January 23: Our last free day in Havana, take I

Glenn Skuta

#katiesincuba have a full day off today from formal group activities! It's a chance to explore, and to put the finishing touches on our individual presentations that we'll be giving tomorrow to each other on a self-selected topic of interest.

I'm pretty well recovered from my Monday-Tuesday illness (food poisoning as diagnosed by one of the nurses in our class), and my presentation on the Literacy Campaign is ready to go, so my roommate and I walked to Habana Vieja. I've found that taking the direct route there through the neighborhoods, rather than the touristy route using the Malecon, not only cuts off a mile of walking, but also is hassle-free. In the touristy areas, you are often approached by panhandlers or folks wanting to sell you something. In the neighborhoods, I don't get hassled.

We went to the crafts market and got some souvenirs and gifts, and saw a number of other #katiesincuba there. My roommate bought some art - checking out the art is the best part of the market - really creative, very different styles to see there!

Dinner and drinks will be at the Hotel Nacional - Al Capone's former hangout. Hard to believe our trip is almost over!