Cuba: The Arrival

Sorry it has been a while since my last post. I have been super busy with school work and whatnot, but here is day two of my mission trip to Cuba. I promise the next few posts that will come after this one will be much closer in proximity to one another, but for now just read this and see what went down during my time in Cuba!

After a flight that seemed like forever, with emotions built up in me ranging from scared out of my mind to more excited than I have ever been, we finally landed in Cuba on March 13. The airport was the tiniest airport I have ever been to. Almost as small as a regional airport. After walking down the stairs of the plane, I had finally for the first time touched Cuba soil with my own two feet. Walking towards customs, I was so nervous about what I was going to say. Anna and I had practiced a lot over the past day, and now it was this... I don't know exactly what I was scared of. I guess just the unknown of what would happen if they didn't let us in.. Would I just sit in Cuba for a week in the airport? Would I starve?.... (overly dramatic thoughts once again coming from yours truly).

We walked into customs, waited in line, as our leader got pulled over to the side to get checked, of course. I was freaking out on the inside, but played it cool. When I finally was up next to pass through customs, I walked up to the lady at the counter and did what I knew might work best... Complimented her on her mascara of course. That's what you gotta do, just catch them off guard, and it's all uphill from there. She barely asked me two questions and let me through with no problem. There it was.. I WAS IN! Cuba, here I come.

Everyone got in with no problems, we waited for our bags and walked outside in anticipation of what was to come in the next week. Of course, our leader was again stopped and searched in another room for what seemed like forever. The car was there waiting to take us to our first destination of the trip, and Tommy was stuck in another room. So we waited, and waited... and waited some more. Until finally he was released and we were on our way! The first city we would visit was called Baire. We drove for a while, and I just took in all the beauty of Cuba. Now when I say beauty, I don't mean like Hawaii, or Jamaica. Cuba is beautiful in its own way entirely. It is dry, but also has so many vibrant colors. Lots of flowers, and palm trees. And every once in a while on our drive we would make it to the top of a hill where you could see the beautiful outlook of the ocean. It was breathtaking.

We finally made it to Baire, where we walked into the church that would be hosting us for our time spent in this city. I was overwhelmed walking into the church. Not because of its looks, but because of the people who automatically came running up to us, greeting us with hugs and kisses.... Yes, I did say kisses. It's actually totally normal to give EVERYONE you see a nice hug and kiss on the cheek each time you see them. So although that sort of took me off guard, I was so filled with joy to see the excitement these people had for us to be in their church and city. They even told us that this was our home now, and we were their family.

They made us a wonderful meal of chicken, vegetables, beans, rice, and so much more. I was astonished by the excellence of the meal, and how it was all prepared right there in that tiny church kitchen. These people had already stolen my heart with their kindness, love, and hospitality. After lunch, we went upstairs into a room that was open with glassless windows with the breeze coming through and the smell of the fresh Cuban air. This was the churches sanctuary, and it was so full of God's presence. We all introduced each other, and then were placed with our translators. My translators name was Yusmara, and she was amazing. I was so excited to be able to get to know her more over the next few days.

After we met our translators, it was time for us to go. So we hoped on the van back to the hotel where we put up our bags, took a small nap, got to walk around the town we were staying in called Bayamo (there weren't hotels in Baire, so we had to stay about 30 minutes away in another beautiful town), and then meet back up with our translators for dinner... Yeah, I thought the same thing.. "Dinner?! Again?..." Yep, the Cubans provided us with enough meals to last us a lifetime, I told you, they are hospitable. The restaurant we ate at was right next door, so we got to sit down, relax with our translators and get to know them a bit more before our full day of evangelizing the next day. It was a great time in fellowship and was just so much fun to joke around the dinner table, just like we do here in America. We had pizza for dinner, and I was so excited for the days to come. After dinner we went back to the hotel. We played cards and just hung out, all so excited for our first day of our mission. We went to sleep, and got a full nights rest in preparation for the life-changing events that were about to take place.