Getting up at 7am was pretty difficult again but the class went by reasonably fast. I was starving by the break and tried to find the school canteen. Something I was doubtful even existed. When it comes to food, I've learnt to have low expectations. However, there was a canteen that sold some form of corn snacks which tided me over! The canteen and common room wasn't pretty but better than nothing! And on the wall as you entered was a condom machine so everyone could see you buying condoms while having their lunch! After class, the Hungarian girl, Esther and the other girls and I went for lunch in a little place called Colina. Esther is nearly 40 but looks half her age thanks to her raw food diet. She literally only eats salad and vegetables, not even rice, pasta or any bread. I don't know how she functions but she looks amazing. She's a house DJ and works in the private members bar Platinum in Liverpool St. Afterwards, we went into town and went to el Museo 28th September, the day the revolution began. It was basically a load of propaganda praising the party and how they developed the education and healthcare systems, but was still fairly interesting.

The next day Jopi returned from his tour and we were so happy to see each other. He met me on the steps of university and I could tell he was still a little bit drunk! He had spent the last 3 days partying away at Cuba's premier beach resort, Veredero. He was technically working but I'm sure the show would be even better than it is now if the whole cast were a little bit drunk and having a great time themselves! I had to pay for my course which involved a lengthy process visiting five different offices, signing my name on about 20 sheets of paper and a trek across town to the finance department which was a taxi ride away, all to pay for a week Spanish course! To pay for one week of Spanish lessons brought me to 5 different offices. As much as I hate time consuming aspect of bureaucracy, the more lengthy the process, the more jobs created. So instead of employing one person for a simple task, five more people are in work. As inefficient as it is, these people still have jobs.

After that saga was over, Jopi and I found a restaurant with a terrace and sat in the afternoon sun drinking mojitos all day long! He forced me to practice my Spanish with him and he pretended we were in a bar, meeting for the first time. We had to get to know each other and chat each other up. It was absolutely hilarious. We had a late lunch and again the hours just passed like minutes. Later we met with Katie and went to a bar called Café de Paris which had a good live band but not that much space to dance. We managed it but then went back to Lloria de Oro bar where we went to on Sunday. Jopi and I danced our buts off again and after numerous mojitos I was feeling super confident and probably at this point I feel like the best I've ever been at salsa. I've never danced with someone else like I have with Jopi, he makes me feel absolutely amazing.

I am normally quite cautious, weary and sceptical of local/foreigner relationships as normally people in this situation, in my opinion, are just attracted to each other because of the fascination of exoticness on both parts. I've seen the same scenario everywhere from the beaches of Gambia to Thailand to Rio. Bored looking young local guys and girls exploiting tourists who realise they can't find a good looking partner back home and tourists exploiting the power imbalance of locals who are often dirt poor. I may sound like I'm delusional and disconnecting myself with that scene as I'm technically now seeing my Cuban dance teacher (how cliché!). But I really feel that it's not just the fact that Jopi is attractive, Cuban and a great dancer. He and I have just clicked and it hasn't been for a very long time that I've met someone who I'm on equal terms with as we are just as crazy about each other as the other. He's open, optimistic, sensitive, honest and genuine. He doesn't work in a dance school so wont have another foreigner fresh off the boat when I leave and I know he's not that type of person who goes actively looking for tourists to pursue. The name that Haberneros call these people are jintero/a's. I am however, paying for everything which anyone wanting to hang out with a Cuban has to accept. When the average wage is £6 a month, everyone lives on the bare minimum. He very openly addressed the situation about salsa classes and made it clear he stills wants to teach me but wont charge me and he's really pushing me to practice my Spanish. In exchange for meals and drinks, I don't think it's a bad deal. For the month I'm here he would have probably made over £200 from me in salsa classes but made the decision that he cared more about spending time with me. I wonder what most people would have done in that situation.

Everyone here is so educated, people read a lot and there are book shops on every corner. The guide book states that it's not uncommon for taxi drivers to recite Hemingway and discuss philosophy with passengers. People watch more art-house cinema here than mindless Hollywood blockbusters and high culture; the theatre, ballet, museums and galleries are accessible to all the population. For being so educated and cultured, it's hard to comprehend that people earn peanuts, when you would associate these interests with the upper class. What is most unique is the lack of class system here and seemingly absence of structural racism in institutions. Although racism exists, it's not nearly as bad elsewhere in Latin America where reports of even tourists experiencing severe racism are not uncommon. Our Spanish teacher is Black which is the first time I have seen a non-white person teaching in a school in Latin America. Afro-Cubano culture is celebrated here and is an integral part of Cuban traditions.

