Downpours, etc.

Walking home from class the other day, it quite unexpectedly began to rain so hard that we all were drenched within a block of the school. The sidewalks became too slippery to walk on, rivers running from yards and down driveways onto the pavement, and we all had to move to the street so that we could walk without slipping. The group of us were trudging along, desperately trying to cover our notebooks and valuables while our jeans absorbed the rain up to our knees and our shirts bound themselves to our skin under the weight of the water.

"Life in Cuba is like that song 'Build Me Up Buttercup,'" Courtney said. And as we walked down Tercera, in the middle of the road, wet hair slipping into our eyes, we all sang:

Why do you build me up
Buttercup, baby
Just to let me down
And mess me around
And then worst of all
You never call, baby
When you say you will
But I love you still
I need you more than anyone, darlin'
You know that I have from the start
So build me up Buttercup,
Don't break my heart

And just as we reached our building, the rain began to stop and the sun was already visible in the distance.

Life in Cuba is an emotional roller-coaster every single day, and (usually) not because of the weather. Imagine being in the most beautiful place with the most amazing, hard-working people who are drowning in conditions beyond their control. That their country's dream, all of their dreams, are trying to survive, but are suffocating before their eyes. There's no one to get mad at, but everything to get mad about. There's nothing to love you, but so many inconceivably lovely things to build you up each day. It's raw, and it'll break your heart, but it's all they've got and it's worth fighting for.