Cuba

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“The shortest shorts parading the streets, stilettos worn by the sexiest girls imaginable walking down the street with postures of confidence, boys walking with pride, in singlets showing their golden brown skin or strutting with the flare of someone who knows how to move their body. “Hay muchos bonitos lugares aqui” (there are many beautiful places here) say many Cubans. They’re proud of their culture and the country that they live in, even if things aren’t perfect. People walk around with musical instruments, supposedly to their next gig, possibly to play for tourists. Cuban salsa oozes out onto the streets from many openings along the street; Cuban cigars are smelt out of holes in the wall or in plazas where many people hang out in the obscurity of the trees. During the day, you may be surprised to see many people walking around with cakes in their hands, uncovered, leaving the cake open to any sort of danger or splatter. If you walk away form the centre of the centre, you start to see the decaying buildings which populate Habana. It looks beautiful to the eye but in reality isn’t very safe to live in and would go down in a second if any natural forces were to hit this city. Walking along the streets at night, you might come across people singing on the streets, rapping to another persons beat or letting out large booming, colourful voices. Habana feels exactly as I imagined from the pictures that had seen and the few documentaries that I have watched. “Tenemos el sangre caliente” (we are hot blooded) is definitely true and summarises well what kind of people Cubans are. The people I’ve spoken to from here are very intelligent and knowledgeable people. They know a lot about their history and the history of other countries (which they aren’t able to visit very easily). They know much more about other countries than most people in Australia do even though we are able to travel with little difficulty. The education system is obviously working well in Cuba and most people seem to take advantage of the fact that education is encouraged and is free. There’s also a really strong health system here and people get treated well and for free. The backdrop of the classic American cars which can be anything from shining and well kept to falling apart at the seams, makes you feel as if you’ve stepped back in time in a 1950’s romantic movie. I have to keep on reminding myself that I’m in Cuba as it still feels surreal, having been a dream of mine to travel here for many years. An old man sitting next to me in the square has just bought me a rolled up piece of paper which I thought held a cigar in it but in fact has roasted peanuts. The piece of paper was a reused one with notes written on it from a class. A generous gesture from a stranger who I’m sure doesn’t have that much to give.”

Notes on Cuba:

Most people agree that Cuba has a low level of crime in comparison to other Latin American countries and corruption is quite minimal. This may be due to the high quality social system that is in existence here, as people have access to all the basics for free. This includes a comprehensive system of security at work,.good working conditions and care for people who are in need where it be poor health, disabled, old age, maternity, etc. I was told that everyday there´s morning exercises organised by the government for the elderly. People are respected and valued here and aren’t turned away from e.g. a hospital because they don’t have health insurance. Unemployment is also very low at 1.9%, the lowest in Latin America.

On saying that, people aren’t paid very much in Cuba and there seems to be discrepancies between certain careers. Doctors for example are paid 22 CUC a month and taxi drivers can earn double this. Generally people don’t earn very much at all (1 CUC equals $1.15 Aus) and things are very expensive in the shops, especially when you´re earning 22 CUC a month! For example a pen costs 1.50 CUC and shampoo costs from 3.00 CUC up and often these products can only be bought in CUC (which Cubans aren´t meant to earn but of course need). Therefore people can’t afford to buy much and many have converted to working in the hospitality trade as here they can earn tips undeclared. The thing that is astonishing is that everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, is owned by the government. It’s hard to absorb this fact when living in a country that is based on neo-liberal capitalist principles. The brand name shops (such as Adidas or Puma) that are operating in Cuba are a joint businesse with the government where the government owns 51% and the company 49%. From my understanding, if you have your own business than you must pay the government a huge amount before you are able to profit yourself and the business would be in the name of the government.

In medicine school, doctors learn about herbal and homeopathic medicine along with traditional medicine. Herbs used in certain remedies are not opposed in Cuba as they are in the west and there are several main pharmacies that sell herbs to the public. Cuba appears to be more ecological than most countries. They use everything to the maximum, serve street food in reusable containers, don’t have plastic bags available in shops, use limited machinery for farming duties and use permaculture /organic farming as the main approach to agriculture and horse and cart still being the main mode of transport in the country.

There’s only two sorts of accommodation here in Cuba. Hotels or rooms within homes (called Casas Particulares). I stayed with a lovely family in Habana. The grandmother made me a birthday cake and they all took good care of me. They had set up their Casa Particular illegally for the first 6 months, therefore weren’t registered with the government. Now they are registered and have to pay 175 CUC per month per room to the government before they are able to make any profit from the enterprise. I paid 15 CUC per night for my room and there weren’t always people in the second room while I was there.

