Travel to Cuba, and arriving in Havana, was like no other country we traveled to before. When checking in at the ticket counter in San Jose, Costa Rica, we kept thinking the airline employee would tell us we could not board the plane because we were American and not allowed to travel to Cuba. But, she presented us our Tourist Cards, provided us comfy exit row seating, smiled, and sent us on our way.
There were no other Americans on our flight. We felt a little alone.
We kept trying to remind ourselves that the Costa Ricans and the Cubans do not care whether we are American. It is only our government that continues to levy restrictions on travel to Cuba, with certain exceptions, for which we of course qualified (wink wink). But, the nervousness existed nonetheless.