Havana , Cuba ( CNN ) So what has U.S. State Department subcontractor Alan Gross been up to since he was released from a Cuban prison exactly three months ago ? It turns out a lot more than most of the rest of us . Gross , 65 , has started to make up for the five years he spent imprisoned in Cuba by traveling abroad , attending the State of the Union address as a guest of the Obamas and last week meeting Pope Francis at the Vatican to personally thank him for his role in helping to win Gross ' freedom . After five years of being disconnected from the outside world , Gross now frequently posts on social media , writing of family reunions , eating the foods he longed for in prison and the reminders he experiences of his time in Cuba . `` I ca n't get away from Cuba , '' Gross wrote after hearing a Cuban song playing in an airport on his travels . While visiting Israel , he posted a photo of Cohiba cigars advertised for sale in a Tel Aviv tobacco shop . In 2009 , Gross was arrested by Cuban state security agents and eventually sentenced to 15 years in prison for importing banned communications equipment to the island . Gross said he was merely helping the island 's small Jewish community get online , but Cuban officials accused of him being part of a U.S. government plot to destabilize the island 's single-party Communist government . Cuba has highly restricted Internet access , and most people are not able to access the Web in their homes or on their phones . On December 17 , 2014 , Gross was freed , along with three Cuban intelligence agents and a Cuban man convicted of spying for the United States . It was part of a deal between the Cuban and U.S. governments to reestablish diplomatic relations after five decades of Cold War animosity . Gross , his wife , Judy , his attorney and three U.S. congressmen flew from Havana to his home state of Maryland aboard a U.S. military jet , one of the smaller versions of Air Force One used to transport President Barack Obama . The image of Gross celebrating his freedom aboard the flight home with CNN reporting the news of his release on a TV screen in the background became the picture he would use on his @ AlanPGross Twitter page . The night of his release , he enjoyed a meal of spicy Thai food with family and friends , a far cry from the bland rations he was forced to eat in prison . In January , Gross changed the status of his Facebook page to read that he had left his job as `` hostage '' at the Carlos Finlay military hospital where had been held in Havana . Later , he shared pictures of a visit to the dentist 's office to replace the teeth that he lost while he was held in Cuba . With his dental concerns met , he moved on to food . Gross also recounted savoring long-denied bowls of chili and bagels loaded with lox and cream cheese . Many of the posts are the daily jottings of a man returning to his life after an extended absence : Gross renewing an expired driver 's license or visiting a Starbucks for the first time in five years . But in other posts , he writes about taking in a sunset on the beach in Israel , seeing the snow fall in Washington and believing citizens in every country should have unimpeded access to the Internet . A spokeswoman for Gross turned down a CNN request for an interview with him but confirmed that the social media accounts are his . Rep. Chris Van Hollen , the Democrat representing the Maryland district Gross hails from , called it `` incredibly moving '' that a man who spent five years in a Cuban prison has since sat next to first lady Michelle Obama and met the pope . More than that , he 's come to signify the changing dynamics between officials in Washington and Havana . `` Alan did not ask for this special role in history , '' Van Hollen said , `` but he 's become a catalyst for this new chapter in American and Cuban relations . '' The photos that Gross posted online show a smiling man , slowly putting back on some of the 100 pounds he lost in prison , no longer the gaunt-faced , hollow-eyed prisoner who had gone on hunger strikes to protest his conditions while he was held in Cuba . `` The distance we 've come since December 17th 2014 has been a rewarding journey , '' Gross wrote in a Facebook post Saturday . `` For which we 're grateful . ''
• van Hollen : ‘ Gross became ` ` a catalyst '' for next steps in international relations . Gross has been a guest of the Obamas , got to meet Pope regularly since release from prison . He 's also been to the dentist , watched a D.C. movie and indulged in some good food .