My Religious Studies Trip to Cuba - Day 0 - "For Whom the Bell Tolls"

“My Religious Studies Trip to Cuba”

8/21/15, “For Whom the Bell Tolls”

LaGuardia Airport, New York (LGA)

Until I wrote this headline, the reality of what is about to happen did not quite hit me.  In 12 hours, I will be getting on a plane to Cuba.  Yes, actual Cuba.  I will be embarking on a religious studies program to Cuba.  Tuesday will mark the 500^th Anniversary of establishment of Havana.  My best friend and I have been discussing this for years, how would we go.  Would we go illegally?  Would we make up some excuse?  Then, in December, the unthinkable happened.  A legal avenue opened up for us to travel to Cuba.  We could design our own religious studies program and make our own itinerary.  My best friend, who is extremely religious, was glad to go through with the legal route.

In fact, he is so religious that he refuses to travel on Shabbat, so he will not be meeting me there until Sunday.  I will likely not be able to post after this entry until I return to the United States, but the entirety of the blog for this trip will focus on the religious studies and, in particular, how religion affects the daily lives of Cubans, be they Jewish or Catholic.  There is so much unfamiliar about this trip, not the least because I will be almost entirely off the grid, possibly even without Wi-Fi, for the entirety of the trip.  It will not altogether be different from my trip to Iran, where I was completely disconnected from social media and work email.  Here, though, I might not even have Wi-Fi for three days, or possibly the duration of the trip.  I will be entirely reliant upon my trusty driver/guide, whom I assume will also serve as my cultural ambassador to the island.

This is such an interesting and novel trip, and I am possibly almost as excited to learn about Cuban culture and religion as I am to visit the famous sites of the island.  While so much about this upcoming trip is unfamiliar, the past 24 hours has been the epitome of familiar.  It seems like every time I’m about to embark on a big trip, I have a big night of partying and drinking the night before I fly out, which causes a problem, since I have to wake up early to pack and get ready and everything.  Or I want to get in early to work to finish up some last minute stuff before I leave, especially true this time since I will be off the grid.

In short, Day 0 is usually a busy blur.  Last night and today were no exception.  We did a guys’ night out at the office, and it was 1 AM by the time I got home.  Fortunately (and smartly), I had already packed the night before.  I somehow managed to get everything I needed to do done at work and probably had my most productive day in ages.  I even was able to print out all my itineraries and paperwork and be ready to walk out the door before 5 PM.  I had my traditional pre-departure lunch at Hop Won, boneless spare ribs and shrimp with lobster sauce.  I then had an H. Upmann, which I would finish up after work while waiting for my car.  I also picked up a copy of “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” which Ernest Hemmingway famously wrote while staying at the Hotel Ambos Mundos in Havana.  Needless to say, that is where we will be staying.  How magical it will be to read his book in that very hotel, 70 years later, like nothing has changed.  Don’t ask for whom the bell tolls.

I was soon at LGA, where I breezed through all the lines with my priority status.  I had even been upgraded to First Class.  I set off an alarm with the screening machine, just like I seem to be doing every time I fly out of New York.  I then caught a glimpse of the monitor, and there were two yellow boxes at my left (or maybe right) upper thigh, exactly where my pocket would be.  Does the pocket have a weird lay?  Is that why I’m always setting off the alarm.  I do always where these pants when I travel.  Maybe by the end of the trip, the pants have been worn enough to counteract whatever effect the pockets had?  Who knows?

I headed to my gate, and I am pleasantly impressed with the improvements LGA has undergone.  I can sit at a table, plug in my electronics, and order a meal sent right to the table.  I opted for corned beef hash and diet coke.  It was delicious.  Overpriced, but delicious.  I then proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close, as we are about to board, scarfing down the food, as I wrote.  I have a hotel room booked at MIA, so I will probably add to this entry there and then publish in the AM.  The entirety of the Cuba of the portion of the trip will be published in one post, most likely.  I can’t believe this is finally happening.

Miami International Airport, Florida (MIA)

One step closer.  My journey into the unfamiliar of the familiar continues, venturing into a hitherto unknown part of a familiar airport.  I am now in a place fitting called the Miami International Airport Hotel.  It’s literally inside the airport.  The distance from the elevator lobby to airline check-in desks is less than the distance from my office to the elevator back at work.  I am in Concourse E now, my airline is one terminal over in Concourse F.  Even for only three hours of sleep, it’s worth the price of the room just to be able to relax comfortably before my flight.  It is slightly after midnight, and I have a 4:30 AM wakeup call for a 7:30 AM flight, as they told us to check-in three hours ahead of time.  I should have no trouble getting to the check-in counter by 5 AM if I wake up at 4:30 AM, and the full three hours is not necessary this early in the morning.

After I closed, we soon boarded the flight, and asked for a Bacardi Rum, appropriately enough, along with a Diet Coke.  I had forgotten that Delta serves the unaged swill for their rum, the silver stuff, which is only appropriate for shots or a mixed drink.  I mixed it in the Diet Coke, making a diet Cuba Libre, quite fittingly.  The in-flight meal, chicken dumplings and shrimp, was quite good, and I slept most of the flight.  We took off late, and, by the time I got my bag, walked to the hotel, checked in, got to my room, “fixed” the smoke detector, and went to the bathroom, it was after midnight.  I had lit up a Padron, one of the new ones, Damaso, which I like better than anything they’ve ever made.  After I was settled in, I laid down on the bed, where I proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close, so that I can get some sleep.

Since it is after midnight on a Friday night, almost all of my friends are either out partying/drinking or are asleep by now.  My flight leaves at 7:30 AM, which means everyone I know and love under the age of 40 will still be asleep, and I will then be off the grid.  In other words, whatever Facebook Likes I have now received are the last notifications of any sort I will get from the outside world until I get back here on Wednesday.  I wonder how lit up my phone will be when I land back stateside.  Though I have been texting back and forth my sister, since it’s three hours earlier in Portland.  She is almost as excited about this trip as I am.  Alright, that concludes the Day 0 portion of the trip.  When I next write, I will be en route to Cuba.