- Andreas, whom I had planned to move to Cuba with, believes we should break up, citing the fact we're at vastly different stages in our lives (which is true) – however:
- this now means I'll be living alone in an overseas country where I can't speak the language & don't know the customs
- instead of sharing an apartment with him as planned, I'll have to find & live in a flat by myself
- and what self-righteous landlord would want to give me, an 18 year old Scottish (and hence, foreign) student with no past relation with Cuba a property anyhow???
- I'll have very little (/no) connection with the outside world: letters take months to arrive at their intended destination, and many get lost. International phone calls are expensive as fuck (€5 per minute, omg) and my phone'll probably be confiscated at the airport. The internet is heavily censored and all messages/things I write will be monitored. I'm no technophile, but good God, how will I cope?
- My family will seldom be able to visit.
- The fact that'll be residing in an authoritarian one-party dictatorship with a dodgy record on upholding human rights and allowing press freedom is really starting to sink in now.
- As mentioned above, the language barrier. Despite attending thrice-weekly Spanish lessons, I'm still, well, shit. All of my university lectures will be in Spanish, and, outside touristy areas, I don't think English is spoken much. Unless I get my act together, I'm seriously screwed.
- I'll be thousands of miles away from home.
- The island – being tropical and all – is host to a number of diseases (e.g. Hepatitis B, my main worry) and I believe the water quality isn't top notch either.
may 1 2014 ∞
may 17 2014 +