The rooster call wakes me far before dawn as a gentle breeze brushes my skin, waking me with the sensual Breath of Cuba once again. My heart and mind are in total peace, in total surrender to the gentle rhythm of this place. Softly, dawn emerges. As I enjoy my morning coffee, the sun kisses my face. I can hear the soft clicking of horse hooves on the cobblestone streets in front of the casa. Pages fill with thoughts inspired by stillness, peace, and the remembrance of all the many reasons I find myself deepening my romance with this place.The Breath of Cuba moves in me once again.
My love affair here spans 7 years now and I have countless journals, videos, photos and a seemingly infinite number of tender memories that live in me. I love the early morning moments, hearing the village come to life around me. The soundscapes are a welcome reprive to the stress I have left behind in the world of modernity. Yet everyday I see more of it finding it’s way here. The mentality of the people, even here, is changing. Even more so in Havana. At any time of day or night now, when you walk through the parks and major centers, you see glowing lights and hunched over forms starting at screens anywhere they can get a connection for wifi. The people are hungry for what I am so happy to walk away from and would joyously give up for a more natural, real life to re-emerge in my people. The face of change is emerging here. There is no stopping it now, and yet still, here you can find true escape from it for days or weeks or months on end if you choose.
As I find my way to the hotel to do my few hours of work today, I run into friends and dance buddies who embrace me and share with me on their way. I am invited to a birthday party from one of my salsa friends Alonso, and as I am talking to him, another friend Juan Carlos passes on his bike and stops to embrace us both. I stop off at a window cafe and enjoy a fresh mango juice for 5 cents and feel so much gratitude that I have gotten to have the incredibly opportunity of deepening relationships here over the past 7 years. I have a family and community here that is growing and another place to call home whenever I want to be here. I give thanks for this love affair and am always touched by the infinite ways it has transformed my life, taught me patience and acceptance, and enriched my life from the inside out.
