Conversation

Wow, it's quite a lot! Especially since this plan can change spontaneously any time! The past months have been a hassle, especially to get all the documents, insurance, clothing, and everything else in advance to begin. You can also look at the list of recommended / required items to bring, with the Dviajeros-Form, international health insurance documents, sun screen (!!!) and mosquito spray (!!!!), foot wear for field work, etc. I've prepared well, but this morning up until the late afternoon was the exact time where I'd have to put it all into my suitcase.

It took a few hours to pack everything, nothing important from the list was missing, everything else I'd find a way to get it up until the next day. I still had some things to do such as withdrawing cash and sending some E-Mails, but afterwards I said goodbye to my friends in Hannover and left for the train. I left at 16:57 from Hanover and arrived 19:44 in Frankfurt, but I wasn't alone: a friend of mine who will also be joining me on the brigade to Cuba accompanied me on the same train. We also helped one another prepare the whole time and shared info, for example I printed some flight documents she needed and she brought toilet paper which I didn't have spare at home (the CIJAM probably doesn't have much).

Once arrived in Frankfurt, a city I have many memories of (such as getting the servers required to initially build the very Mastodon instance I'm writing this post on), we drove to the city and state party bureau of The Left in Hessen / Frankfurt and got to talking. It was nice seeing almost everyone again. It was an odd feeling to know I'd be intensively spending the next two weeks with them, but the realization of the whole ordeal slowly settles in. Not everyone was here tonight as there was a traffic jam, and everyone coming from Berlin was stuck on the Autobahn.

They had a scale for our suitcase at the bureau, so everyone measured how much we could potentially still store for a few items we would bring to support Cuban schools and hospitals. We also discussed what songs to sing for the international night st the CIJAM, and some repetition of what would be happening the next day.

I adjusted some draft for a social media post we will make about this event on Instagram on labor day, I obviously won't have the internet to do it in Cuba, at least not easily.

After an oddly short amount of time, we all decided to go to a Cuba themed bar (Club Voltaire) in Frankfurt. I don't drink alcohol, so I ordered a virgin Cuba Libre, how original.

We all knew we had a long day, including an intercontinental 10 hour flight, after a four hour flight, ahead of us. So, after a few short heated debates, and one brigade member swiftly completing the first lesson of duolingo, we called it quits and split as a group. Me and my other friend from Hannover sleep at one of the organizer's places! Much more cost effective than a hotel for the night.

I'm documenting all of this as I'm lying in a sleeping bag on the floor at 2 AM. The next two weeks are gonna be a wild ride for sure, and my alarm is already ringn' in three hours. I'll better call it a day, and write a muuuuch longer and detailed briefing on everything happening here on the flight tomorrow! Once you're seeing the next post, I'll be on this one small island in the Caribbean that refuses to back down! 🇨🇺🕊️

Frankfurt, Germany (GMT+1)
Thursday, 24th of April 2025 at 02:16
----END OF DAY 0 OF THE CUBA BRIGADE----

Public

Notices

Feeds