The setting sun was gradually and quietly kissing the edges of the ocean on a Friday evening as it fades unnoticeably into oblivion.
The view from above with a well engineered drone was one that will send shivers to your spine.
This artistry landscape of the north eastern part of the city is something that has been overlooked by even the city town planners.
It is 8km(5 miles) long road in the coastal line of the Capital city of the world's famous archipelago.
The concrete made seawall is absolutely breathtaking; Havana is Cuba most iconic city and this place just described is the tourist's most preferred destination- The name Malec贸n evokes so much emotions on all 'Habaneros'.
Malec贸n is known for its daily activities especially in the evenings.
The weekends are more exciting, tourists exploring the city landscape and equally looking for some beautiful Cubanita to marry and take back to their respective countries.
Drugs, pimps and prostitution are very rampant. While the best of Cuban's creative artists and performers do sing from time to time with their acoustic guitars.
Adeola Rufai sat down at the most iconic seawall of Malec贸n in the evening, looking at the unending stretch of the ocean till Miami which is just 150km away from Havana.
He wondered if he had taken the right decision to come to Cuba to study medicine or he should have taken the steps of the infamous Tony Montana and shake the whole city of Miami.
He saw the iconic 1985 movie 'Scarface' as a 16 year old teenager when he started doing drugs secretly in his high school in Lagos, Nigeria.
He and his band of merry-go-round school friends would literally act those scenes and hilariously speak with those thick Spanish accents of Tony Montana.
It wasn't long till he was caught and sent to a Juvenile correction center.
This angered his parents who paid a high fee to bail him out and since then have been planning to send him abroad to further his medical education.
So when a Federal government scholarship to study medicine came two years later, he saw it as a divine call to fulfill that which he so much loved- become a medical practitioner.
All his now former school friends were so happy.
They came to his house to celebrate with him the night of his departure and reminded him that Cuba boasts of the best medical doctors in Africa and the world.
They had researched carefully the impact of Cuban doctors around the globe and have been known as a country that is seriously involved with medical missionary and tourism.
Even on the day he was to join other 99 Federal scholars at the Lagos international airport to embark on their once in a lifetime medical opportunity, his friends escorted him to the airport to bid him farewell.
His parents and siblings all accompanied the 18 years old Adeola to the airport and his dad told him before boarding the plane...
... " by the time I come back to this same airport to pick you up in seven years time, I will be addressing you as Dr. Adeola Rufai"
He hugged him, same with his three younger siblings and mother.
They all kissed him and wept as he passed through with his small hand luggage to board the flight departing Lagos at 9:00pm.
But it was his two buddies who spent two weeks with him at the juvenile correctional center that did bade him the last farewell.
"Hey Adeola!!!" they both laughed as they also hugged him, "we believe we will come here to welcome you with your beautiful Cuban wife and five year old kid, Dr Adeola"
He then looked so curious and asked why?
They laughed again and said "Cuba has the most beautiful ladies in the Caribbean world"
****
It's exactly three months since his departure from Lagos Nigeria, and Adeola can now actually communicate with the locals in fluent Spanish.
He has been undergoing double intensive Spanish classes to meet up and get along with the Cubans on all walks of life.
His Spanish classes were to last six months before he will proceed with the premedical school.
His first year in medical school will immediately commence after the pre-med in September.
Although his father enrolled him in an intensive Spanish class back there in Lagos for 4 weeks after he got the Federal Government Scholarship (FGS).
Adeola was selected from a rigorous set of exams and interviews conducted Nationwide to pick the best 100 students. He was truly a brilliant and exceptional intelligent student.
He also did online YouTube videos on the latest Spanish courses and downloaded lots of Cuban Spanish songs.
Infact, he was more than prepared for this memorable experience and journey into the unknown yet exciting Carribean cruise.
'The young doctor' as he was famously called, excelled so much in his first three Spanish classes and impressed all his tutors.
