Putting the "Mata" in Matanzas: Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

I realized that in my haste to chronicle the many adventures of the weekend, I completely forgot to mention the handmade book-making place that we visited on Friday. It was beautiful, and the books were lovely. I ended up buying one that had an Emily Dickinson poem together with a Spanish translation for it. The old house that it was in was a work of art in itself, so I took a lot of photos.

I also forgot to mention that Professor Leonard Brown has joined us as of about a week ago. Our class with him starts next week. He is absolutely wonderful, and kind, and intelligent, and very level-headed. It's quite refreshing, and we're all so, so happy to have him here.
Dr. Brown with Tara & Chelsea:

Now back to the narration.

On Sunday we had breakfast and checked out and then headed for Varadero, the resort town in Matanzas. There are over 50 resorts there that have been built mostly since the fall of the Soviet Union. Before that, tourism was not allowed, but after the Soviets crumbled they were so desperate for money they started to allow foreigners in. (Sounds a bit like the Fulgencio Bautista days, no?) So we got dropped off at a random resort, straight in the middle of a very strange shopping mall that was blasting techno. After a brief dance session in the middle of the place with a couple of us and Dr. Brown, we were let loose for a few hours.

Sonya, Emma, Whitney, Courtney, and I went off in search of a place to camp out for the day that had food and drinks and other such lovely things. It was rather chilly at that point, so we just wanted a place to rest. Walking down the beach, we came across a resort with a couple pools and a bar. We got beverages, and upon asking how much they cost, the bartender woman told us that it was all included as guests at the resort. We didn't have bracelets, and she knew this, so she just let us have them for free. We tipped her, dance around to some reggaeton they had playing there, and made ourselves at home. Later we were given free lunch and french fries. So yes, we were given access to the pool, free drinks, and free food, all courtesy of the lovely bartenders that danced throughout their workday. It was a refreshing change of luck for us.

We then went swimming down at the beach when it got warmer, and then made our way back to the meeting spot. Getting some pizza to go (with REAL CHEESE) we jumped on the bus and headed back to the lovely abode in Havana.

And thus concludes the ordeal that was Matanzas. We were all exhausted and irritable when we got home, but still managed to laugh together at the dinner table about all that we went through this weekend. Maria told us this morning that we really should have had today off from classes because we all looked so tired and drained from our trip.

Oh, and I did laundry today! I officially know how to do the whole process by myself. Very exciting.