PHOTOS: Cuba as it was – A glimpse of life before the US arrives :

HAVANA — In Havana, the U.S. flag is flying for the first time in 54 years.

Before this past week’s historic resumption of diplomatic relations with Cuba, Washington Post photojournalist Sarah L. Voisin visited the nation to capture a lifestyle that will inevitably change as businesses emerge among a population hopeful for new goods. She sat among the families who gathered on street corners at night to play dominoes or talk in the salty air. She attended art openings at the uber-cool Fábrica de Arte Cubano and followed people who danced until 3 a.m. at La Cecilia, a government-ownedclub. She felt “unplugged” because the Internet was slow and cellular calls to the United States were expensive. She shared taxi rides with Cubans; everyone shares taxis because of high prices for gas and cars.

“I love being a witness in Cuba at this historic moment,” Voisin says. “I just hope it retains some of its romanticism from decades past.”