After my fanscinating Cuba trip, I had to recap some of my previous "Cuban experiences". Among them is watching the Buena Vista Social Club.

I've watched the movie 7 years ago, which seemed like an eon. I had to admit not much of it was left in my memory, except it's about some old singers singing Cuban folk songs. I wasn't even into photography back then, so nothing visual really registered.

Now years had passed, I've learned to look at things differently and learned to embrace other cultures, watching the movie again is like feeling a fresh breeze in a hot summer day. All the familiar streets of La Habana, the Malecon, the beautiful yet run down buildings, the classic cars... and the music. I remembered it clearly like it just happened last night, we were walking on the dark cobble-stones street of Simon Bolivar, searching for live music, and there he is, a tall, slim young man carrying a gitar walking towards Plaza Mayor, where everything happens in the vivid nights of Trinidad. We followed the man into an outdoor bar, sit down at a front row table, and the joyful rythms of Chan Chan started flowing in the air...

Sitting in my living room a few weeks later, I can't help but feeling nostalgic already: watching the Buena Vista Social Club perform the same song in Amsterdam and Carnegie Music Hall, the wave shattering on the bank of Malecon, the serene garden where Manuel "Puntillita" Licea played dominos. And all the artists - humble, honest and optimistic - just like every Cubano we met all over the country...

I am a little sad to learn that some of the artists had passed in the past few years. On the other hand, I am happy that the movie had done justice to their musical talent and given them the credit they've long deserved. To me, the Buena Vista Social Club had become another piece of my memorable Cuban expereiences.