When people think about Cuba, they think about Varadero. I have been in Cuba but not in Varadero. And in my next vacations to Cuba, Varadero won't be included*.

When my friends ask me what they can't miss from La Habana I ask them for how long they will stay in Cuba. For sure, five days won't be enough.

I went to Cuba for my 21st birthday; and I fell in love with La Habana. I did not go to the Rum museum nor to the Revolution museum. I did not take the ride on the red bus for tourists, neither. Instead, I took the bus to Santa Clara, Sancti Spiritu, Trinidad, Cienfuegos and Pinar del Río**. I did not stay at Habana Libre, El Nacional or any other fancy hotel. I stayed at a two-star hotel in front of La Universidad and at a ma'am's apartment in El Vedado. But the best of all, I make the three-hour line for a Cuban ice cream . It would have been much faster to accept my tourist status and pay 2 dollars for the same ice cream with no line needed. But lets face it: I have Laritza back home. So I made the three-hour line, payed two Cuban pesos and share the table with a total Cuban stranger. That has been the best ice cream experience in my whole life.

So next time your travel agency offers you vacations to Cuba, demand them to not include Varadero. If you want a really luxury trip and turquoise-water beaches go to Cancun, Jamaica, Santo Domingo or same place like those. Otherwise, you will just be one more blind tourist arriving to José Martí International Airport. And I am pretty sure Cuban people are sick of them already.

*Instead, I will like to go to Oriente, to the guajiro's land, to Guantánamo, to Santiago, to Bayamo, to Camagüey.

**I have to confess that it was the tourist bus, and after watching "La Lista de Espera" and "Guantanamera" I feel a little embarrased about it.

Life is not that complicated. But I confess that more than once I have drowned in a glass of water... the key is to remember what you did before and never lose your head. draw a line and keep yourself on that line. no matter how windy it is, no matter how stormy it is; hurricanes, tornadoes, floods nor earthquakes will ever be enough excuse for you to leave the line you drew. Make it yellow, bright pink, bright orange, whatever color that will be easy to see when the lights go off. Keep on that line and you will survive.

my grandma would have never let me getting a tattoo, but she has no idea what is to live without her...

If you are thinking about getting a tattoo, think it twice... or better three, four or even five times! It is not just about the pain you will feel. In fact, there is no pain at all -waxing is much painful! The problem with the tattoo is the second after you leave the tattoo store. It is a wound what you have on your skin... for real! It is like burning yourself. And doctors say "a healthy person does not hurt himself". Am I overreacting?

Maybe it depends on the part of your body where you get the tattoo on. But it is still an open wound what you have! And just don't mention the amount of lead you inject into your body...

Some cultures walk on fire to prove manhood and they are not insane. But I repeat, it is not the pain. It is the second after it. You are handicap.

I got my tattoo on my foot; maybe that is the reason. I can't walk nor take a shower easily. And I am a spoiled girl.

The reason why I got a tattoo is the death of my grandmother... or better "It is because my grandmother died". It is not the same. My grandmother left and I miss her so much. I want her to be by my side all the time. And I don't want to leave her aside. Life is like that: you move on - no matter the pain you felt once- you move on. But I don't want Nature to win again.... although I know it will win at the end.

Anyway, the tattoo is to keep my grandmother with me, no matter where I am or where she is.