First and foremost- since it is difficult to access internet here, please send any requests to my personal email as I check that more often: Spanish is preferred (we only speak Spanish) but we can always figure out a way to communicate if you don't speak Spanish!

saboritteresa@gmail.com

We can also be reached by telephone at:
+53 7866-6467 (house)
+53 5330-1492 (Mobil)

My name is Teresa and I am a native of Habana, Cuba. As most Cubans, I live in a house with my parents,, Cristina and Lazaro, and my 19year old son Juan who always keeps things interesting.! We are a humble family with big hearts, and we would love to share our home with you.

We have been renting rooms in our house for a few years now, and we have met people from all over world. Many of the people who have stayed in our house have become dear friends, and have returned year after year.

Our home is comfortable, cozy, and filled with good energy. Because of the economics of our country (Cubans are not allowed to host foreigners in their houses for free- we can get in a lot of trouble if we do illegally. The only way to host foreigners is legally, as an "arrendador", which involves getting a license and paying a monthly tax. For this reason we have to charge a small fee for the rooms, but we hope you understand. We are happy to offer breakfast and dinner included in the price, and endless amounts of good conversation and any help you might need getting around.

Our house is very centrally located- around the corner from the famous "Casa De la Musica" and just a few blocks from the Malecón and Parque Central. You can walk to most places from here.

We have two rooms that we can offer: a private room with a double bed, for $20/room, or a shared room with 3 single beds for $15/person . Both rooms have air conditioning and a bathroom just for the guests. The beds are comfortable and the rooms are clean and cozy.

Since Cuba is a unique place, we offer some advice for those traveling:

1. Bring euros, not dollars, to change. There are lots of change houses and hotels where you can change your money into CUC (convertible Cuban pesos). This is the currency designed for tourists and is mostly what you will use to purchase things.

2. A taxi from the airport will cost $25cuc, and can drop you directly at our door.

3. We can help you make arrangements for further travels. The Cuban company Viazul is the best way to travel around the country and we can help you make accommodations.

4. Watch out for "jineteros", which are Cuban scam artists. While Cuba is extremely safe in terms of physical safety, these people are the only people to watch out for. Cubans are extremely friendly and warm people, but honest Cubans probably won't approach you as tourists because they are weary of you thinking that they are jineteros. The Cubans that are overly friendly and approach you are most likely jineteros, and will ultimately try and scam some money out of you. If you initiate contact with people, most likely they are trustworthy- but we advise you to keep an eye open to the Cubans who approach you first.

5. Transportation around Cuba is fairly simple. If you are traveling within the neighborhood you can take a bicitaxi for $1cuc, or if you are traveling to nearby neighborhoods like Vedado you can take a shared taxi right outside of our house for 10 Cuban pesos (moneda nacional), which is the equivalent of $.50 Cuc. We can help explain the system better to you when you arrive.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

by hosting people from all over the world we have learned about this wonderful site and want to be part of the community!

We believe that meeting people from around the world enriches both our lives and our friends' lives!

Interests

i love to cook and am hoping soon to take a course to learn more techniques and dishes.

• cooking
• breakfast
• traveling
• socializing
• economics