Written by a Jamaican medical student in Cuba. The Gleaner has withheld authorship to protect the student's identity.

I arrived in Cuba in 2008. With excitement and a little bit of fear, I disembarked in the nation's capital, Havana.

I was greeted with beautiful scenery - lush green grass, well-paved roads, blue, cloudless skies and stately palm trees. It seemed to be paradise. We, the other students and I, were then transported from Havana to the western most part of the island in style and comfort. However, on our journey across the country, we began to realise that our Cuba would be vastly different.

The town in which our school is situated is a rural town where farming is the main source of income.

On campus, we are provided with three meals a day and snacks. The diet is quite different from what we are accustomed to in Jamaica, but as Jamaicans we know how to make the best of every situation.

We have to be up and out of our rooms at 7 o'clock Monday to Friday, so that our room can be inspected. This inspection represents part of our grades.

Compulsory study session

Class schedules are different from what we are used to in Jamaica. We have classes from 8 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. and then break for lunch until 2 p.m. We resume classes at 2 until 5:15 p.m. We break for dinner and leisure until 8 p.m. when we have a compulsory study session until 10:20 pm.

Quirky things about rural Cuba includes travelling primarily by donkey cart in some areas. Other minor discomforts are that, all students are required to have their personal toilet seat and some toilets do not have flush capacity for tissue.

Life in Cuba is certainly different, but I am appreciative of the opportunity and look forward to many adventures to come.