Crossing the Atlantic for the fi rst time, young French rap star Eddy de Pretto explores Cuba, solo. I dropped off mybag, forgot about my phone and discovered the Cubans’ thirst for freedom and strong sense of community. These characteristics quickly helped me forget my extreme solitude and fear of the unknown, instead sharpening my curiosity, because the vibrant colors in the streets, people’s hunger for meeting others and their individual stories were so awesome. The minute my Air France fl ight 820 from Paris-CDG lands, I can see that my fl eece looks ridiculous, given the suffocating heat. I convince myself to keep it on as I don’t have a backpack to stow it in. I’m usually pretty chill. I wait for my bags and eventually leave the airport. I come face to face with a mass of people waiting for friends and family, wearing almost nothing. I can still picture that woman in a short skirt and tank top and the man in sandals smoking a huge cigar. So this is it, it’s real, I’m in Cuba. I quickly grasp that my fl eece is overkill, and that it’s making people smile. I resign myself to taking it off and look for a taxi. And there is James scratching his crotch and trying to catch my attention. James speaks only Spanish, but he tries to explain in broken English that his taxi is an offi cial one and that he’ll drive me to Havana. I don’t understand everything, I never paid attention to my Spanish teacher in high school, but I recognize Camila Cabello’s song “Havana” that’s playing on the radio, and it comes alive in a way it never did before when I heard it back home in my local Parisian supermarket. 127