Conversation

Day 1 of the Cuba Brigade
Thursday on 2025-04-24
Hannover, Germany (GMT+1)

06:40 (GMT+1)
We just woke up (alarm at 6:35). I haven't slept much since I wanted to finish the documentation from yesterday first! We agreed upon leaving at 7:10 because we wanted to be at the airport at 8:00, as our flight is leaving 10:55.

Let the day of flights begin!

07:22 (GMT+1)
We're currently on on a suburban train (S-Bahn) to Frankfurt central station, from there we'll go to the airport! The gate we'll have to be at (Terminal 2, Area E, Level 2 in front of the baker Kamps) is exactly the same where I picked up my American trans friends a month ago when they fled from the USA.

07:35 (GMT+1)
We're at a train station waiting for a train to Frankfurt airport.

UX1502
UX51

09:28
At the gate

11:26 in the airplane (for already a longer time, like 30 minutes). Minutes away from take off! We're on the runway now. 11:27. Despite having flown before, my heart is pounding, I think it's exciting every time. Especially as I'm sitting right next to the right wing and hear it roar.

We've taken off. I can't see anything, as it's the thickest hoard of clouds I've seen. Pitch white. Everywhere. The roaring turbine sounds have blended into the background noise, the airplane still at an incline and rising to the right altitude. I would not want to be the pilot, steering through this sea of nothing. I've never seen a kind of white like this before. So bright that it is blinding. The only notice of a exterior world existing is the shadow the airplane is casting upon itself.

11:33
We've just now risen above the clouds. For the first time I can see what is below us, or that there is anything below us, as the pilot is adjusting the direction of the airplane. We're still at an incline as the seatbelt sign turns off.

15:13 (GMT) (Madrid)
We're sitting at the gate (B20) and waiting for boarding which started three minutes ago!

16:09 (GMT)
Sitting in the final airplane from Madrid to Cuba. I've sent my final messages to friends and family before being probably very disconnected for two weeks! I'm just leaving for such a short amount of time, yet it feels like I'm leaving forever...

16:35 (GMT)
We're in the air! This airplane is massive compared. To the other one, once again I'm seated at the wings. I'm prepared for a 9 hour and 15 minutes flight ahead of me to Havana, although, I'm a bit sad: I desperately tried sending an important E-Mail to someone before leaving. I even received WhatsApp messages etc. but the E-Mail just wouldn't send. It's a shame they'll have to wait another 9 hours for it.

21:53 (GMT)
I guess the flight is more than halfway done. It's currently just 15:53 in Havana. Once we arrive, it'll be sooner than it is now. So confusing. I've tried sleeping for 40 minutes, it was more like resting. It's not an issue, I've pulled all-nighters before and one could see what I'm doing now as that. A passenger undarkened the window in front of us which awakened my circadian rhythm. I think my sleep cycle can handle a shift of a few hours, it's like staying up super late with the added bonus of not having to get up early in comparison.

01:23 (GMT)
It's now 25 minutes to arriving at our destination! We're still at 11.277m high and traveling with 850km/h. I'm looking outside to see the bright sun, and that feels like gaslighting, as to me it's 1:30 in the morning.

1:27 (GMT)
We're just now at 9.275m in the air! Falling so quickly, although I'm almost not feeling it (beyond my ears popping).