kit.

He asked us to come and see his friends.

We met two more of his mates and were ready to leave when the voice behind the door stopped us:

- Do you have anything for me? - it was an old lady, supposedly the grandma of one of the boys.

We had one last Barbie doll left, and of course, we handed it to her.

She said that she had always dreamt of one but never had it.

Havana, Cuba / Diana Lange Photography

By the recommendation of our guide, we visited Fusterlandia, a house of Fuster, a Cuban artist who considered himself a follower of Picasso and Gaudi. Besides decorating his own studio, he decorated the houses of his neighbors, and now this place is a huge attraction for tourists. We spent about 20 minutes there and then went to shop for some souvenirs. Note that nothing in Cuba is made in China. Cuban people sell only what's made right there on the island, meaning that if you buy the magnet or a little framed picture- you will actually support Cuba, not some sort of import.

Fusterlandia | Diana Lange Photography

Fusterlandia | Diana Lange Photography

Fusterlandia | Diana Lange Photography

Fusterlandia | Diana Lange Photography

Fusterlandia | Diana Lange Photography

After Fusterlandia, we swinged by Floridita, 200 years old cafe in Havana, where we found Jerry Rivas from El Gran Combo jamming with local musicians and Hemingway :)