Next steps

My tour through the Caribbean is about a month away. It's becoming more and more real to me. This last semester of junior college has been so stressful, and I can't wait to just relax with Mama on the porch when I get to Ponce. As of April 16th, all of my flights have been purchased and I'm all set to start looking at what to do while I'm on each island.

June 20th 

Depart from Las Vegas, Nevada

Arrive in San Juan, Puerto Rico on July 21st

July 7th

Leave San Juan, Puerto Rico 

Arrive in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

July 10th

Leave Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Arrive in Havana, Cuba

Friday, July 28th

Leave Havana, Cuba

Arrive in San Francisco, California

I leave the Bay Area for Vegas on the 15th of June. I won't be back till July 28th. This is the first time I have ever asked for this kind of time off (6 weeks) from work. I'm grateful that they let me go that long after just a year of employment there.

The most expensive ticket was the flight into Havana from Santo Domingo ($296). The most inexpensive was the flight from San Juan to Dominican Republic ($118). For about 2-3 months at the beginning of this year, I would set aside half of the money for each ticket from my paycheck and save it until the next paycheck came. It was a strategy that had me living off of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a while.

Las Vegas

I'll be attending Insomniac's Electric Daisy Carnival for the 3rd time with my buddy Azeim. We have been practicing shuffling these past few months in preparation for the festival. We got a really inexpensive apartment off the strip for the whole weekend, so we'll be able to take the party there after the festival each day. 

Puerto Rico

I'll be staying at my grandma's crib in Ponce, soaking up as much of the motherland experience as I can.  It's been a few years since I've visited La Isla Del Encanto and I hope Mama has some Pitorro brewing. I hope to hit up la guancha (the boardwalk) and Playa Santa while I'm there, as well as check out El Yunque.

Puerto Rico is in an economic crisis, due to a strained relationship with the United States. As of now, Puerto Rico is considered a United States territory, but not a state. There are a lot of factors that influence Puerto Rico's current economic state, and I want to make it a mission on this trip to talk to locals about what they perceive the problem to be.

Dominican Republic

I'll be staying with the father of my mother's old friend from college, Edwin, in Santo Domingo. Edwin has family there, and he (being the dope ass person he is) set me up with a weekend stay at his parents house. His dad is a 5 star chef, so I'm excited to learn from him. I want to interview people about the disparity in living conditions in Santo Domingo, and maybe find out how much the United States influenced the current state. I'm definitely trying to hit up a bachata club while I'm there, as well as check out the beaches and government buildings.

Cuba

Cuba is going to be an interesting experience for me. July is the month where Cubans celebrate Carnival. Its a island-wide celebration leading up to July 26th, the national holiday that commemorates the revolution lead by Fidel Castro. I'll be there from July 10-28. I'm excited to check this out!!

I have been watching travel Vlogs on Youtube of people who have gone to Cuba in the past couple years to learn any tips that would be helpful going in. I still haven't booked a place to sleep, though Air B&B seems to be really popular in Havana, from what I'm reading. I should be good for the first couple nights in Havana and I'll probably be able to rent out a whole apartment for a cheap.  I'll be traveling from Havana to Santiago (east side of the island) and back to Havana in the 2 and half weeks that I'm there. 

These next couple weeks will be dedicated to (first and foremost, finishing this semester strong) researching more about Santo Domingo and Cuba. I'm going to continue with the research and will updated my blog with findings soon.