The food in Cuba is definitely not as rich or varied as in Mexico. The street food (which you can only buy with cuban pesos) consists of greasy pizza, hot dogs, cheese sandwiches, dry tamales and boxed lunches (cajitas) consisting of rice with a few beans and meat. Most of it is very unhealthy. I guess that people eat mostly at home as it’s cheaper and would only eat out once in a while, therefore not being so affected by the unhealthy street food diet. But there is beautiful cane juice available in Habana which you can buy for 1 cuban peso (less than 5 cents), freshly squeezed in front of you which you drink on the spot and hand back the glass to be used again. Soooooooo good on a hot day!

There are so many varieties of people here from black to white to super tall to short and everything in between. There are many who don’t look like they are Cubans (my idea of Cuban) who are obviously Cubans by their accent and the general manner in which they behave on the streets (e.g. white blondes). I didn´t get hassled half as much in Cuba as I have been in Mexico for example, maybe due to the fact that there are people of all looks here. Generally people are lean and the mix between African and Spanish blood has created gorgeous people who have beautifully fit bodies who definitely have the right to flaunt it as they do. There are many young couples, exhibiting in the streets while they go for meanders, all looking stunning. People dress well here, especially for going out at night. Girls wear stilettos with almost nothing on their backs and the shortest shorts or skirts possible. Ed hardy t-shirts are on many males backs, along with the big brand names such as Nike, Dolce and Gabana, Versace, etc. I was genuinely surprised to see such expensive brands being carried by many young people in the streets. When asking a friend, I was told that these come in cheap from South America where I guess some of these clothes might be made.

I asked if there was discrimination here in Cuba and most people answered not within the Cubans themselves but there definitely is between the tourists and Cubans. Up until a few years ago, Cubans weren’t allowed to enter the tourist hotels. Tourists are kept as far away as possible from the Cubans. Starting from the two different currencies that are used (CUC which is for tourists and cuban pesos which is for the Cubans). The impact of the Fidel government on liberty and freedom is subtle to a tourist but when you start questioning Cubans they tell you in hushed voices that they’re not meant to talk against the government, that any opposition will be acted upon quite severely (loosing your job, imprisonment), that Cubans aren’t able to travel outside of Cuba unless they have a formal invitation and that all costs are covered by an outside source, they’re not meant to accept tourists in transport that is only meant for Cubans such as 3 wheeled bikes and machinas, that they’re not really allowed to interact with foreigners, that they’re not meant to have a relation with a foreigner and shouldn’t be seen in public together, that it’s illegal to host foreigners at home unless they have a permit to do so…the list goes on. Access to internet is also minimal as most Cubans can´t afford it and the internet available is censored (just as they´re trying to do in Australia!).

There’s a definite island air to the place which comes from the combination of Habana being right on the coast, how hot it is and how everyone is always out on the street. I love this. People live outside rather than indoors, hanging out, chatting, meeting up, watching, going for strolls, kids playing while old men play dominoes from morning to night, sometimes sipping rum while intensely concentrated on the game.

There are so many museums in Habana that I sincerely believe that it would win the Guinness book of records for the city with the most museums. Every building which the government is unsure what to do with, is converted into a museum. Therefore there are museums about absolutely everything such as the museum of numbers, copious amounts on the different aspects of the revolution, art museums, natural history museum, cigar museum, rum museum, victor hugo museum, and anything else that you can think of.

There are many holes in the wall in Habana which is where shops operate from (mainly who sell in cuban pesos) or eateries who sell take away food. Many are located in buildings that are falling apart, making the place look impoverished but still full of life. The markets that I visited had limited fruit and veges available, appearing desolate and a little lacking.

The Che is everywhere. Pictures, wall art, photos, paintings, within political propaganda and on everyone’s lips. I was travelling with an Argentinean, Agus, in the second week of my time in Cuba who I had met through my casa particular and when asked where we were from, I got a blank look when I told them Australia (after people guessed anything from Chile to Peru to Venezuela), whereas the Argentinean had people asking him to come to their house for a coffee and praising him for being from the same country that Che was from.

Political propaganda is also everywhere, especially along the highway, on big billboards saying things such as “Tenemos y siempre tendremos socialismo” (we have and will always have socialism), “Anniversario de 50 anos, la revolucion continua” (50^th Anniversary, the revolution continues), or anti-United States messages portraying the states as the evil force against the Cuban revolution that will be vanquished. Billboards are actually only used for political messages rather than for advertising as they are back home. The billboards picture anything from Fidel, his revolution team, the five prisoners who are imprisoned in the U.S. and of course the Che.

