Most authentic experience!

This was a great experience overall! My goal was to practice Spanish as much as possible and this was easily reached thanks to the great staff of the school and friendly Cubans around. You do feel at home!

As September is a low season, I was alone in my Spanish class which was more of an advantage in the end as the topics were tailored to my needs and interests. The lessons included all types of activity: grammar, speaking, listening, and the most valuable - immersion into the Cuban culture. Daivy, the teacher, was eager to share her personal stories, everyday routine and aspirations. It was not just a standard teacher-student interaction, but friendly conversations about everything. We still keep in touch!

I was supposed to have a shared room, but as there were few people I had it all for myself😉 Even though I was warned that there could be hot water and electricity problems in Old Habana, nothing of the kind happened during my stay. The place is clean, nice and really authentic! From the balcony you can see the street with all its night life and daytime events. The food was good as well. Even though the variety of products is limited, the cooks Miguelito and Tania managed to satisfy all the needs, both vegetarian and not. I had a chance to try some fruits that I have never eaten before. There was always somebody of the staff around. Aylin has answers to all your questions during the daytime and Kidsue and Arkeli keep you company at night as night guards.

In the afternoon I had salsa classes and excursions. The dance classes were great even though I'm a really poor dancer and remain such in spite of the teachers' efforts.They were attentive and understanding. Even if you have no experience in salsa, you will still enjoy this activity. The only downside was that every class I had a new teacher. Somehow they managed to understand from where to continue and my experience seems rather smooth in general. The excursions were informative and my guides, Laritza and Jose, added a great personal touch to the history of Old Havana with their own stories.

The school manager Leonel is just charming. He does his best to make sure that everyone is happy. Despite the fact that he has lots of work to do, he is always available. The pre-trip email support from Tim was indispensable as well.

Old Havana is a safe place even if it does not seem so from the first sight. It may happen that some seller will cheat on you charging more money or will sell you fake cigars, but no violence occurred in my presence. I had no health issues, but do take all the medicine with you. There is a lack of it in Cuba. You can share it with the locals when leaving. Besides, I would recommend to bring fewer personal things and more donativos.