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Home » Havana – Everything Good, Bad And In Between Will Exist In Another

Havana – Everything Good, Bad And In Between Will Exist In Another

September 9, 2013 By Laura Dal Farra 3 Comments

Havana-Graffiti-Street
Havana, Cuba, 2013

It’s interesting slouching in a hard-backed wooden chair, wearing a black scarf and my roommate’s hoodie, surrounded by ivy and white Christmas lights while attempting to conjure memories of my one week stay in Cuba six weeks gone. I’m in Toronto, I’m outside, it’s September and the heat of Havana’s pavement is so far away. My nose is cold and the sky is black. It’s 8:27 pm.

 

Cuba was a last-minute decision and Havana was a weird mix of a focus and an after-thought. This happens sometimes when I travel – I become ambivalent. Riding the present while concurrently possessing some sense of duty to the trip. Thoughts of what I should be doing, of what I may regret if I don’t pursue and the ever potent luxury of just saying, Fuck it. The present is good. Why try to be linear about any of this? Adding travel partners to the mix sometimes dilutes the focus and leaves me wondering What the fuck just happened? Cuba was like that for me. I realized I’m apt to travel differently than others – the moment becoming clear when a companion exclaimed “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity” after I stated that I wasn’t doing something I had planned to do. And there it was – the realization that, as I’m currently writing this, I suspect there are few times in the current manifestation of my life where I see anything pre-planned that way. Once in a lifetime for me generally flows with the present. The pre-planning, that’s foundational, functional and oh so apt to seduce, charm and to disappoint. It’s enveloped in expectations, not the truth of the present moment. Havana was this way for me. My preliminary exuberance became diluted by moments of apathy and agitation.

 

I witnessed beauty in Art and darkness in The Hustle. I picked up on lies. Prices that were quoted became doubled. Two copies of menus – one for the street and one inside a restaurant’s doors. I felt the heat of fire that danced in various forms in the eyes on the streets. I shared laughter. I was treated well.

 

I spent two days, zero nights in Havana. It wasn’t that Havana isn’t what I consider a great city – my perception has simply changed after spending four years in Thailand. I’ve come to believe that everything good, bad and in between in any given environment will exist in another, just the forms it all takes may differ. This, I realize may affect how I travel. It seemed to in Cuba.

 

And so there was Havana. Her inhabitants going through their days hosting thousands upon thousands of tourists on government approved tours throughout the year. Hordes of people taking the same photos day in, day out, exclaiming about the same sites while being hosted by government approved tour guides politely feigning interest. I understand why this exists. It just wasn’t the path I was meant for.

 

The highlight of my time in Havana was spent at Rafael Trejo Boxing Gym. I decided not to train. Rather the afternoon was spent filming and photographing the regimen, discussing fight sports and heart with the boxers and lastly a bit of trading techniques and salsa dancing in the rain. More on Rafael Trejo Boxing Gym in a future post.

 

In the meantime, here’s a photo essay on a pulse of the city. This is my bit of Havana.  Part II is here. Part III here.

 

Monday, September 9, 2013

 

 

Old-Havana
Havana, Cuba, 2013
Havana-Taxis
Havana, Cuba, 2013
Havana-Bus
Havana, Cuba, 2013

Havana-Girl
Havana, Cuba, 2013
Havana-Graffiti
Havana, Cuba, 2013
 

Havana-Workers
Havana, Cuba, 2013
Rafael-Trejo-Boxing-Gym-Havana
Rafael Trejo Boxing Gym, Havana, Cuba, 2013
Havana-Boxers
Rafael Trejo Boxing Gym, Havana, Cuba, 2013
Havana-Boxing-Gym
Rafael Trejo Boxing Gym, Havana, Cuba, 2013
Havana-Boxing-Gym-1
Rafael Trejo Boxing Gym, Havana, Cuba, 2013
Old-Havana-Street
Havana, Cuba, 2013
Old-Havana-Car
Havana, Cuba, 2013

 

Havana-Art-Market
Havana, Cuba, 2013
Havana-Art
Havana, Cuba, 2013
Havana-Car
Havana, Cuba, 2013

 

 

Filed Under: Cuba, Images Tagged With: Rafael Trejo Boxing Gym

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About Laura Dal Farra

After a six month adventure training Muay Thai in Thailand in 2007, Laura Dal Farra returned to her native Canada, sold most of what she owned, and boarded a plane set for Bangkok alone. She spent the next 3.5 years training in traditional Muay Thai gyms, pushing her limits, and embracing the unknown. Realizing little was being written on the subject, she began to blog about it. Laura Dal Farra is the founder of Milk.Blitz.Street.Bomb.

Comments

  1. Watthanaya says

    September 10, 2013 at 18:45

    ldf,

    Great photos! Did you take those? If so, what camera?

    Reply
    • ldf says

      September 11, 2013 at 11:22

      thanks! they are my photos. i shoot with a sony nex.

      Reply
  2. len adams says

    September 22, 2013 at 05:53

    What a great read! Thanks Laura…

    Reply

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