“Can you take this credit card? It is American.” I said. “No, no, this will not work here. This will not work anywhere,” she says as she waves the card in my face. I couldn’t believe it. This was the nicest hotel in Havana. We had tried everything by this point - 5 ATMs, 4 banks, and 4 hotels. Next stop was the U.S. Embassy. Little did we know, there was not much they could do either.

I’m a knucklehead and forgot some of the cash we had planned to bring to Cuba in Denver. Now, here I was in Havana, Cuba with no cash, absolutely no way to get cash, and a girlfriend who thought we were going on a ‘relaxing beach vacation.’

It’s difficult to process the grandiose appearance of Havana and its neo-baroque buildings that dawned over the famed Malecon glittering in the rising sun. At times it felt like these same buildings were going to collapse right there and crumble. Cuba is an unbelievably intriguing place, that makes you think, makes you dream and make you feel all different types of emotions. One minute your heart is racing with the sights of horses pulling men in high drawn chariots roaring down the small streets clamored with retro style coffee shops like La Fortuna in Havana’s Miramar district, the coffee shop turned bar daily with a hollowed out car in the back room and a bathtub to romantically sit with a friend and enjoy Turkish infusions. At other times the pace slows, the smell of hand rolled cigars fill the air and the crowds fade into the early evening.

Seven days of Cuba filled me with excitement and curiosity. How was is that this country just opened its doors after years of oppressive rule and a societal system that didn’t allow citizens to buy or sell cars and homes? My girlfriend and I spent three days in the city of Trinidad, on the south coast of central Cuba nestled between the Escambry Mountains the Bahila de Casilda, a 17th Century Spanish settlement lined with pastel colored buildings along European-esque cobble streets. We ate our way through the city devouring portions of black rice and frijoles with the occasional mojito. Dinner included numerous drinks and delicious flattened pieces of chicken dubbed “Chicken Supreme” – white chicken breast beaten to a pulp with melted cheese and roasted vegetables on the side. Shrimp on the menu along with fish was seldom present, “Sorry sir we don’t have that tonight” became a regular occurrence – time for the second option!

The days turned into nights and I was glad we stayed with homestays or ‘casa particulars’ within Havana and the other cities. Our host mom always took care of us with the utmost respect and made our travel as flawless as possible – in Cuban standards.

Fast-forward 4 days into our trip and before we waive down a taxi collective (the only reasonable way to get around in the city or countryside) to depart from Trinidad to Vinales, a cigar toting valley filled with tobacco fields and quaint bodegas nestled along the raised plateaus, I review the money we had left. It was at the moment that I realized we were about $150 short. Never before had I run out of money internationally. At that moment, we decided we had to go back to Havana to try to get money in the big city, before heading to the countryside of Vinales. After reaching Havana and trying everything we could think of to save money or use our credit cards, my my worst fear came true — American cards do not work anywhere in the city, despite numerous people telling me they had started accepting them in Cuba.

Luckily, we had met some incredibly kind people along our way that were willing to help us out. We walked four miles to the home of our house mom from our first night in Havana. Through our broken Spanish and our host mom’s little English, she quickly understood our problem. Her home was booked for the next few nights, as we were supposed to be in Vinales. She was also aware that her home was one of the more expensive homestays in the area. It didn’t take long before she was determined to help us find a solution. She said she would call all of her friends with homestays until she found us the very best deal, so we could save enough cash to eat and do things around the city. Thirty minutes later, we had another host mom all lined up, ready to welcome us into her home and an additional sum of money to get through the next few days due to the cheaper price of this new homestay.

When all was said and done, we walked out of the country with $1.50 to spare — pockets empty and big smiles. This money pinch forced us to circumnavigate the city of Havana on foot – exchanging greetings and sharing the very roads that breathe life into the city. We found affordable ice cream spots, dungy cafés with impeccable espressos and an appreciation for the locale around us. I learned numerous lessons during this trip, but most importantly to over-prepare for any trip. Like the outdoors, each experience pushes up to a new place and teaches the importance of our diligence to the surrounding environment. Expectations become useless once submersed in an exotic location and all the more one must call upon the past and move forward. Cuba taught me to respect the unknown – no matter what.

Habana, Cubano