Translation of esperanzado

The entrance hall had a design of the seventies which I found charming. An older man came towards me an asked me whether I needed a ride. I agreed and we drove to downtown of Havana, capital of Cuba.
We had time to walk around the waterfall but refrained from entering the little lake at the bottom. My fellow tourtakers were quiet nice and we spend a while just sitting in the grass near the water.
Some of the people had invited me for dinner and I joined them. I soon found out that they were eating at their apartment and were cooking by themselves. I found myself peeling raw potatoes.