De Salida (The Departure)

This is the one field recording on the album that was not captured in Cuba. I recorded it during my first trip on the Canada Line Skytrain from downtown Vancouver to Richmond. The skytrain engine in this song conveys the modernity and mechanism of Vancouver as a contrast to the rich history and technological stasis of Havana. The coughs serve as a reminder of the cold of winter, when Canadians often long for warmer climates. The song is about departures, real or desired. It’s also about the process of travel. Air travel is often not fun. Security, customs, crying babies, long waits, delays, layovers, missed connections, uncomfortable seats, terrible food, impatient annoying selfish fellow travelers, and miscellaneous unexpected trials and expenses. It’s the destination that makes us go through this process. We go for the anticipation and excitement that arises from seeing and experiencing a new place and culture.

Two long flights and an extended layaway did not provide the best opportunities for sleep, and Cuba proved to be intense and surreal in our sleep deprived state. A little overwhelming at times, but that’s exactly what we signed up for by taking this trip. After getting off the plane at “Jo e Marti Airport” (The “s” was missing), we had a photo taken by customs before going through another security checkpoint. While sorting ourselves out in the airport we were approached by what I thought was security guard, who turned out to be a taxi driver. He directed us to a currency conversion kiosk, or Cadeca, where they accidentally dropped some of our money between the desk and the wall, then he led us to his car. No seatbelts in the back, very little cushion in the seat, and a noisy engine. The drive in was definitely surreal. Concrete hovels, horse drawn carts, motorcycles with sidecars, political billboards (¡Sociolismo o Muerte!), all winding back and forth through clouds of thick exhaust. We checked into the Hotel Plaza and collapsed in our utilitarian room.