When I say a bitch was thirsty….
Being in a hot, humid environment where you can only walk, ya girl gets dehydrated fast. In June, kay and I went to Havana, Cuba to get a feel for a country that seems to be more aligned with our values of having your needs met, community-centered, and taking things slowwwww. Below are some pictures of our experiences and excerpts of our in-real-time reflections.
view from our first casa particular; cancer szn 2022
“Cuba reminds me so much of Ghana so far! they smell very similar, but I do feel even farther out of my depth since in Ghana they also spoke English. literally today when we were getting picked up, it was so overwhelming…I knew my v limited knowledge of Spanish wasn’t going to help me much, but damn! and the times I tried to respond, French and Portuguese took over lmao. one of the first words out of my mouth was ‘oui’ smh” ~ej 27 jun 2022
Our very first morning in Havana. Toast, papaya, coffee, and a very yummy juice that i’ve saved to sip on for the rest of the day. I’m full, since gluten does that to me now. We’re sitting on this very cool patio, with these floating plants. I’m feeling good, and the dark moon is making me tired as it always does. This leg of the trip is meant to be rather relaxing, but there’s not much food in this area. Thankfully we brought lots of snacks. I’m so proud of Erica for doing this. Traveling makes me happy, but I know she’s way out of her comfort zone. And during Cancer season at that!
-kay
“I think there are some people who thrive off of or get excited by being different, being the odd-one-out, but I can’t relate. I think being the odd-one-out most of my life has made it so that when I go to new places I don’t want to be further removed than I already am... I just want to live my life, but also I realize I need to somehow release this hypervigilance, which I think is my biggest impediment to feeling comfortable I have my gratitude bracelet and my stones + my Ghana turtle, so I’ll be safe. I have kay, and we’re a team; I’ll be safe. we’ll be safe. we’ll be okay. we’ll be happy. we’ll find some familiarity. deep breath in,,,release. deep breath in,,,,release. deep breath in,,,,release.” ~ej 28 jun 2022
“kay and I sat at a restaurant for like 2 hours, just talking, drinking frozen limeades, and eating these yummy croquettes and not so yummy fried (unripe) plantain. My tummy is def processing everything, but I’m fine”
“Day 7 y’all! kay and I have officially made it through 1/3 of our trip. It kinda just hit me just how fast things are going to go. like we only have two weekends to get through. we have rooftop bars and dance clubs to hit up in so little time. we gotta get to the beach and to la regla. we have Old Havana to explore and Linea and Centro. we gotta do so much! but also, we’re just going to take it day-by-day—it’s all we can do. we’re at cafe libro right now just hanging out. there’s fun music, nice shade, yummy iced tea, cute people…kay asked me last night what animals I would like to see more of here, and I said butterflies, and then on the walk to this cafe, we literally saw 3 butterflies!!! I feel like they’re signs of protection. Same with cats; they feel like witnesses, as if they ward off bad encounters” ~ej 3 jul 2022
I think i’m feeling the renewed energy of the new moon this morning. With more sleep behind me too. I’m in my grandmother’s skirt and thinking about possibly being the childless matriarch of my family one day.
Or maybe i’ll want to have a child in 10 years, who knows?
“so we’re at the new casa particular in Old Havana and it’s definitely a different feel. It’s New Orleans vibes, like movie New Orleans. It’s a predominantly Black area, which is fun and comforting—it feels more like a community with kids playing wall ball and couples dancing in the street. I also feel very weird as a tourist in a place where I don’t know the language and have privilege being American; I truly don’t understand how white people do it? like they are truly steeped (!!) in privilege everywhere they go and seem to have little to no qualms.” ~ej 8 jul 2022
One Liner Journal Entries by kay
I’m now on the amazing rooftop at Alma’s and oooh do I love to just sit and breathe.
Communism and weed really should go hand-in-hand.
I am in transition! And in this place, I can grow.
Giving it to God! We don’t know what’s going on all the time.
Working collaboratively no matter how slow that makes me.
Yoga is meditation in motion.
Respect the personhood in/of everything around you.
I just watched a young crow give themself a bath and it was awesome.
It thunderstorms here almost daily what a dream!
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