Meeting Elena was perhaps one of the highlights of my Cuban adventure. I stayed at her casa in Santiago de Cuba and by the time I left her house I loved her to pieces!!! She claimed to be my “mama Cubana” and cared for me as much as she could! In the morning she would stuff my backpack with all kinds of snacks so I wouldn’t get hungry later. That’s the kind of a woman she is! Most of the time I didn’t understand her, and she didn’t understand me, but she still managed to have me in stitches! This picture was taken just before I left Santiago de Cuba.