Jopi helped me with my homework in the morning before heading off to the theatre to rehearse and I went for my last university class. Even though it's been short, I'm actually going to miss Virginia, our teacher. An Italian boy joined our class and she was absolutely all over him. I'm sure he was so embarrassed but all the other girls in the class were finding it absolutely hilarious! I was so exhausted from the day before as I only had a few hours sleep and had to be at uni at nine, after four hours of classes I needed a nap. I walked in the door with my comfortable bed in mind only to be confronted with another jam session in the living room. As much as I tried to nap, 5 people on the drums in the next room is pretty hard to sleep through! I headed into town to meet Jopi after he finished work at 6 and we took a stroll around the old town.

We headed to the parks around Capitolio, a grand building with a huge dome that is larger than St Pauls and the US Capitol building in Washington. The building was initiated in 1926 by US backed dictator Machado and took 5000 workers. It's surrounded by lush parks and on a Friday night it becomes a meeting place and a place where people practice numerous activities. We saw a group of teenage boys, showing off their roller skating skills, a capoereia group and a karate class for tiny kids. I bumped into Marina and Craig who I had dinner with and then went to watch a band in a bar on the 9th floor on Hotel Lincoln, the view was stunning. The band mostly played son, which I have little practice off. So when people asked me to dance I found it was a little tricky at first, but half way through each song, it sped up to salsa and then I got into the swing of it. Jopi met me after and we took a taxi to a club in Miramar, south of the city. Although we arrived after midnight, the band was still yet to play and the party was only just getting started. There was however the token group of tourists who were already pretty wasted. We both wanted to go to a club which wasn't just salsa and this was a big mix of dance, R&B, reggaeton, Spanish pop and toumba, which the band played, a really funky style of Cuban music.

The next day, I went to a Couch-Surfer meeting party at a concert in Vedado. Jesus, the hipster film-maker is the king of the CS scene in Havana. He should really be paid, he dedicates so much time to connecting other travellers with travel partners and showing people around Havana. The concert took place in the gardens of Theatre Mella. It was really beautiful and the music was very interesting. I soon realised by the other concert goers and then by the band that this is where the Havana Hipsters hang out. The band played experimental, down tempo, chilled house mixed in with traditional Cuban styles of music; son, salsa and bolero. After, a DJ played and a group of break dancers rocked up. I had a really nice time and realised every event that Jesus organises would be to gay nights, art-house films or experimental bands, all with a Cuban twist! Awesome for me, but probably not so good for travellers who want to go to traditional Cuban touristy sights and nights out. The travellers included an Indian girl and Japanese lady who met in Cancun the day before, two Turkish men who knew each other from CS before but randomly bumped into each other at the airport that day, an older Canadian couple sporting Beerlao T-shirts and the token beautiful but arrogant German male solo traveller.

I met Katie at Hotel Nacionale the lunch the day after. The Nacionale the most famous hotels in Cuba and possibly in the Caribbean. The beautiful iconic art-deco hotel is more of an institution. It was built in the 1930s and has witnessed a series of notorious events since it opened. When Batista over threw the dictator Machada (the one who instigated Capitolio), Batista stormed the hotel and killed about 20 troops before setting up camp in the hotel. During the 1950s when the surrounding area was an adult playground of cabaret shows and casinos, one of the biggest American and Cuban mafia meetings took place in the hotel, under the guise that they were going to see a Frank Sinatra concert! We had a lovely lunch and after eating awful street sandwiches, burgers and hotdogs it was nice to eat something fresh. We headed to Callejon de Hemel, for a little bit of dance and got chatting to a group of girls and their cousins who were all totally plastered by 3pm. One kept repeatedly asking me where I'm from and I know that I am definitely guilty of that one! I wanted Katie to see Yopi's show as it was the final day so I arranged with Yopi who got us in for free again. I think I enjoyed it even more the second time round and Katie loved it. Even though its not in English I think it would be successful in London, maybe at the Sadler Wells Peacock theatre where I saw Havana Rakatan a few years a go. Afterwards Katie said that Jopi is the best dancer and of course I'm going to think that but he does give it his all in every moment. We went to a bar that Yosmel took me to the first week, the cool hipster bar down a little side street, where we chatted and relaxed for a few hours before calling it a night.