I can’t believe this is real. The chorus of a thousand birds constantly fills the air. The heat, which sometimes seems unbearable, is pulsed away by the cool breeze. I still haven’t figured out if the toilet works, but there is running water! That in itself seems amazing. Even though I know I am only around 90 miles away from Florida, I feel like I’m on the other side of the world.
Cuba seems like a time capsule. A place where time itself stands still. By looking at the architecture and the antique cars, anyone would believe that this was a ghost town from the 1950’s. Then you see the carriages. Cars are so expensive that most “fast” travel is done by horses pulling carts, or sketchy looking motorcycles.
This morning I piled with my team into the back of a…vehicle, I really have no words to describe it, with all our baggage. The cramped conditions had a way of making me wonder if I really needed all the things I’d packed. Bumping along, we sang songs with the pastor who was with us: his Spanish mixing with our English. Through the language of music we were able to communicate that which we could not with words.
Our voyage to our village, however, was not without a problem. We were less than half way to our destination when we were pulled over by the police. We could hear the voices of our driver and the policeman intensely talking with one another, but none of us could figure out what the problem was. Calmly, we took the council that we had been given in orientation: when you run into a problem, pray. A few minutes later, we were on the road again. Later we found out that our driver needed a special permit to carry foreigners. The police man, however, had let him go with only a ten-dollar fine. God is so good!
Tonight we will be beginning our meetings. I’m not sure what God has in store, but I know that whatever He brings us too, He will lead us through.
-Olivia Antuña, Jiguani, Cuba