good talk

The Evening of March 23, 2010 I Went to the Estadio Sandino, Seating only 20 thousand, in Santa Clara to see the 1st Game of the Best of 7 Cuban Championship Series between the Villa Clara Orangemen and the Industriales Blue Lions, Villa Clara having Won in the Playoffs Iwith the Ciego de Avila Wasps and Industriales Having Beaten the Havana Bulls. My Pass Looked a Lot Better than Everybody Else's and I thought it Gave Me Juice for a Real Good Seat and I Was Right (cost me 3.60), I Showed My Pass to the Soldier to Sit Yet Again Behind 1st Base and He Nodded. To Say the Place was Packed is Putting it Mildly, People Were Sitting in Each Other's Laps Although Men Didn't Do This. With a 3-2 Lead in the 8th Inning the Villa Clara Catcher Came Out and Reassured his Pitcher Who Was In a Tight Spot and at the End he Slapped the Pitcher's Rear With His Glove. Men in Sports are Always Doing This and Never at Any Other Time. The Game Ended with This Score as in Cuba it's a Game of Skill without Beating the Ball to Death, no Homers in the 2 Cuban Games I Saw and few Long Drives. When the Game was Over I Wanted to Leave but Couldn't as the Villa Fans Sang and Danced for Half an Hour After, the Place was so Packed I Had to Leave When Everybody Else Did. I Felt Bad that Industriales Eventually won the Championship Series in 7 Games Winning the 7th 7-5. Poor Little Villa Clara. To Havana, Population 2.2 Million, yet Again. I Went to the Museo de San Salvador at the Castle Guarding the Harbor and it was Full of Spanish Treasures. I Was in the House that Jose Marti was Born in. I Was at the Monumento de Estadiantes de Medicine which Still has the Wall Where 8 Cuban Medical Students were Executed by Firing Squad on July 27, 1871 after Being Falsely Accused of Desecrating the Tomb of a Spanish Loyalist. The Art Museum is Impressive. The Partagas Cigar Factory Tour was Out of Sight, cost $10 but Worth it. Our Guide Luis, a Well-Spoken Young Man Took Us All Over the Factory Which Has 400 Workers, We Saw Where the Various Tobacco Leaves Were Bundled by Experts for the Various Types of Cigars. Everyone Works Slowly and Methodically, a Plum Job it Pays $40 a Month and Every Worker Gets to Choose 3 Cigars a Day to Take Home with Him including the Most Expensive which even in Cuba Cost 20 U.S. apiece. Many Workers Wash Out in their Selection Process. Looked like a Fun Place to Work. Went to the Museo de la Revolucion which has Items from the War for Independence and Fidel's War, Pretty Good. One Section is Titled "Rincon de los Cretinos" which Features Cartoons Ridiculing Batista, Reagan and Bush the Younger (the Corner of Idiots). Across the Way is are Martial Vehicles including a Tank that Fidel Supposedly Operated Himself at the Bay of Pigs, there's also the Boat "Granma" encased in Glass in which Fidel and His Boys Landed Back in Cuba in 1956. Havana is a Great Place for Tourists in Fact All of Cuba is. I Almost Missed my Flight Back to Cancun as the Plane Left Early of all things, I Had to be Summoned Over the Intercom.