I have been keeping a low profile since Cuba. What is life without experiences. Life is ever changing. People say that in the future these experiences might be useful but I am not so sure. I think people lie and steal. Most people do not know what they want until it is too late to change any of it.
I am behind on my personal projects. There is not enough time in the day and even less now that I am older. The older I get the more aware I am of my own mortality. Everyone has a story. Everything is in transition from one state to another. I may not be here tomorrow or next week. Arguing over small details is pointless. I need to learn to let go of the things that truly do not matter.
Things only come back into perspective when I go to my favorite place and watch people while I each lunch. Old people digging into their bags for expired credit cards. Basic school kids on a day field trip playing musical chairs in the food court. A Chinese family spoon feeding their baby. Old friends in conversation. Interns looking for the best place to sit where they can be most visible in case they spot someone they knew from high school. For some people this a stop on a long highway. For others this is their daily routine until they can escape. For me I am just capturing the moment.
I only got to see 2 cathedrals while I was in Havana. The first time I went to this one it was closed to the public (mostly because it was Sunday). Knowing when exactly when and where things were happening was kind of a challenge for me but I just wondered around until I stumbled upon something.
As luck would have it I was on a half day tour and La Havana Cathedral was open (more blurry pics of inside later) and I glimpsed a woman taking pictures inside the bell tower and I was like WTF - I had to get up there!
I have never been in a bell tower before and since bell tours are usually off limits to regular folks and idiots who would be tempted to ring the gigantic bells I had to see about getting a closer look.
So as any tourist in a foreign country would do I poked someone in the side, slipped away from my small tour group and found my way up the bell tower, balls in hand for a unguided tour up the 4 stories of coral blocks, wooden stair cases and 8 bells. It only cost 1 CUC.
They do have more interesting buildings in Havana. Compared to Jamaica. I am not sure why but according to wikipedia Havana itself is a 500 year old city the city boasts some of the most diverse styles of architecture in the world, from castles built in the late 16th century to modernist present-day high-rises.
In all the years I have been here there has no been one mango. Then one day boom. Mango trees are funny like that. I have never been a fan of mango in the flesh - too messy but mom sure loves them. Everything done now though so you get left.
