Yes to Cuba

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Flying into Cuba, from Costa Rica, I really had no idea what I was going to do when I landed. I thus decided I would go to the bus station and catch a bus somewhere, as I was going to return to Havana the next week to join the International May Day Brigade. It turned out that I was met by someone from the Brigade (organised by the Cuban Friendship Institute - it sounds less dodgey in Spanish - Instituto Cubano de Amistad con los Pueblos), who took me to the bus station and helped me buy a ticket.

I ended up in Sancti Spiritus, somewhere in the middle of Cuba, about 5 hours South-East of Havana. My first impression of Cuba was it wasn't as tropical and green as I had expected, but it turns out they've had a drought for the past 8 years or something like that which might explain it. All along the sides of the highways they have posters and billboards, with pictures and quotes from Che and Fidel, and little slogans that seem to turn up everywhere.

Not finding much in Sacti Spiritus (I stayed the night at a Casa Particular - basically a room in someone's house that they rent out to tourists), the next day I returned to the bus station with a plan to get to Trinidad. Being less than 100km from Sancti Spiritus, buses/trucks/transport are scheduled frequently throughout the day. On this particular day, however, I managed to spend 6 hours at the bus station before managing to get the public bus. From what I could work out (with extremely limited knowledge of Spanish, and thus relying heavily on hand gestures) the truck (there are rows of seats on them) had either broken down, crashed, driven off a cliff, or exploded, and thus would not be running until the next day. At least by mid-afternoon the snack bar had reopened so I could buy some water and something to eat.

Trinidad was quite a nice town, although extremely touristy. It was best in the evening when all the giant groups of European tourists all wearing matching wristbands had returned to their respective resorts. During the day there was a nice Carribean beach 8km away, so there was plenty to do. In Trinidad itseld there were lots of museums and colonial buildings, and galleries and craft shops and souvenir shops and restaurants and bars and everything else you find when there are tourists. There was even a guy with a donkey who charged people to take photos of him. In Cuba horses and carts are still a common form of transport, for both people and goods. During my time in Trinidad I stayed in a really nice Casa Particular (I almost didn't go there as it was recommended by the guy who kept on asking me to marry him at the Sancti Spiritus bus terminal). It was an upstairs room, with two double beds and a nice bathroom, and fridge, and table, and outside terrace with more tables and chairs. Meals were included in the price so for dinner and breakfast I would be brought at least 4 plates of food, which I would attempt to eat. The food was really good, with frech fruit and juice and omelettes and fresh bread for breakfast, and things like fresh fish, or pork or lamb for dinner, and always something for dessert. I met some Canadian girls at the beach who said their Casa Particular also liked to overfeed them, but at least the food was just on a plate for them to share, not one each. In the evenings we investigated quite a few of Trinidad's live music venues, although ended up in a nightclub in some ruined building after we'd given up on ever learning to salsa.

After a couple of days in Triniday I headed back to Havana, and spent an afternoon wandering around the old part of the city, visiting the 'Museo del Ron' (Rum Museum) among other things. I was meant to join the Brigade that evening but due to some sort of mix-up didn't end up doing so until the next day.

The Brigade stayed at a camp (as in the type of place for a school camp, not a camping ground) near Caimito, about an hour from central Havana. There were about 100 Brigadistas, mainly from Latin-America, but some from Europe too (and Russia/Kazakhstan/Turkey - whatever you want to call them). For the first few mornings everyone had to participate in 'agricultural work', although seeing as though I got there later I only had one day of this. The activity mainly involved moving a pile of rubble to the curb, so it could be collected (? - I'm not exactly sure of the reason, I think maybe the people pruning orange trees had a more purposeful task). The site was that of a health clinic, which was being renovated so as to encorporate speacialist facilities.

For the weekend the Brigade relocated to a hotel (3 Star - quite fancy with a big pool) in Matanzas, a couple of hours east of Havana. The bus trip was quite amusing, as people kept on wandering up and down the bus with bottles of rum and a shot glass. We also stopped off at the equivalent of a roadhouse, which specialised in Pina Coladas.