Whenever he goes out with his best friend Okeke, he was always eager to speak with anyone and practice his little Spanish with so much confidence.
And the Cubans are very friendly and warm people who are always eager to teach and help him flow with accurate fluency in Spanish.
He has called his family many times back home in Lagos to tell them what a beautiful island Cuba is and he's definitely having the best time of his life.
His parents were so happy to hear their child is adapting to life quickly and they always keep in touch to motivate him frequently.
He had strucked a wonderful friendship and partnership with Okeke (another Nigerian who also got the scholarship from the south eastern zone) right from the airport at lagos.
And the two has been inseparable ever since then that some almost confuse them as siblings or relatives.
John Okeke was sitting there with Adeola at the famous Malec贸n that Friday evening, enjoying the serene environment and the best of Cuban cultures.
Adeola was happy to also mix and interact with other English speaking tourists who were excited to meet foreign medical students in the country.
But it was actually the locals that excited him the more. It gave him ample time to practice more and more and ask questions.
He walked the Malec贸n boulevard with his best friend and started enjoying nightlife in Havana.
So relaxed was he because there was no cause for alarm because of the presence of police everywhere in the boulevard.
He walked around, bought some nice Cuban artefacts and souvenirs to send home to his parents.
Now he started to realize what his two friends told him at the airport; he saw with his own eyes how beautiful the cuban ladies were.
So sexy that even their normal walks in "The Malec贸n" will make one to turn around as many times as possible to have a glimpse of that body that can even make a paralytic man rise up with a strong erection.
Adeola thought he was still daydreaming, living in a fantasy land, seeing all the natural and beautiful 'Cubanitas' he had only imagined in movies he did saw back home in Nigeria.
Truly he was living the dream. It was without any iota of doubt the best moment of his life, and he wondered if he will ever wake up from this dream.
He remembered his younger sister's favorite Madonna "La Isla Bonita" song and believed with all his heart that the queen of pop visited Havana and Cuba while writing that song.
As he walked around the 8km Malec贸n boulevard built in 1901, Adeola will looked straight into the ocean and wonder what Miami will even look like if Havana is just like a paradise to him.
He will jokingly tell his friend John Okeke to pinch him so that he will wake up from this long dream that never ends.
"You aren't daydreaming Mi amigo" okeke replied him after he did pinched his skin so hard that Adeola screamed at the top of his voice.
"Thanks for your kind gesture"- Adeola smiled as the two strolled together in a night they will never forget in a hurry.
But Adeola still had second thoughts about this dream he's experiencing- Is it real or fake?
Will he one day just wake up from his tiny old bed in Lagos and cried his heart out that he didn't even get to the airport let alone stroll the streets of the famous Havana city?
As he wandered in thoughts between reality and illusion, he came to realize that there's no difference between both, and illusion is even better than reality.
And he was now having doubts that he might be 70% living an illusion in Havana, Cuba.
****
It was not until he heard the voice of a teenager (probably 19 years), that he realized that it wasn't a dream or an illusion.
It was as real, smooth and seductive as it can be.
She sang with so much joy and fun that Adeola even mistook her for a famous Cuban teenage singer.
But that's just the problem he will encounter later in this beautiful island; so many beautiful singers that aren't even professional.
The Cubanita danced so suavely, moved her waist and was totally unaware of what was happening around her.
She was literally in the moment, enjoying every word and syllable that came out of her mouth...
As she sang one of Cuba's all time favorite song...
Adeola stood there, looking with so much attention and also forgetting what was happening around him.
He got lost in time and space, it looked like the earth actually stopped spinning around the sun and the two only people existing on planet earth were the singer and himself.
He still couldn't believe his eyes. What he saw many times on TV about the Carribean ladies, he's just witnessing it life and direct from Havana.
Adeola almost thought he had an epileptic seizure (but thank goodness it was just shivers down his spine) when the teenager opened her mouth and .....
..."Guantanamera...Guajira Guantanamera"