November, 2010:

Boarding the plane from Panama City to Havana, I felt an almost kiddie-ish excitement about the trip I was about to take. It was a long time coming. Something that had to finally happen. Finally, all the pieces of the puzzle were together, Something that had always been so elusive was finally becoming real.

For most Americans like me, going to Cuba always seemed a pipe dream. For as long as I can remember, it always seemed to be a strange, forbidden place so far away while yet being so ridiculously close. Particularly since I grew up in Florida. I remember how odd it seemed then that a place that so much closer to Florida than New York or Chicago could seem so distant, so out of this world. (more…)