Had breakfast quite late and it was brilliant: fresh fruit salad, tortilla, bread and cheese, tea, coffee and fresh pineapple juice.

Afterwards, Regis and Ingrid went off to see the town, and I set off for the beach. I took a taxi with Norbert, who (why am I not surprised?) overcharged me. I told him he didn't need to pick me up so I could get a cheaper ride back, but that guy also overcharged me.

The beach was like tropical beaches should be: clear blue water, palm trees and not too many fat white people getting sunburn (just me). The water was divine and I splunged around like Daryl Hannah in Splash.

In the evening Carlos invited us to have a beer with him and we got to talking, so we figured out who's who in the house. Carlos is the owner, Elliot is his son from his first wife, who was mulata which is why Elliot is as well. His brother (who had a car accident because he drank too much and lost the use in his arm) is married to Rosita, the cook. They have a daughter, nearly sixteen year old Iris, who is absolutely fantastic. There's some more people around but we haven't figured those out yet.

Skin tone is very much a topic for discussion in Cuba, I've noticed. I'm stuck with being 'rubio' (ie the white girl) no matter how tanned I get. Regis' dad is part Tunisian, so he's 'mulato' as well...

Elliot is an English teacher and Iris studies accounting, but she hasn't been able to go to school for two months because the building was about to collapse and they didn't have any alternative. Tomorrow is her first day back.

They talked about what they have to pay for the privilege to rent out rooms (200$ a month, whether they are occupied or not) and some of the ridiculous laws there are (for instance, no more than 4 tourists per house, and you have to pay extra to put out a sign out front).

Regis talked about his job as a fisherman in Blankenberge. And Carlos said he had to take care when Cuban men were dancing with Ingrid, as they might steal her away. Elliot said he had told me he wanted to be my boyfriend, but that I didn't want to.
Carlos, proud father that he is: 'And why not!'
Me: 'Because I have a boyfriend'.
Carlos: 'But you can have several boyfriends'.
Me: 'No, one is enough'.
Sixteen year old Iris: 'Me, I have three boyfriends!'.

After that interesting insight in the difference in cultures, dinner was ready and we had grilled fish, cucumber and coleslaw, avocado, rice and fried bananas (finally! although to be honest they don't really taste like much).

Vladimir, a real gaucho with his sombrero and jeans and a crushing handshake, came to the house to explain about the horseriding trip we want to do tomorrow. He said he only knew two English words, left and right, so he explained everything in a hurry with mimicry (lots of pretending to be on a horse and galopping), some postcards and Spanish, which was extremely funny.

Afterwards, we went to the Casa de la Musica and I danced some more, but it's hard to keep up... I saw Nicole, who was also in Havana, and met some new people. There seem to be a lot of Belgians in Trinidad, which is lousy for my Spanish but quite a nice change from all the German I've tried to speak.