well arrived

Hello everybody!
here I am and here are the first vicissitudes:

• They didn't know I was supposed to arrive right now
• My supervisor is on holyday
• I have an official visa so I cannot live in normal people houses, only in those managed by the State for diplomats… I let you the pleasure to guess the price. For the moment I am a semi regular host in a “casa particular” located in what seems to be not one of the best neighbourhoods of la Havana. If I stay in an official house I can have guests, while if I am in a private one in theory I couldn’t… the dilemma is getting worse!
• They gave me the stipend only today. As the PNUD official say it seems that up to date I had a “mala suerte particular”… and don’t tell me you don’t speak Spanish!
• My visa is 1 entry
• My credit cards are useless (if you’re coming to Cuba bring cash or visa)
• Opening a bank account is not recommended; apparently its only function is to take a pretty commission when you finally decide to close it. Anyhow everything works with cash; cards are to play games on the street!
• The right to a mobile is 110 USD!

But I am chronically optimistic and this would seem too much of a “cahier de doléances” while I am pretty happy and excited about this experience. So:

• You can see Ocean waves breaking up against Malecon :-)
• If this is winter I don’t dare to think about summer!
• My supervisor arrives on Monday and yesterday evening we had a New Year cocktail at his highest Director’s house (it’s not honorific, this flying Dutchman is really one of the tallest person I’ve ever met, and I already have a very good impression about him).
• These are wonderful, kind and very respectable people.
• If I wasn’t in this “particular” (=private) house I couldn’t get to know real Havana! Anyhow criminality is very low and the worst I could get through in these streets full of running kids is a dirty ball on my white trousers! Moreover the landlady and the family are very honest and kind (and they cook well!)
• Well, I’ve been paid isn’t it?
• I’m trying to get a multiple entries visa
• Even if they steal me all the credit cards I don’t loose a coin! Lololol
• I will rediscover the pleasure of cash under the mattress or the touchable reality of UNESCO’s safe
• I surrendered and bought a mobile line, here it is: 00 53 52 94 38 07

Everything is very fine!!!
Kisses from surreal socialism,
Debora