Agus and I thought it would be cheaper and more authentic to hitchhike with Cubans rather than take the tourist bus, which is the only option apart from taxis for tourists. It was difficult for us to work out where to do this from, how to get there, if it was easy for us to get picked up, etc as most people that we asked seemed to be part of the scheme to get us on the tourist bus – vague with their explanations and telling us that it wasn’t possible when we knew that it was. Finally we made it to the road leading to Vinales (the cigar making district) and were picked up by a big truck, which was already carrying 10 Cubans in the back. With the wind in our hair and oranges and lollies shared around, we ended up having to pay for the ride (as everyone else) but it ended up being 40 cuban pesos (a little under 2 CUC) instead of 12 CUC with the privilege of experiencing how Cubans travel. At times I felt like a refugee, hiding when we came across police as we were told that we weren’t really meant to travel this way. More and more people came on, sometimes there would be packs of people waiting for a ride under a bridge and the truck would drive straight past them as there were just too many to all fit in.

We arrived in Vinales at night and thanks to a woman in the same machina as us (a collective taxi), we found a Casa Particular straight away. We were asked for our passports and visas so that the owners of the Casa could note down our details in their records to give to the officials. We both had our passports but I hadn’t bought my visa with me having left my big backpack in Habana and not knowing that I needed to travel with it. The owners almost hit the roof with fear. At first they told us that we had to leave straight away but after some reflection they agreed that we could stay for the night as long as we didn’t tell anyone that I didn’t have my visa with me and that we would go straight back to Habana the next day. We agreed knowing very well that we wouldn’t be doing such a thing after travelling all day to get here and not seeing anything of Vinales. The owner a little later explaiend that all the Casas Particulares had been checked by the police apart from there’s. This explained why they had so much fear about us staying with no visa, the anticipation that the police could come at any moment. The next day we said our goodbyes to the Casa under the understanding that we would be heading back to Habana that day. We found another Casa Particular a little further on who also asked for my visa but when told that I didn’t have it with me she just said not tell anyone and left it at that.

In Vinales as we walked around the stunning hills covering the countryside, we met an old man on his horse who invited us to his house for a coffee, the coffee beans originating from his small coffee plantation on the side of his house. He showed us his coffee plants and also his tobacco plants that he used to sustain his life through selling the leaves to the government. He rolled a cigar with expert ability and proceeded to light it, passing it around to both of us as well as his 4-year-old grandson who had a few puffs with a nonchalant attitude. As we sat on his front porch, sipping our coffee and watching the grandson causing havoc with whatever he came across, I looked across the fields and felt a calmness and contentment at the beauty that encountered my eyes. The old man wasn’t living in luxury but he was based in such a beautiful part of the world which overruled any sort of lavishness he may have craved.

From Vinales we went to Trinidad which is a good 10 hours away from Vinales, having to return to Habana to get there. We stood out in the rain waiting for a return ride but as it was pouring so much, the few cars and trucks that appeared just screamed past with no hesitation of stopping. The machinas we came across didn’t want to take us at first for fear of the police and then said that they could but that they would have to charge almost as much as the tourist bus. We finally organised a ride on the local bus by being smuggled on first and sitting waiting on the bus for a good 20 minutes before other passengers were allowed on. We paid a little more for this privilege but were quite happy to finally get going, especially since we were completely soaked from the down pour. In Habana we paid a machina to take us all the way to Trinidad. Half of the way into the journey, we hit a storm (once again as it happened for my entire second week in Cuba caused by a nearby cyclone) which prevented us from seeing anything in front of us. It was night by this time and I became angrier and angrier with the machina driver for not wanting to stop. The storm ceased and I relaxed when I could see in front of our windscreen again. We arrived in one piece but completely exhausted after 12 hours of being on the road.

Trinidad is the oldest city in Cuba, with cute cobbled stone streets and old colonial houses as well as the beach nearby. One night when we were looking for a place to eat dinner, a woman stopped us and told us the menu that she had available in her home restaurant. As she was saying the menu she lowered her voice and said something in a hushed tone. We couldn’t hear what she said and asked her to repeat it. She did and finally on the fourth time we understood that she was saying that she had beef available. We asked her why she was whispering and she responded that beef was illegal to have in Cuba. Apparently that’s not the only thing that´s illegal. Lobster is also illegal. The only place that can sell these products is in big tourist hotels (government owned of course) as it is seen as a luxury that Cubans can´t afford and if you happen to have a cow, you should only sell it to the government. You can get more jail time killing a cow than killing a human, somewhere between 4 and 10 years.

So when I asked people if they were happy with the current government structure I got a mixed response. Some believed that the transfer of power from Fidel to Raul would create some changes in terms of more freedoms economically and personally. This hasn´t occurred so far and although people do feel that the social system is advantageous for Cubans, there´s still a sense that part of the system is discriminatory against Cubans. Finally, the CS I met in Habana admitted that Cuba has its positives and negatives but that he likes it here and he believes that all countries have their pros and cons, ¨who´s to say which system is better...?¨