Whilst at the hotel we made day-trips to surrounding cities such as Cardansas. On our visit to the Battle of Ideas Museum some school-kids sang songs for us, as did a local Afro-Cuban band. We also met with local union officials who explained the main industries and concerns for workers in the province, and the role of unions in Cuba in general, which was quite interesting. The afternoons we had free to go to the nearby beaches at Varadero, a resort town where 'beach' included umbrellas and cocktails and music, as well as standard beaches. One evening we visited the local CDR (Committee for the Defence of the Revolution), who invited us in small groups back to their houses, and we spent the rest of the evening discussing various things to do with Cuba, as well as watching their kids perform dance routines for us. It was quite a good evening, as we got to actually meet people in an informal setting, and they seemed to enjoy themselves too.

On our return to the camp we deviated to Playa Giron (in the Bay of Pigs), where we visited a museum, and then had lunch at a really cool beach. It wasn't actually a beach, it was like a giant rockpool (at least olympic pool size, and very deep) at the mouth of a river. The water was really clear and blue, and you could see tropical fish swimming around.

On the first of May, we all got up very very early (I think we were woken before 4am) to go to the May Day rally. We all got given official red shirts and little Cuban flags to wave (as well as flags from our own countries), and then made our way to Havana, where thousands of people had already gathered. Being an official international delegation, we were allocated a bay right at the front of the crowd, with a clear view of the stage. I decided at 6:45 that I would go to the toilet before the proceedings began, as Fidel is renowned for speaking for hours, but this was not as easy as I thought it may have been. Whilst it took only 5 minutes to find the toilets (or rather a metal cubicle on a patch of grass) and then 45 to wait in line, I didn't make it back to the Brigade until 9:30. I had tried to return the way I had left, but apparently this was not allowed, so I was sent around the block (think about 5 times your average block size). Upon reaching the site of our initial entrance, I presented my ID card only to be told I needed a permit for my camera(everyone else had cameras, and noone had been told anything about permits). The camera permit office was closed, although there were some confused Italians outside it, so eventually someone escorted me back to the general entrance, and I spent the next hour trying to push my way to the front of a few million people, and then jumped the fence back into our area. Luckily Fidel was still speaking, and continued to do so for another couple of hours so it didn't really matter that I had missed the beginning. For an 80 year old Fidel is still quite a charismatic speaker. He doesn't even pause for applause, so everyone has to wave flags instead, but they don't really care as long as he speaks and lets them shout Viva Fidel at the end. From what I could gather, the speech had 3 main parts (although it may have been completely different, as it was in Spanish - the main words I understood were chocolate and ice cream, and sugar and rum might have got a mention as well). One discussing the US and the blockade, one giving a report on Cuba's economy with commendations and suggestions for improvement, and one celebrating Cuban society and lifestyle. Walking back to the bus we were stopped by some British miners who recognised the Australian flag, and also the British Ambassador who wanted to ask if it was the Australian or New Zealand flag.

The next day was spent in some sort of conference to do with Cuban relations with other countries, but didn't seem particularly relevant to Australia so I went on an excursion to change some travellers cheques. For the rest of the week we visited the Che Guevarra Monument in Santa Clara, an important site during the Revolution, which also houses Che's mausoleum, and the Revolution museum in Havana.

On our (the other 2 Aussies and I) last night there was an 'international night' at the camp, where every country was supposed to perform a cultural item, and also prepare something to eat. Luckily they never got around to asking us to sing (after the Columbians everyone just started dancing), but we made vegemite sandwiches for everyone to try. We were very suprised when people actually liked them and came back for more, but maybe they were just being polite.

The last morning in Cuba was spent visiting some University students in Havana. The way their student union operates seems quite similar to ours, although the actual university itself is quite different. Everyone has 3 classes a day at the same time, and most courses are for around 5 years. There is also some sort of compulsary PE as well. The Brigade ate at the 'Friendship House' in Havana (a giant Colonial Mansion with restaurants and bars and live music performances) before I got a lift to the airport to fly back to Costa Rica.

I'm sure I've left out plenty of things, but in general, Cuba was great. I'm now in London but will hopefully write about Mexico City in the next couple of days so I can catch up.

Sally

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