Have you ever tried accompanying a cup of coffee with bits of cheese? It's delicious, although I must confess that the first time I saw this combination in front of me it seemed strange. It was during one of those work trips, in a square in Bayamo, in the east of the country.
Apparently it was a custom of the Mambises (Cuban fighters against Spanish colonialism) to taste coffee in this way. And another characteristic is that this coffee is sweetened with honey.
But my post is not about coffee, it's about a walk, and what prompts me to tell you this is that as I write, I have a cup prepared in the Bayamese style next to me.
Now let's get started.
It turns out that at the end of last year I was looking for an App to record my Biking progress and discovered Relive. I soon also discovered that I could record many other outdoor activities and even participate in challenges. I created one myself and was surprised to see so many people join in.
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When I woke up today a notification reminded me that I had to do an activity to finish the challenge. I have to tell you that sometimes I have forgotten to do this check-in; however, thinking beyond that, it's not that the forgetfulness has been so significant. The conclusion is that in this aspect I need to improve, that is to say, more outings, more emotion for this body and soul.
So I decided to go for a little walk and, as I always do, let myself be surprised by the unexpected.
A lot of things happened.
Grey Wednesday, pleasant temperature... people are already taking out their coats, as if it were cold. Well, I put one on too, a simple one.
My neighbourhood is not a beauty. I'd like to see these streets fixed one day and the rubbish collected as it should be; these are unresolved things that unnerve me a bit and often one of my recurring thoughts is: how I'd like to live in a clean place, where people take care of their environment!
So I invite you to see what my eyes saw and the stories behind it.
At one time in my youth I used to walk with my eyes drilling into the ground. My body was like the stem of a wilted flower, and I was always told, walk upright, look at the baggage on your back. And it was true... but one day I don't know, maybe something changed in me and I started to set my eyes on what was in front of me and often on what was higher up. Then my posture changed.
That's a woodpecker you see up there, I was regretting not having my camera with me. The bird sounded like a dolphin... then I thought that the mockingbird, which is the great imitator of our fields, is imitating this boy.
I met many smiles along the way. Acquaintances in motorbikes greeted me warmly and I smiled at them too.
This motivated me. Enclosures often put wrong ideas in people's minds. They even create a bad state of mind and it turns out that the beauty is out there, you just have to know how to look.
I also met a vendor selling Pan con Lechón (bread with suckling pig) to whom I somehow caught his attention, it seems, because whenever he sees me he always asks me if he can invite me to something... Some Cubans are very daring. Can I buy you a malt, a soft drink, a beer, whatever you want? -he said. And he walked away from his point of sale, showing me, as if by mistake, all the wads of cash he had in one of those pouches they call a kangaroo, but in feminine (cangura).
I just answered him: don't leave your workplace alone. He replied that he had finished and continued to insist until I told him flatly no.
So I stopped here in front of this bus with the Artemisa football team on it. Two men got off and I talked to them, to see if the other one would go away - my goodness, what a nuisance.
It turned out that they were going to Cienfuegos for a competition. I wished them luck and told them that my family is from Artemisa, and so am I, in a way.
Later I took some pictures of certain scenes in which my thoughts wandered. Such opposing ideas, from destruction to life and beauty.
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Until suddenly this truck full of bananas appeared, and I felt happy because I imagine that it will be taken somewhere, where people will be able to buy them. Hopefully not at such high prices.
I wasn't so lucky with the prices, but I needed to buy some food anyway. So there you see the guy in the orange shorts, he is a seller I know and he lets me pay him by bank transfer, unlike others he doesn't demand cash. Good for me, as I am always short of cash. I can't stand queuing at ATMs.
So this was my purchase. Not bad, 3.16 USD for some tomatoes, tomato sauce and bananas.
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The walk was going well, but I was more than half way to return home and the two bags were a bit heavy. My hands are - shall we say - sore from some cat events, which we'd better not mention here. So nothing... there was no choice but to keep walking. 😅
Do you recognise this neighbour? If you follow my posts a while ago, quite a while, I dedicated a post to him. And maybe you recognise these animals too, they were the ones in the scene of my bird watching.
He told me that this month's rice is not coming to the winery (bodega). Hahaha... that there's no way to bring it, that the logistics... blah, blah, blah... and I followed his lead but a little further on, surprise!
Do you see it? Well, I can show it better since I was able to talk to him.
I regretted again... (finish my sentence)
🤣
Well, that was the most significant thing I think about my walk.... I don't know what you think.
Oh, I forgot, if you are looking for a house in Havana and don't mind building a little, this one you see here, a few steps from my house, is more than half built and for sale.
It is also close to my can-collecting neighbour. I went back to his property to inspect it and found new evidence.
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He is fed, at least, this is good.
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