Reflections So Far

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I'm sure I'll have more to say as I continue to reflect. And of course, I'm still here! But there are a few things that are very salient. One is the support for the arts in Cuba. Every place we went, we sang with professional choirs, paid by the state to be musicians. It's impressive.

Other other hand, the lack of consumer choices is really striking to someone from the states. You have two choice of beer, no matter where you go. Any kind of sandwich as long as it's some version of ham and cheese on a white roll. We found tuna sandwiches, yesterday and I was thrilled! When you go to stores, the shelves are bare compared ton our standards. People have the necessities, but no frills, nothing extra, few choices of products. There is little to no advertising, which I suppose is a corollary.

And things are changing so fast it made my head spin. Prices are rising. There are two economies, one of Cuban pesos (moneda nacional) where things cost very little, and an economy of convertible pesos, (cucs) where the tourists operate. One cuc is worth approximately one dollar and 25 Cuban pesos. Cubans earn 10 to 40 cucs a month. You know they are not eating at restaurants that charge 10 or 15 cucs for dinner. But many Cubans are renting rooms out at 35-45 cucs a night so they are making lots. One place I stayed was run by a dentist who had stopped practicin dentistry in order to focus on tourism where she could earn so much more.

Prices are rising fast. One restaurant in Cienfuegos gave us a menu with dinners priced at 15-20 cucs. We complained, saying that we had paid half that the last time we were here. The waitress seemed embarrassed and brought us the "student menu" with prices in the 8-10 range. Same food. Excellent food in fact. What can I say?

More reflections and photos to come. Which reminds me to talk about Internet access but not today. Hasta luego.

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