I spent the first part of my day doing my favorite thing, wandering the streets until I get completely lost. However, this time I didn’t have the help of google maps.

Cuba by yourself is scarier and more overwhelming. It’s hard to trust anyone who approaches you, it seems as though everyone wants something.

I got back to my casa drenched in sweat and took a shower. My casa particular was priced very reasonable at only $17 a night and discounts for the longer you stay. My room is located at the top of three very steep winding stairs cases. It’s quite the work out.

The casa I am staying in has a kitchen I can use and since I’m doing this whole thing on a tight budget I went grocery shopping today. Grocery stores here are no where near to what we have back home. They are sparse and sell out of things very quickly. I had to go to three different “grocery stores”, and three street vendors to get everything we wanted which was only rice, beans, eggs, oil, avocados, limes, guavas, ham and bananas.

After showering I headed out to a Couchsurfing event. Couchsurfing is an amazing resource for the solo traveler. It’s a great way to connect with fellow travelers as well as locals. We met at a local bar Casa Tacos, which is located in Centro Habana on the corner of Neptuno and Baserrate. They have a great $1 CUC happy hour starting at 9pm daily.

After Casa Tacos we headed over to the Norwegian Embassy to watch an outdoor film. The Norwegian Embassy is located in Vedado on Calle 21 between Calle H and I. They have a free outdoor movie showing the last Wednesday of every month with free popcorn and bottles of water.

We saw a Norwegian film with Spanish subtitles. I knew most of what was going on from the subtitles which I was impressed with since it seems I can’t understand what anyone is saying here.

I met a guy named James from London at the event. Afterwards we went to a famous jazz club called El Zorro y El Cuervo. It’s $10 CUC to get in but includes two free drinks. To enter the you go through an old English telephone booth and down some stairs into a dimly lit club. The musicians were amazing! It was quite the experience. I recommend going at least once.

I chose to walk along the Malecon on my way home. The Malecon is a long sea wall that lines Havana. It’s a favorite nightly hang out spot of the locals. It’s a great place to listen to music, have a drink, meet new people or to connect with friends. In other words if you have nothing to do at night go to the Malecon.