The small Jet Blue plane cut through the clouds of an early-morning sky in Florida. Almost immediately, it began its descent, aimed for the northeastern coast of Cuba. I'm on the right aisle seat, about midpoint in the plane. To my right is a handsome young Cuban man, with the most astonishing and elaborate gold dental work I have ever seen. Each time he smiles - and he smiles a lot - his teeth glow, capturing and reflecting the sunlight we have just discovered above the clouds. To his right is Natalie, a tiny, birdlike woman of an unknown age. She's clearly uncomfortable. I know the feeling. How in the hell did I get here? That brief plane ride, nearly 60 years in the making, launched author and journalist Hildred (Hildy) Corbett on a nine-day odyssey to Cuba. While there, she experienced both challenges and victories, while discovering self-reliance, developing life-time friendships and growing to love Cuba's strongest asset: its people.