As a resident of Miami (sometime called Havana North), an aficionado of Cuban culture, a global wanderer and well, let me just say it, “A Wandering Jew,” I had always had a fascination to visit the off-limits island of Cuba.
When my synagogue Temple Beth Shalom in Miami Beach organized a humanitarian and cultural exchange trip, my wife and I leapt at the chance. The story of our 6-day trip to Cuba is one left to another post, and one difficult to put concisely into words.
It is a bittersweet experience of paradoxes and contradictions. On one hand, it is fascinating and beautiful. On the other hand, it’s tragic, sad, and desperate. Two things stood out the most: Traveling to Cuba is indeed stepping back in time and not just because half the cars on the road are pre-1959 “Detroit Steel”.
Second, the people in spite of all they have endured remain warm, and full of passion. We never once felt unsafe or unwelcome, except by two aggressive customs officer on the way out of the country. Sixty minute private interrogations even if eventually communicated to me as “routine” are never fun, especially in a country that’s still a police state.
But back to the positives, as an affirmed AvGeek, the experience of flying to Cuba nonstop from Miami and a visit to José Martí International Airport were of almost equal attraction in anticipation and in hindsight.
You can read the full story at Airchive.com >
The ticket counter at Miami International Airport for our flight to Havana was bustling, even at 5 a.m. on a Sunday.
Miami-based Sky King operates 3 ex-Alaska Boeing 737-400s on charter flights for numerous touring agencies with flights into Cuba. Currently, flights to Cuba originate from Miami, Tampa, and New York.
One flight attendant told us this was her first flight, and was excited for it to be Havana even though U.S. flight crew aren’t allowed in the terminal, don’t lay-over, and immediately turn-around. In fact, no fuel, water, or service provisions are taken on in Havana for the MIA-HAV flights.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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