We were walking by a primary school in the center of Trinidad today when a lady sitting inside the school by the giant barred window signal me to approach her. She, no doubt, was one of the care takers. And I guess she realized that I noticed the kids napping and frankly, I thought they were adorable.

She asked me if I wanted to take a picture and I said I'd love to. After I took the picture, she asked where I was from. I said from the United States, at which point she responded, suggested, that I could give her one CUC (it's about $1.15 USD) or three, she added. I gave her one and walk away feeling a little creeped out. But this is kind a common theme these days in Cuba. If you're a tourist, someone is constantly trying to get money from you. If you're an American tourist, you're perceived as having dollar signs written all over you.

Everything is so different from our experience back in 2008. I'm glad we got to know the Cuba of 2008. So much has changed. And so much continues to change very rapidly these days, it seems.

And yet, I can't express enough how wonderful it is to be here before even more changes occur. We love Cuba and our time here couldn't be more magical. Life is good and we're grateful. -Amira